Low Light Capabilities of a7s Shown In Stunning Video

Just how good is the Sony a7s at capturing images in low light? That’s what the crew at Carbon Studios wanted to find out, so they decided to shoot a video lit only by moonlight.

The results are stunning.

Here’s how they captured it:

Our goal was to set out and shoot a short film that was lit entirely by moonlight. We waited for the moon to become full and on the night of September 8th we set out to explore the coast in California and see what we could find.
When we arrived at our location, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect! It was around 12:30 AM and the moon was barely lighting the beautiful beach. The entire shoot took place between 12:30 AM- 2:00 AM.
For the first two scenes were shot at a different location a few days before the moon became full. The first scene was shot at 1/25th, f/1.4, 25,600 ISO,
The second scene was shot at 1/25th, f/1.4, 32,000 ISO
Our settings for the rest of the video were around 1/30th, f/1.4, ISO 12,800. To give you a perspective of how dark it was, there are a couple photos in the behind the scenes below.
We did not add any color grading, noise reduction, or sharpness.
All of the clips are straight out of the camera shot in the PP2 setting.
You will notice some purple fringing around the left side, The Metabones adapter that we rented had a light leak issue from what it looks like.
Sony has done an amazing job in creating this camera especially after seeing the quality that has come out of this camera.
Song used:
Clouds over hills by A. Taylor
themusicbed.com/songs/clouds-over-hills/7856
Gear used:
Sony A7s
Metabones EF to NEX Smart Adapter II
Zeiss 55mm 1.4 Otus
Zeiss 28mm 2.0

My daily shooter is Sony A1 with a vertical grip and various Sony lenses attached like the FE 20mm F1.8. Find more gear recommendations in our shop. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.