Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 07:27:36 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Sarah Anderson Subject: Re: Digiscoping - an alternative (LONG) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone, I tried digiscoping a couple of years ago. I have a Kowa scope, a Bogen/Manfrotto tripod, a Canon G2 and I bought all the adapters I needed to connect the camera directly to the scope. I practiced and practiced and practiced. And that was just in the comfort of my home! I was never satisfied with the process or the results - it was cumbersome getting the camera connected to the scope, difficult to find the subject and just about impossible to take the photo without introducing some jitter. After struggling along I decided that it would be a better option (for me) to use the scope and camera as they were intended rather than trying to turn the scope into a big zoom lens for my camera, so the search ensued for a camera with a longer zoom. The good news is that the "long zoom" segment of the digital camera market is growing, and there are already cameras available with long zoom AND with built in image stabilization (eliminating the need for a tripod at full zoom) AND these cameras do not cost a fortune. I tried and rejected both the Panasonic FZ10 and the Minolta A1 before settling VERY HAPPILY with a used Olympus c2100uz (affectionately known as the "uzi" in some of the online photography forums). The Oly has a 10x zoom and image stabilization. Yes, it's only 2 megapixels BUT as anyone who is shopping for a digital camera should know, more megapixels do not necessarily translate into a better quality image. The most single important piece of the camera is the lens. The Oly camera's lens was actually a Canon lens and the thing just rocks. You can get these cameras in the $400 dollar range - and there seems to be a steady supply of them on ebay. And if 10x isn't enough there are teleconverters available to boost that range. (I have an Olympus tcon-17.) Check out my bird photos at: www.pbase.com/sarahbee (And of course you're welcome to look at the other shots there too.) All of the bird photos were taken hand held (no tripod). Rumor has it that there are going to be more long-zoom/stabilized cameras introduced this year, possibly from Canon and Nikon. There are many independent web sites where digital cameras are reviewed and online discussion forums you can check out for more camera information. The camera reviews usually include sample photos and in the forums in many cases people post their photos so you can see what the cameras are capable of. My favorite web sites are: http://www.dpreview.com/ http://www.imaging-resource.com/INDEX.HTM http://www.steves-digicams.com/default.htm And as others have mentioned, there is no substitute for handling the camera you are thinking of buying. Of course that wasn't possible for my purchase of the Oly c2100 because it's no longer manufactured - so before I purchased I made sure I could return the camera if I didn't like it. But you would have to pry this camera out of my cold fingers to get it away from me!! Sorry for the long post but I have done a lot of research and experimentation in hopes of capturing good bird photos so I wanted to share the benefit of my experience with like-minded folks. If anyone has specific questions about my camera (or the other ones I tried but didn't like) please feel free to contact me. Good luck!! You won't regret your foray into digital photography although you should be forewarned that it is highly addictive! :-) Sarah Cabin John, MD BirdNerd3@aol.com www.pbase.com/sarahbee ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================