Advice for someone new

[MLoyko]

Hi all,

I see all the wonderful products you guys are shelling out from digiscoping and I want to get into probably.

I just know what I need. I know you need a scope and a camera and an adapter....but what is good for me?

I just want to know because my grandparents have a condo on a marsh down at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA which is garaunteed to have herons/egrets/ others things everytime you go down and I wanted to take it down when I go this summer.

Any advice for equipment?

Thanks,
Matt

[Neil]

Matt,
Have a look at the digiscoping threads on various cameras . Most of them discuss scopes used and adapters as well. Any of the major brands of scopes will do a good to excellent job and there are many cameras you could use. The Nikon P5100 is one of the better ones at the moment but several of the Canons and Sonys will work too.
Neil.

[J. Moore]

I just know what I need. I know you need a scope and a camera and an adapter....but what is good for me?

Hi Matt,

You also need a tripod. I think at minimum, for a low-end set up, you are talking around $1000. (I assume you know the FZ18 does not work well as a digiscoping camera--a lot of vignetting). Also, though it has a trendy name, it can be a rather difficult technique to perfect, and it has a relatively low success rate, i.e. you have to take a lot of photos to get a few good shots.

Another much less expensive option you might consider is getting a teleconverter for your FZ18 (I recommend the Olympus TCON 17). That will give you magnification equivalent to a low-power scope (roughly equivalent to a 13x binocular). It is also more flexible in that you can quickly move the camera to get the best shot, rather than having to set up a tripod, etc.

But on the other hand, if you do continue in birding, you will want to get a scope at some point anyway. So the $1000 would not be a waste if you decided not to do much digiscoping.

My two cents,
Jim

[MLoyko]

Thanks guys,

I guess I will have to think hard about it.

-Matt

[Derry]

would certainly recommend buying the best scope you can afford,, it will last a life time and the other gear (tripod, camera, accessories) will be replaced several times,,

keep an eye out on the for sale area here on the bird forum, have seen a few good scopes go through at a decent price,,

can be a very rewarding hobby if you love to be in the field and birding, will also be a learning curve,,

if your strolling the pages here on the Bird Forum I would say you going to get hooked,,:t:

Derry