Juan Carlos Ropel, July 29, 2017
Sony recently shared some astonishing shoots taken by their ultra-sensitive A7S II from outer space at the International Space Station (ISS) on its YouTube channel, showing the US and Japan by day and night. Although the A7S II is not the first commercial camera mounted on the ISS (the 6K Red Dragon preceded it), this is the first fairly ordinary consumer market camera mounted on the outside in direct contact with deep space.
The A7S II camera is positioned at the tip of the KIBO Japanese Experiment Module, a science module for the International Space Station which is its largest single ISS module. From there it's possible to record both the earth and space with superior 4k UHD shooting quality and stability, as well as high reolution still pictures.
The camera system outside the station is controlled from the earth and this is some of the sincerely impressive-as-hell footage taken (if you're watching this from a 4K TV or monitor, set it to UHD for maximum awesome:
The mission of the outboard camera is to record crystal-clear images of Earth from the International Space Station for different purposes. On an interview the senior engineer associate in charge of the outboard camera system, Toshitami Ikeda explained:
"By capturing exceptional, immersive images from outer space of something such as a large-scale disaster on the ground, you can grasp aspects of the situation that are unseen from the ground, such as damage and the scope of impact. We can also explore environmental changes by taking continuous pictures of a specific place, like a fixed-point observation. This could be looking at color change in the sea by taking pictures of a submarine volcano or watching the movement of drift ice. By recognizing these kinds of changes of the Earth, we can contribute to an understanding of global environmental issues, and we also believe that transmitting images invisible from the ground will lead to an increased interest in space development"
Sony's A7S II, which we reviewed in detail here, features a full-frame sensor with 5-axis image to deliver exceptional stabilization, internal 4K movie recording with full pixel readout without pixel binning and a 12.2 megapixel 10 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor, BIONZ X image processing engine, High 50Mbps bit-rate XAVC S format recording of Full HD movies and it's compatible with a wide range of accessories to further expand your shooting pleasure or professionalism.
More interestingly still, what better evidence of this 4K mirrorless model's robustness is there than a journey through open space in which it functions just fine.
The A7S II is available at Amazon at the price starting at $2,598.00, depending on the selected bundle. It's not cheap by mirrorless camera standards but this is definitely one of the best low light consumer mirrorless shooters out there right now from the masters of this specific technology at Sony.
Story by 4k.com
Source: Stunning 4K UHD Orbital Space Video From Sony's Powerful A7S II Mirrorless Camera
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