Panasonic Lumix S9 for Aurora Photography: A Real-World Field Test

Paired with the Sigma 16–28mm f/2.8 DG DN, the compact Lumix S9 proved to be a surprisingly capable night-sky camera during my aurora trip to Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Panasonic Lumix S9 is easy to think of as a compact camera for travel, street photography, or video. But one of the questions I wanted to answer in Alaska was more demanding: How well would the S9 perform when photographing the night sky?

Photographing the aurora is a good test. It asks a camera to capture fine stars, subtle color and tonal transitions, and dark foregrounds—all at relatively high ISO settings and during exposures long enough to reveal weaknesses in both the camera and lens.

For this trip, I paired the S9 with the Sigma 16–28mm f/2.8 DG DN lens. The combination gave me the wide field of view, bright constant aperture, and relatively compact size I wanted. After photographing the aurora around Fairbanks, I came away impressed. The S9 produced bright, detailed images, and its RAW files were clean and flexible enough to make post-processing straightforward.

It was not a perfect setup. The S9 lacks weather sealing, some controls are difficult to find in the dark, and there are a few night-photography settings you need to get right. But as a small full-frame kit for aurora and other night-sky work, it performed very well.

Why the Sigma 16–28mm f/2.8 Was an Important Part of the Test

The lens is a major part of any night-photography system, and the Sigma 16–28mm f/2.8 felt like a natural partner for the S9.

At 16mm, it is wide enough to capture large aurora displays while still leaving room for foreground elements such as trees, mountains, or cabins. Zooming toward 28mm makes it possible to isolate patterns and movement within the aurora, give the foreground more visual weight, or simply tighten the composition without changing position. That range should also work well for Milky Way photography.

The constant f/2.8 aperture gathers plenty of light across the entire zoom range, helping keep exposure times and ISO settings under control. The focusing ring is smooth and easy to adjust precisely, and the physical AF/MF switch makes it quick to move into manual focus without digging through menus.

Most importantly, the camera and lens delivered good results in the field. Stars were sharp and clearly defined across most of the frame. In the extreme corners, some stars showed mild stretching or small wings, and the outer edges were a little softer than the center. 

Uncorrected RAW files also showed moderate vignetting at f/2.8, particularly at wider focal lengths. Chromatic aberration was generally well controlled, although some color fringing was visible around brighter stars, particularly after processing. I also found no obvious flare, reflected spots, or meaningful difference in sharpness from one side of the frame to the other.

Those are reasonable compromises for a compact wide-angle zoom, especially when the overall image quality is this good.

Want to know why I chose the Sigma 16–28mm f/2.8 for photographing the aurora? Before my Alaska trip, I evaluated several wide-angle lenses for the Lumix S9. I explain what I considered and how the Sigma compares with other options in my article, Best L-Mount Lenses for Night Sky Photography: 10 Lenses Compared.

My Starting Settings for the Aurora

My initial settings with the Lumix S9 were:

– Manual exposure

– ISO 2500

– f/2.8

– 8-10 second shutter speed

– Manual focus

– Image stabilization off

– RAW capture

– Custom three second shutter delay

These are starting points, not fixed rules. Aurora brightness and movement can change quickly. A faint, slow display may benefit from a longer exposure, while a bright and active aurora usually calls for a shorter shutter speed to preserve its structure. Watch the sky and review your images, then adjust as conditions change.

The three-second shutter delay helped prevent movement from pressing the shutter button. The S9 allows a custom delay, which is useful when working from a tripod without a remote release.

One important setting is image stabilization. With the S9 mounted on a tripod, leaving in-body stabilization on produced misshapen or slightly smeared stars in some images. Switching it off eliminated the problem. I did not see the same star deformation when using the tripod-mounted OM System OM-1 Mark II with its stabilization enabled. Because I was accustomed to leaving stabilization on with the OM-1 Mark II, turning it off became an important part of setting up the S9 for the night sky.

The S9 uses an electronic shutter and does not offer a long-exposure noise-reduction setting. That did not stop me from making clean aurora photographs, but it is something night photographers will want to know before heading into the field.

Focusing on Stars with the Lumix S9

Accurate focus is critical at night. A slightly soft foreground may be acceptable, but out-of-focus stars will be noticeable.

I used manual focus with the S9’s focus-assist tools. I selected a bright star on the rear screen and dragged the focus-assist area over it with my finger. Turning the Sigma’s focus ring automatically magnified that part of the frame, allowing me to adjust the focus slowly until the star appeared as small and crisp as possible. Focus peaking offered another useful visual reference.

Do not simply turn the lens to the infinity mark and assume it is correct. Magnify a star and focus carefully, then take a test image and zoom in during playback to verify that the recorded stars are sharp. Check the focus again if you bump the lens or make a large change in focal length.

Image Quality and RAW Flexibility

The overall quality of the S9 aurora photographs was very good. The images were bright and detailed, and the RAW files had plenty of room for adjustment without becoming overly noisy.

Dark foreground areas could be lifted with useful detail intact. Fine stars and subtle transitions in the sky held together well during processing. The gradations within the aurora were smooth, and the files did not require aggressive noise reduction to reach a clean result.

The brightest parts of the aurora also retained detail with very little clipping. Adjustments to exposure, shadows, color, and white balance could be made without the files quickly becoming coarse or developing uneven color. That flexibility was especially useful as the intensity of the aurora changed from one exposure to the next. Overall, the Lumix S9 files were easy to process and responded well to the kinds of adjustments night-sky images typically require.

Using the S9 in the Cold and Dark

I photographed with the S9 around Fairbanks in temperatures in the high teens Fahrenheit, and the camera continued to function well.

Its lack of weather sealing is still a downside. Although night-sky photography often takes place under clear or partly cloudy skies, frost, and condensation remain real concerns. I would use additional protection in active precipitation and take care when bringing a cold camera back into a warm environment.

The S9 also lacks a built-in viewfinder, but that had little impact on how I photographed the aurora. With the camera on a tripod, I used the rear screen to compose, focus, and review my images. The touch controls and automatic focus magnification made that workflow straightforward.

Handling in the dark was generally good, but the S9’s buttons are somewhat recessed. That makes them harder to locate by touch with cold fingers. Before heading out, I saved my starting settings to a custom mode. In the field, I only needed to adjust the exposure as the aurora changed.

Finding and Photographing the Aurora

Strong aurora displays are easy to recognize, but weaker activity may first appear to the naked eye as a pale or grayish band. If you are unsure whether the aurora is present, take a quick phone photo. A phone camera can reveal green or other colors that your eyes cannot detect.

Cloud cover can be just as important as aurora strength. Conditions may vary substantially over a relatively short distance, so be prepared to move in search of an opening. Weather tools such as Windy can help identify gaps in the clouds. 

Aurora forecast apps like “Aurora” can provide local activity and Kp-index predictions, while the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute’s aurora forecast is another valuable planning resource.

Once you find the aurora, keep watching it. The display is dynamic. Its brightness, shape, and position can change from one exposure to the next, creating new compositions within minutes. 

Final Thoughts

The Panasonic Lumix S9 and Sigma 16–28mm f/2.8 make a compelling compact kit for aurora photography.

The S9 produced clean, flexible RAW files with strong detail, smooth tonal transitions, and manageable noise at higher ISOs. The Sigma zoom supplied the wide view and bright aperture the subject demanded while remaining small enough to suit the camera. Its moderate vignetting and mild corner imperfections were visible when examined closely, but neither prevented it from delivering very good night-sky images.

The S9 does have limitations. It lacks weather sealing, its recessed controls can be awkward in the dark, and tripod users need to remember to turn stabilization off. Still, none of those issues outweighed the quality of the photographs or the ease of processing them.

That was the real goal of this test: to learn whether this small full-frame camera could serve as a serious night-photography tool. After using it for the aurora in Alaska, my answer is yes.

Want to Learn More?

Best L-Mount Lenses for Night Sky Photography: 10 Lenses Compared
Panasonic Lumix S9 Hand Grip Comparison: Which One is Right for You?
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