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Sigma sent the fp up into space to shoot 4K RAW video of the earth from 100,000ft

Oct 2, 2020 by John Aldred 1 Comment

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The world’s smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless camera (no caveats required) is now… space’s smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless camera? Sigma UK teamed up with Sent Into Space to send a pair of Sigma fp cameras (each attached to a Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art) into the upper atmosphere – one shooting stills and the other shooting video – to capture the view from around 100,000 feet.

The video begins with the launch of two balloons, each setting off at a slightly different time. First up was the one shooting video. The team talk about the process to come and the challenges faced to keep the SSD cool and the camera (and its battery) warm throughout the flight. The SSD used has a 2TB capacity to store the footage, but when shooting CinemaDNG RAW video, that only equates to about an hour and forty minutes of footage. So, there is a level of urgency required once that record button is hit.

The second balloon with the other camera shooting stills was released a couple of hours later. This one was using an intervalometer to shoot 24-megapixel raw stills every 5 seconds throughout the entire journey. The storage requirements for this one aren’t quite as demanding as they are for video, but that’s still 720 24-megapixel RAW files per hour. Between the time it takes for the balloon to get up to altitude, pop, come back down and be discovered, that could be several hours of shooting.

When each balloon does pop and the journey ends, the descent begins at over 200mph due to lack of air and air resistance to slow it down. After a short time, the parachute opens and by the time it hits the earth, it’s slowed down to what they described as “a walking pace” for a nice soft gentle landing – which is important when you’ve got delicate camera gear attached to it.

The stills look absolutely incredible and hold an amazing amount of detail. The video, while offering fantastic options in post due to being 12-Bit CinemaDNG RAW did suffer from some ice crystals forming on the lens, but it’s still a pretty amazing feat. And, well, a few ice crystals gives them an excuse to try again at some point in the future.

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Related posts:

Behind the scenes of a timelapse shoot in the Alps at 13,000ft in subzero temperatures The Sigma fp now supports 120fps ProRes RAW, Blackmagic RAW, HDR video and cinemagraphs with new firmware We asked our friends to shoot “moon selfies” and this is what they sent us Do NASA astronauts shoot raw? The challenges of photography in space

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Sent Into Space, sigma, Sigma FP, space, space photography

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

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John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

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