opticron imagic 80 but no camera yet.

[Mad_Sunday]

Hi, I have returned to birding after about 15 years. I have just bought an Opticron Imagic 80 on ebay (used to use the IF 75 classic) but need a camera to try digiscoping. I have an old samsung digmax 3200 3.2 mp camera but it is heavy and the zoom pokes out of the front so its not ideal I guess? My phone camera is only 2 mp (htc touch phone) small and light but no zoom. Do i need to get another camera or is it worth trying these with the scope first?

I intend to use "the GIMP" to process the pictures on my laptop (I use Linux rather than Windows) does anyone else use this excellent free software package?

My first post here, looking forward to many more!

Regards, Pete.

[postcardcv]

Hi Pete and welcome to BirdForum from all the moderaters and admin.

For digiscoping almost any compact camera with a 3-4x optical zoom should work fine, with some eyepeice you can get away with larger optical zooms but 3x is a safe bet. Some of the current favourites are the Fuji F31 and the more expensive Nikon P5100...

But just look for a camera with 3x optical zoom, a decent lens and a large (good quality) screen. I use a cheap Sony and a half decent Canon IXUS for digiscoping, both produce good results as they have good lenses.