Exactly what is digiscoping?

[Gentoo]

I've seen it mentioned a few times here and there and that a D40, which is what I have, is good for it. What exactly does this entail? What other equipment do I need for it and is it worth it?

[IanF]

Basically it's taking photos through a birders spotting scope.

Usually this is accomplished by using a compact digital camera either hand held to the scope eyepiece or mounted on the eyepiece using some form of bracket. A compact digital camera is preferable as it has a built in zoom the effect of which is added to whatever eyepiece is being used.

A DSLR can be used. It can be mounted on the scope in one of two ways. Either using a photo adapter which mounts the camera body via a T adapter to the scope body - so there's no camera eyepeice and no scope eyepiece so magnification is low. The alternative is to mount the camera+lens (usually 50mm prime) to the scope eyepiece using an adapter similar to using a compact camera. However you then have no camera zoom.

You can get decent photos using a DSLR but it's not as versatile as using a compact camera for zoom control and of course the weight of holding a DSLR on the scope eyepiece/tripod.

[J. Moore]

I've seen it mentioned a few times here and there and that a D40, which is what I have, is good for it. What exactly does this entail? What other equipment do I need for it and is it worth it?

Hi Gentoo,

Some further info: The main advantage is you can get very high magnification without lugging around (or paying for) a massive telephoto lens. The main disadvantage is it can be tricky to get focus and other things right, and you will typically have a lower success rate than using the camera alone. (Also, you have to take the time to set up the scope -- and the adapter if using one -- before you take a picture; so you need cooperative birds and some extra time and patience). I actually used to do this (and had an adapter) in the pre-digital age (i.e. film); but I think the advent of digital cameras (together with a catchy name) has made it more popular, and it is now more feasible to use photographic methods with low success rates because the marginal cost of an additional photo is essentially zero.

Best,
Jim