Ok lets dive right into this subject...
First and foremost important thing one needs,is a good tripod..With out the tripod you won't get good pictures at all,unless you have nerves of steel..As far as cameras go..One will not need a $2000.00 plus camera..However you will need something better than those cheap shoot and point cameras found at many stores..You should buy a SLR camera...Next thing is to decide if you want film or digital..I will talk about that later on...For the time being lets talk about the camera..
When looking for a SLR camera do your studying..This will save you time and disappointment down the road...
You will need a camera that you can hold your shutter open for at least 30 seconds.My SLR film camera I can hold the shutter open for as long as I want...30 Seconds or less works good for Northern lights...Anything longer than that the stars will start to trail out...Another thing I forgot to tell you is..You need a remote to hold your shutter open!On to the lens..I like to use a 50 mm lens..You will get a wider view of what is going on...If one uses anything over 80mm you will get star trails around the 10 to 15 second time frame...The aperture settings..Well here you will need to play around with this,Sorry but I need to keep something's a secret.As far as film goes..Well I shot the Northern lights using 100 ISO all the way up to 800 ISO again need one needs to play around to see what works for you...Also some will say to buy this brand film or another brand...I will not go into details on this..I found the film that works for me...
Now lets take a look at film and digital cameras...Before I jump into this I need to say this..The camera will pick up on the colors of the Northern lights,even if we don't see them..Trust me there is going to be alot of times when you will see blues and greens only..The other colors will be there...However there will be times one will see the colors with their eyes
If you look at the pictures I have taken with film along with pictures I have taken with digital..One will notice the film show colors the digital does not bring out the colors that good..Some of the newer digital cameras do work fairly well for this type of work,and yes I will be getting a newer one soon,however I will stick with the trusty 35mm film camera for most of the pictures!
Some people ask me if I enhance the colors on my computer using photo shop before I put them up on my site...All I say is heck no,what you see if what the picture shows..I do not believe in touching up my pictures...Most pictures of the Northern lights I have seen have been touched up so much it makes the picture look fake..Well I guess it is! I have no idea why people do that..That's another topic down the road....
There is the basic info to help one get started in photographing the Northern lights..Good luck...
Some other things to keep in mind are as follows...
1 Dress warm..As you will be out in cold to very cold temps..I'm talking about temps as low as -30 below.
2 Use hand warmers around the body of the camera and lens..This seems to help keep the moisture from forming on the lens.Also will keep the batteries in the camera warmer..Means more pictures one can take...However keep extra batteries with you!
3.Make sure you have extra film or extra cards with you..It won't take long to shoot up 2 to 4 rolls of film.
4 Something to eat when the show is slow or rebuilding,also have some water with you.
5 You will need some type of light to set everything up...I use a led flashlight with a red cover on it..Help to reduce the night vision lost..However I had someone I know tell me another little secret..I did try it out and it works better..You need to figure that one out!
6 This is the most important one of them all..It's called patience...One second the show may be going good,then it may die and remain that way for over an hour only to reappear better than before..