Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 07:51:57 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Ben Poscover Subject: Re: Digiscoping (LONG) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Jack: Many thanks for your for your very complete and helpful response to my post. Ben ----- Original Message ----- From: "jackandjanet Powers" To: Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 12:01 AM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Digiscoping (LONG) > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ben Poscover > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Digiscoping > I am interested in getting a digital camera in which to do digiscoping. Those pictures of birds taken using this technique are amazing. > > Ben (and William) -- > > Great topic right now. It so happens that many new models of digital cameras are being announced right now, so the current ones will come down in price. Probably the best advice right now is don't buy just yet. Do the research and watch the prices, they will be coming down. Of course, if you want one of the new 8MP digitals they are just announcing they will probably be shipping between now and the summer. > > In December of 2001, I hinted enough (and was good enough) to get my first digital camera for Christmas. It was so I could digiscope. Shireen Gonzaga, of this list, had recommended the Yahoo Group Birds-Pix and a then-obscure genius Laurence Poh of Ipoh, Malaysia, to the MDOsprey folks for a newly-developed technique of shooting bird pictures through a spotting scope using a digital camera. Wow! Tack-sharp pictures of birds 100-150 yards distant without having to lug tons of equipment into the field. The effective focal length was between 2000 and 3500 mm! To buy a lens that long, if they made one, would require close to the gross national product of Malaysia! > > The most popular combination of camera and scope was the Swarovski AT80 with 20~60mm zoom lens and the Nikon Coolpix 990. The reason for that camera was the internal focus lens which allowed a very close alignment of the lens with the eyepiece of the scope, the small lens diameter (28mm), the swival body design of the camera and the sharp focus of the Nikon lens. Actually, I think Laurence was using a Leica at first and eventually went to a Swarovski. However, the evolution of digiscoping was like everything else, new people came into the picture [pun intended] and new equipment was tried. Many, many cameras and scopes work for digiscoping. There is a website (I can't locate it right now, but will try) where a birder/digiscoper put all of the websites he found into a chart to allow comparison. I think Birds-Pix also has Folder still in the Files section listing members' choice of equipment. I bet it's not up to date, since it seems people are constantly upgrading cameras a scopes as they mature in the techniques. > > I have evolved from the CP990 to the CP5400, but still use the Swarovski AT80. The CP5400 camera is not ideal for digiscoping because it doesn't allow for great focal length, due to the need for a wider field of view to avoid vignetting. However, with a ScopeTronix MaxView 40mm adapter, I have been getting great shots with the CP5400 at about a 1300 effective focal length. Several of my shots have been posted on Birds-Pix in the last month, if you want to see the results. My point here is that there are many choices and many ways to approach digiscoping. You have to determine for yourself what you want to do, what is important to you. Then you do the research and try out your top choices. It's already been said, you shouldn't just take our advice, check for yourself. > > In my opinion, there is no better approach than to belong to several Yahoo groups and read, read, read; go to the "pros" websites and check out the links they are constantly posting; and try scopes and cameras for yourself. > > Maybe the most overlooked aspect of digiscoping is that it is photography at an extreme focal length, but it is photography nevertheless. The same rules apply. So, get a sturdy tripod or you will notice that your pix are not very sharp no matter what combination of scope and camera you use. Get a mechanical or electronic shutter release for the same reason. You will eventually want to try one of the many adapters for the same reason again. I started by hand-holding (so did Laurence Poh and most digiscopers), but wanted a greater percentage of my shots keepers - same principle, sturdiness. You will usually need a lot of sun. You will get some pix of just the bird's head because you couldn't get far enough away with your extreme gear, and you will wish for more "environment" around the bird. You will be in demand for that once in a lifetime pix of the vagrant rarity, like the Black-capped and Rufous Hummingbirds at SI. (When I took and posted pix of the Barnacle Goose in Alexandria, someone in Iowa asked if they could post my pix on their bird club's bulletin board.) > > This has gone on long enough, I am way too happy for a grown man when I digiscope. Also when I blow my Black-crowned Night-Heron up to a 13" x 19" print for my office wall. I hope this helps. There is no one answer, but there is a lifetime of fun and accomplishment if you want. > > Here are the Yahoo Group links directly related to digiscoping: > birds-pix-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (Here pictures are posted from around the world, and discussion held about them) > digiscopingbirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (Here digiscoping technique is discussed and debated) > > Also, here are three Nikon Yahoo groups where folks also ask and answer questions about digiscoping: > coolpix990-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > nikon5000-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > Nikon5700-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > > Happy Digiscoping, > ( ?)> > /( )\ ???? > / \/ \ > > Jack Powers > Alexandria, VA, USA > powersalex@comcast.net > http://powersalex.homestead.com > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================