In today's episode a photographer captures a Lunar Eclipse and the Aurora at the same time, sensor talk from Canon and more.
You can find the show notes here.
You can find the show notes here.
Show Notes
Welcome back everyone, Liam Douglas here with the Liam Photography Podcast and this is Episode 446 for Thursday March 20, 2025. In today’s episode a Lunar Eclipse, Canon Commits to more sensor development and a new Nvidia GPU.
Professional landscape and travel photographer Dan Zafra, known for his website Capture the Atlas, traveled from his home in Nevada to the wilds of Alaska last week to capture the total lunar eclipse against a beautiful backdrop of the Northern lights.
When he realized that there was going to be an opportunity to see the aurora the same night as the total lunar eclipse, also known as the Blood Moon, Zafra went for it. His boldness paid off as he was treated to clear skies and beautiful, vibrant green Northern lights.
“I had originally planned this trip to Alaska around the spring equinox, a period often associated with heightened solar activity,” Zafra tells PetaPixel. “Typically, I schedule my trips during a New Moon for optimal dark skies, but I made an exception this time. The rare opportunity to witness a total lunar eclipse alongside the aurora was too good to pass.”
To capture the incredible event, Zafra went to Alaska armed with three cameras: one on a star tracker with a 400mm lens to capture close-up shots of the Moon during the eclipse, another to capture wide-angle shots (20mm), and a third dedicated to timelapse. Zafra says his aurora exposures were 20 seconds at f/5.6 and ISO 10,000, while his star shots were four seconds (f/5.6, ISO 6,400). Finally, the Moon was shot at one-fifth of a second at f/5.6 and ISO 6,400.
“My workflow began with setting up the timelapse to run continuously throughout the event. I only had to adjust it once when the aurora climbed much higher in the sky than expected. Next, I set up my star-tracked telephoto lens for detailed close-ups. I used the Benro Polaris star tracker, which allowed me to automate bracketed exposures. Finally, I positioned a third camera with a wide-angle lens to capture landscape shots of the event,” the photographer explains.
“It was a bit stressful managing multiple setups,” Zafra admits. “But with totality lasting about an hour, I had enough time to capture everything and still fully experience the moment.”
Zafra is no stranger to incredible events — he has seen many amazing auroras and a couple of total lunar eclipses before — but he was still enthralled by seeing both at once.
“I never expected the interaction between the [aurora and eclipse] to be so mesmerizing,” Zafra says. “Standing on a frozen lake, I watched as the landscape slowly dimmed while the Moon slipped into Earth’s shadow. At the same time, the aurora intensified, filling the sky with vibrant waves of light.”
“After totality ended, it felt like someone had turned the lights back on—the landscape brightened again, and the Moon’s glow returned. It was surreal, magical, and unlike anything I had ever experienced.”
Once Zafra returned home, he started processing all his images. For the close-up shots, he used PixInsight to remove the stars from the background of the aurora image, blended them back in from a separate shot, and then merged the properly exposed Moon into the final frame.
“Given the extreme difference in brightness between the Moon and aurora, bracketing was essential,” he says. “Capturing everything in a single shot was impossible.”
For his wide-angle images, the processing workflow was much more straightforward. He combined a single exposure for the landscape and aurora with a shorter exposure to properly expose the scene.
As for the timelapse seen above, he edited the images as usual and then compiled the sequence with LRTimelapse.
“Although I typically shoot wide-angle landscape astrophotography, my favorite shot from this event is the close-up of the eclipsed Moon with the aurora,” Zafra says, adding that he believes it’s a unique and original perspective.
“I’ve seen a few other images of this event from northern Canada and Alaska, I haven’t come across any detailed close-ups that capture both the eclipse and aurora together. That makes this image even more special to me.”
More of Dan Zafra’s photography is available on Capture the Atlas‘ website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Image sensor research and development is notoriously costly, which is why so many manufacturers have opted to work with an existing sensor fabrication company, like Sony Semiconductor, rather than develop their own in-house. Canon has been one of the few exceptions and, according to its executives, that will remain the case.
Speaking to PetaPixel at the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan in February, the company’s executive team expressed their desire to maintain the development of image sensors in-house.
“You’re right, the development of sensors requires a lot of investment but Canon is going to stick to the current direction, which is to continue to invest in our in-house sensor development for use on our cameras,” Go Tokura, executive vice president and head of the Imaging Group at Canon, says.
“We really want to maintain our in-house development strategy because it’s essential to continue the differentiation that we have, for example, in providing the high-quality R1 cross-type AF capabilities.”
While Sony is the only manufacturer to release a consumer camera equipped with a global shutter, Canon has many global shutter sensors in its industrial and scientific lines. The question, then, is if Canon is looking into bringing that technology into its interchangeable lens consumer cameras.
“We of course understand the importance of the global shutter, but at the same time, we’re familiar with the challenges. So the issues with the dynamic range, for example, we are aware of and we will continue to work on improving upon those issues as we continue our own internal development of those sensors.”
Tokura is referring to the dramatic dropoff in low light performance and weak dynamic range results that the Sony a9 III shows. Based on the discussion, it doesn’t sound like Canon believes the global shutter’s benefits are worth such tradeoffs — at least at this point.
At the other end of the spectrum are high-resolution sensors. While Canon won’t be making a high-resolution version of the flagship R1 camera, its sensor development team has created multiple sensors that feature much more resolution than is currently available in its consumer cameras. For example, it announced a new 410-megapixel 35mm image format sensor in January.
“We also are developing sensors for general use mirrorless and we will continue to develop our technology in a way that can be shared across domains,” Tokura says. “We won’t really be able to share any specific product plans with you just yet but we would definitely like to leverage the sensor capabilities that we have with the 410-megapixel sensor and continue to explore how this can be used in the camera products for larger print and then also finer resolution. We also would like to improve upon our frame rates, sensitivity, and SN noise. So we will continue to explore which products we will be able to apply these features to.”
There is a perception among some photographers that Canon has difficulty with high-resolution sensors since the company hasn’t made a consumer camera with more than 50 megapixels.
“If we were to simply develop a high-resolution camera, that would be possible. However, if we try to develop a 100-megapixel camera using current technology, I believe we would have to compromise on many other performance factors, such as high sensitivity performance, continuous shooting performance, rolling shutter distortion, image transfer speed, and video recording time. If we do not want to compromise, the price of the camera body will skyrocket, and considering heat dissipation measures and other factors, it may not fit into a size that allows for comfortable shooting. The technology for high-resolution sensors does exist, and we have it, but the challenge lies in the commercialization of a viable product. That is why we believe it is still premature.” Tokura says.
“But I think one day absolutely we will be able to do it because I’m also expecting that myself.”
Nvidia announced a new series of professional-grade GPUs and AI-powered tools for PCs and workstations. The RTX Pro Blackwell series GPUs are designed for demanding professional designers, creatives, and developers.
The Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell desktop GPU ships with 96GB of speed GDDR7 memory. It is power-hungry, requiring 600 watts, even more than the RTX 5090’s thirsty 575-watt demands. As The Verge notes, there are other similarities between the Pro 6000 and the RTX 5090, as both GPus have double flow-through cooling, 1,792 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 24,064 CUDA cores.
Alongside the top-of-the-line RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell, Nvidia also unveiled RTX Pro 5000 Blackwell, RTX Pro 4500 Blackwell, and RTX Pro 4000 Blackwell GPUs for desktop workstations, plus RTX Pro Blackwell GPUs for laptops in 5000, 4000, 3000, 2000, 1000, and 500-series configurations.
“Software developers, data scientists, artists, designers and engineers need powerful AI and graphics performance to push the boundaries of visual computing and simulation, helping tackle incredible industry challenges,” says Bob Pette, vice president of enterprise platforms at Nvidia. “Bringing Nvidia Blackwell to workstations and servers will take productivity, performance and speed to new heights, accelerating AI inference serving, data science, visualization and content creation.”
Although specific performance metrics vary by GPU, Nvidia says that all its RTX Pro Blackwell GPUs feature a streaming multiprocessor that is up to 1.5 times faster than prior comparable Blackwell GPUs, fourth-generation RT cores that are twice as fast, fifth-generation tensor cores, faster GDDR7 memory, and improved codecs.
For high-end video work, H.264 decoding is up to twice as fast on the latest GPUs.
“Professionals can benefit from high-quality video playback, accelerate video data ingestion, and use advanced AI-powered video editing features,” Nvidia explains.
Further, the new Blackwell GPUs offer fifth-generation PCIe support, which doubles the bandwidth over the previous generation, and DisplayPort 2.1 support. DisplayPort 2.1 can drive high-resolution 4K displays at up to 480Hz and 8K at 165Hz. This standard also offers high color bit depth support, which can impact professional video editing tasks.
At the high end of the lineup, the RTX Pro 6000 data center and desktop GPUs, plus the 5000 series desktop GPUs, feature multi-instance GPU (MIG) support. This enables users to partition a single GPU into up to four (6000 series) or two (5000 series) instances. This can diversify workloads and maximize workflow flexibility in certain use cases.
On the laptop side of things, the new laptop GPUs utilize the latest Nvidia Blackwell Max-Q technologies to optimize performance and efficiency depending on the situation.
The new Nvidia RTX Pro Blackwell chips will be available later this year. They will be included in products from Nvidia partners, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Razer, later this year as well.
Kolari Vision, best known for its infrared and ultraviolet camera conversions and filters, announced that its popular magnetic clip-in filters are now available for Blackmagic’s full-frame cinema cameras, including the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and Blackmagic Pyxis 6K.
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is among the best values in all of the full-frame camera space, delivering a full-frame HDR sensor and internal RAW video capture. Further, Blackmagic promises 13 stops of dynamic range, putting it up with the best in the space. Although no longer available at its record-low price of under $1,600, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K remains a great deal at around $2,000 (EF) and $2,500 (L-Mount).
While Kolari’s Magnetic Clip-in Filters work with either version of the Blackmagic Cinema 6K camera, it is worth noting that compatibility with the Pyxis 6K is limited to only the L-Mount version. The $2,995 box camera, what Blackmagic calls the world’s most riggable full-frame cine camera, comes in Leica L, Arri PL, and Canon EF versions.
Kolari’s Magnetic Clip-in Filter catalog, which is also available for Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, Fujifilm X, and RED Komodo and V-Raptor cameras, enables users to quickly and easily secure specialized filters in front of their camera’s image sensor, either supplementing or outright avoiding the use of lens-based filter solutions.
“The filters magnetically attach to the inner mount of the camera, sitting in front of the camera sensor and behind the lens,” Kolari explains. “By using this approach of filtration, creatives are allowed to switch between various lenses without worrying about the different thread sizes of each lens, thus reducing the cost of owning multiple lens filters and minimizing gear baggage. Certain lenses, namely super-wide angle lenses, aren’t capable of using lens filters or matte boxes. However, magnetic clip-in filters provide internal filtration compatibiilty for those lenses with no issues.”
As Kolari notes, it is also possible to achieve multiple levels of filtration by combining clip-in and lens filters.
Kolari’s lineup of filters includes neutral density (three, six, and 10-stop) and Mist Diffusion filters (1/8, 1/4, and 1/2), both popular choices for videographers. There are also specialized infrared filters available in various wavelengths and styles.
Kolari Magnetic Clip-in Filters for Blackmagic full-frame cinema cameras are available now, with prices ranging from $130 to $200, depending on the selected filter effects. Complete details and purchasing options are available on Kolari Vision’s website.
Venus Optics announced four new wide-angle Laowa cinema lenses designed for VistaVision cameras.
All four lenses offer extensive fields of view, including the Laowa 9mm T5.8 VV Cine, Laowa 10mm T2.9 Zeo-D VV Cine, Laowa 12mm T2.8 Lite Zero-D VV Cine, and the Laowa 14mm T2.6 Zero-D VV Cine. Each lens covers nearly the same image circle, over 46 millimeters in diameter, and offers some standardized features.
Each lens has a 0.8 gear mod and an 80mm front diameter. Three of the lenses accept 77mm front filters, with the ultra-wide 9mm T5.8 VV Cine and its bulbous front element being the only exception. There are slight differences in aperture and focus throw and the number of aperture blades across the four lenses.
Laowa’s new wide-angle VV cinema lenses cover full-frame and VistaVision image sensors. While full-frame image sensors are much more common to many photographers, VistaVision cinema cameras are widely used. Nikon-owned RED makes VV cameras, including its flagship V-Raptor XL 8K VV camera, which features a 35.4-megapixel VistaVision CMOS image sensor (40.96 by 21.6 millimeters). This global shutter sensor is nearly five millimeters wider than a full-frame sensor and just over two millimeters shorter. Another widely used cinema camera that Laowa’s new lenses can cover is the Alexa LF, which has a 36.7 by 25.5-millimeter image sensor.
Looking closer at the quartet of new Laowa cinema lenses, some extremely interesting optics are on offer. The Laowa 9mm T5.8 VV is the widest rectilinear full-frame cinema lens available, offering a wild 134.8-degree field of view without distortion. It should prove popular with drones, gimbals, and specialized event cameras. The lens can also focus as close as 12 centimeters (4.7 inches).
Just slightly longer, the Laowa 10mm T2.9 Zero-D VV Cine promises even less distortion and a much faster max aperture despite still delivering a 130.3-degree field of view. It can also focus as close as 12 centimeters (4.7 inches), and unlike the wider 9mm lens, this one accepts front filters.
The Laowa 12mm T2.9 Lite Zero-D VV Cine is still very wide. It is also Laowa’s second crack at a 12mm T2.9 full-frame cinema lens. This one promises improved control over chromatic aberrations and better image quality.
Rounding out the new VV lenses is the Laowa 14mm T2.6 Zero-D VV Cine. The fastest lens of the bunch, this is the most compact rectilinear 14mm lens for full-frame and VistaVision cameras on the market. It weighs just 592 grams (1.3 pounds) and is still very wide (117.8-degree field of view).
All four Laowa Cine VV lenses are available for Arri PL, Canon EF, Canon RF, L-Mount, Nikon Z, and Sony E cameras. The Laowa 9mm T5.8 VV Cine, 12mm T2.8 Lite Zero-D VV Cine, and 14mm T2.6 Zero-D VV Cine lenses are each $1,499, while the Laowa 10mm T2.8 Zero-D VV Cine is slightly more expensive at $1,699. All four are available to preorder now and will begin shipping soon. Complete specifications are available on Laowa’s Cine website.
SmallRig released a new cooling fan for Canon EOS R5-series mirrorless cameras. The $60 cooling fan snaps onto the back of the Canon EOS R5 and EOS R5 II, delivering cool air to the back of the camera to improve video recording duration.
SmallRig is no stranger to aftermarket cooling fans for cameras, having previously released cooling systems for popular Fujifilm and Sony cameras. The new R5 and R5 II fan features the same 7,000 RPM fan with “TEC cooling technology” and an adjustable two-speed motor to match user needs.
Although reasonably small and lightweight, the SmallRig Cooling Fan includes quite a few components. The outer shell offers protection and promises good heat dissipation performance. Inside is the low-noise fan, an aluminum alloy heat sink, a cooling chip, and silicone thermal conductive gel.
While the original Canon EOS R5 was notorious for its overheating, especially when doing 8K video recording, Canon made significant strides with its successor. The EOS R5 II is much improved when it comes to thermal management and can record about 23 minutes of 8K/60p video at room temperature, which is solid. However, many creators may want even more.
SmallRig says that with its Cooling Fan attached, the EOS R5 II can record 8K/30p video for more than twice as long at room temperature and about 30% longer in extremely hot situations (104 degrees Fahrenheit/40 degrees Celsius).
The Cooling Fan installation promises to be super easy, with users simply moving the tilt/swivel screen out of the way and snapping the fan to the camera body. This snap-on mount is unique to the EOS R5 series but is removable, so videographers who use multiple camera systems can use the same fan with additional camera-specific mounts.
Regarding usability, the most pressing issue is powering the SmallRig Cooling Fan. It requires a separate power source — a V-mount battery. SmallRig sells multiple mount and plate kits to easily keep the required battery on a tripod attachment or rig.
The SmallRig Cooling Fan for the Canon EOS R5 and EOS R5 II cameras is available now for $59.99 and can be purchased directly through SmallRig.
Upgrade plain Sony camera body caps with a customizable Alphagvrd Creative Weapon Sensor Cap that hides an Apple AirTag.
With camera thefts on the rise, more photographers are looking for ways to protect their camera gear. As PetaPixel has shared previously, camera body caps are a great way to hide an AirTag to keep an eye on gear. Several options are available, including the CosmoCap, Polar Pro Defender body cap, and Nine Volt AirCap, each with its own features to suit your needs.
The latest AirTag-compatible cap by Alphagvrd is the Creative Weapon Sensor Cap for Sony E-Mount. This iteration of the AirTag-enabled body cap brings rugged aesthetics, customizable printing, and NFC capabilities.
The Creative Weapon Sensor Cap features an industrial chunky design with large ergonomic notches resembling a gear. A highlight of this body cap is a built-in NFC chip to store essential details such as your contact info, emergency return details, website, social media, or even a profile link. Alphagvrd notes that once an AirTag is installed, it physically blocks the NFC abilities. However, users can enable the AirTag’s “Show Contact Info” in the FindMy app to display contact information if someone finds and scans it.
Installation of an AirTag into the Creative Weapon Sensor Cap is easy with snap-in construction.
A fun feature, unique to this body cap by Alphagvrd is the ability to personalize it with various logos, single or multi-line text, or by uploading custom artwork.
With several helpful devices with sneaky AirTag pockets, Android users can start feeling left out. It’s important to note that AirTags are meant for use by Apple devices but do have limited features available for Android users. Android users are not completely in the dark, as there are some basic functions available on AirTags. Android devices are able to scan lost AirTags by enabling near-field communication (NFC) mode to scan the tag. This pulls up a website with the user’s contact information. Apple’s official Tracker Detect app for Android can also help identify nearby AirTags. It doesn’t, however, enable location history or real-time tracking, so users will still need an Apple device to fully use an AirTag.
The Alphagvrd Creative Weapon Sensor Cap for Sony E-mount is available now for $18. There is currently a promotional discount for 15% off with code: Creative Weapon.
Godox, makers of professional lighting solutions, announced a new powerful, waterproof RGBWW monolight, the Knowled M1000R. It is designed primarily with videographers in mind, although it could also be useful for photographers.
The Godox Knowled M1000R is a 1000-watt monolight packed with professional features in a lightweight body with a compact controller.
The 1000w RGB LED light features full RGBWW color control with a wide range of lighting effects for precision and versatility. Color temperature ranges from 1800 to 10,000 Kelvin (K) with a fully adjustable brightness of 0% to 100%. Dimming is also fine-tuned with four distinct curves: linear, s-curve, exponential, or logarithmic.
With precision in mind, the color accuracy of the M1000R is professional level with high CRI 95 and TLCI 94 ratings. This level of color accuracy promises realistic skin tones and vibrant colors for polished high-end video and stills footage.
The standard Godox Knowled M1000R kit includes a reflector, power controller, power cable, and U-type bracket. An upgraded kit is also available for $100 more and includes a custom-branded storage bag. The light uses the popular Bowens mount type, allowing for easy customization with accessories such as soft boxes, beauty dishes, or BeamLight reflectors.
Godox describes the Knowled M1000R as “Boasting an impressive 91% Rec2020 color gamut coverage, the M1000R offers flexible color modes—CCT, HSI, RGBW, GEL, X-Y, and FX—with four professional dimming curves. Fine-tune warm/cool light balance and G/M adjustments for smooth, cinematic lighting every time.”
Creativity is further enabled by the M1000R’s range of built-in FX modes, with 14 special lighting effects, including simulation of natural lighting such as sunrise, sunset, and moonlight. The light’s high-speed mode also enables smooth, stable, flicker-free high-speed footage. The unit can also save up to four preset options to apply previous lighting styles quickly on the go.
Creatives in the field will appreciate that both the light and controller of the M1000R are fully IP54-rated, waterproof, and dustproof. With portability in mind, the Godox Knowled M1000R’s head weighs 17.9 pounds (8.1 kilograms), with the controller and power supply unit weighing 12.3 pounds (5.6 kilograms).
For connectivity, the Godox Knowled M1000R features a built-in Bluetooth app, RDM, CRMX, DMX512, Ethernet, Art-net, or sACN. The Knowled Bluetooth app, with a range of 30 meters, allows for complete control of multiple lights for a cohesive lighting ecosphere.
The M1000R light utilizes an AC power supply of 100-240V, 50/60Hz, with the controller input’s power of 650W. The unit features a USB-A port, which can double as a 5V 1.5A power supply or utilized for future firmware updates. The Godox Knowled M1000R is available now for $2,800, with the upgraded kit with bag priced at $2,900.
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