By Christoph Malin (see also his previous guest posts here)
On June 22nd, 2023, the heat was finally peaking after days of a heatwave around Innsbruck, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Bavaria, and South Tyrol, evening thunderstorms were predicted. and a high amount of dust limited visibility.
On my way back from filming fireflies at the Gschnitz Valley, the horizon towards the Karwendel Mountains was lightning illuminated nearly every second. I quickly found a location with a field of view towards the Karwendel Mountain Range.
I set up both the Nikon Z 8 and Z 9 for 8.3K 60p NRAW N-Log with the Z 50mm f/1.2 S and Z 35mm f/1.8 S plus Z 70-200mm f/2.8 as an option. The Lightshow was intense. From a distance of about 85 km, I could see the thunderstorm moving over Southern Bavaria, backlit and illuminating the Nordkette Mountain Range:
The first 10 minutes of lightning was in a 1-3 seconds interval. Then intervals got a bit longer, like 3-8 seconds, I condensed the shots a bit in the resolve timeline.
It must have been a fierce thunderstorm on the ground, hopefully, nobody was hurt.
KUGELBLITZ OR SATELLITE FLARE?
Around 2:14 min of the Z 9 footage (ISO 12800, f1.6, 1/13 sec exposure), one can see a glowing object “flying out” of the cumulonimbus cloud, at the diffuse edge of the cloud.
First I thought – wow “Kugelblitz”. But I’d say it is rather a satellite reflection, typical of the many Starlink satellites that cross the Alps and pester the night sky.
The more wide-angle 35 mm Z 8 footage (ISO 12,800, f1.8, 1/30 sec exposure) edited right after the 50 mm Z 9 capture, additionally shows an airplane blinking its way towards the south. Again I’d rather account for the whole Occurrence as a satellite flare, but am open to discussion.
15 minutes later I exchanged the 35mm on the Z 8 with the Z 70-200/2.8 set to about 165 mm.
All in all, a great experience of a so-called “Wetterleuchten”.
The footage is available in 8.3K.
8.3K RAW recorded on: Angelbird AV Pro 2 and 4 TB MK2
8K editing/grading/denoising: iMac Pro 10 Core Xeon
Denoising: NeatVideo V5
Host: Davinci Resolve