Digiscoping shootout

[Neil]

Some nice light around the habour and the Reef Egrets were cooperative so I had time to test out some cameras - Ricoh GX100, Canon A640 and 650, Olympus E420. All produce sharp images given time for the AF to latch on ( the GX100 is the slowest here ) and at iso 100 give equally good results ( although the look is a little different ). Once again the old A640 gave me the highest number of keepers but out in the sun the lcd was a bit hard to see.
The Electronic Viewfinder of the GX100 was useful and the optical viewfinder of the E-420 was the nicest to use. The E-420 shooting Jpegs was fast but the Canons and Ricoh will shoot until card is full , with the Ricoh being faster for the first few frames. Neil

Swarovski STS80HD scope plus Sw 30x eyepiece and Kowa 25x LER eyepiece on DCA and balance bar.

Lamma Harbour,
Hong Kong,
China.
January 2009

[rob lee]

Hi Neil,
Nice to see that you`re still doing the camera comparisons, i think your results show that most modern cameras with a scope friendly lens, coupled together with a competent user will do you the job. I have the A640 myself but dont use it for digiscoping as its a bit of a faff to use with the adapter I have for it + I think my old Sony P200 still does a reasonable job & is quicker to use. Like you said a lot of it comes down to how many keepers you get at the end of the day. Attached is a pic from my Sony, i`m not feeling the urge to upgrade yet. Rob.

Sony P200 + Swarovski ATS 65 & 20-60 zoom

[rob lee]

With a bit more time on my hands of late & inspired by Neil`s post yesterday, I though i`d conduct my own mini shoot out with the Sony P200 & Canon A640. Conditions were less than ideal, in fact it was a typical gloomy winters day. As there was a confiding Glaucous Gull not too far away i thought that would make a good subject. Both cameras were set up the same to give a shutter speed of 1/125 on 100 iso. The first 2 pics are 100% crops straight out of the cameras, not too much in it, but perhaps Sony use slightly more in camera sharpening than Canon ? The second two pics have both been cropped, lightened & sharpened (using Picasa) to the same degree, once again I prefer the image of the Sony. Dont know what other conclusions i can draw from this apart from the fact that I still prefer the Sony & its easier to use for digiscoping. Having said that the Canon is excellent for macro work (1cm close focus & pin sharp), which is, after all, what i bought it for.
Using data from DPReview the Sony has a 1/1.8 sensor which equates to 19MP/cm2, the Canon has the same size sensor but with more pixels on it which equates to 26MP/cm2. The best digiscoped pics i`ve ever seen have been with the Nikon 8400 which has a 2/3 sensor with 14MP/cm2, but then again it also shoots RAW. Sorry these cameras are`nt really relevant to todays digiscopers, but the pixel count per cm2 is always worth looking at when considering a new camera. Waffle over, at least it passed a few hours today.

[Neil]

With a bit more time on my hands of late & inspired by Neil`s post yesterday, I though i`d conduct my own mini shoot out with the Sony P200 & Canon A640. Conditions were less than ideal, in fact it was a typical gloomy winters day. As there was a confiding Glaucous Gull not too far away i thought that would make a good subject. Both cameras were set up the same to give a shutter speed of 1/125 on 100 iso. The first 2 pics are 100% crops straight out of the cameras, not too much in it, but perhaps Sony use slightly more in camera sharpening than Canon ? The second two pics have both been cropped, lightened & sharpened (using Picasa) to the same degree, once again I prefer the image of the Sony. Dont know what other conclusions i can draw from this apart from the fact that I still prefer the Sony & its easier to use for digiscoping. Having said that the Canon is excellent for macro work (1cm close focus & pin sharp), which is, after all, what i bought it for.
Using data from DPReview the Sony has a 1/1.8 sensor which equates to 19MP/cm2, the Canon has the same size sensor but with more pixels on it which equates to 26MP/cm2. The best digiscoped pics i`ve ever seen have been with the Nikon 8400 which has a 2/3 sensor with 14MP/cm2, but then again it also shoots RAW. Sorry these cameras are`nt really relevant to todays digiscopers, but the pixel count per cm2 is always worth looking at when considering a new camera. Waffle over, at least it passed a few hours today.

Nice one Rob. I'm impressed with the Sony. I have the W100 which gave nice results too and I haven't had it out for a while ( I keep forgetting to recharge the battery ). Nice point about the pixel density. I think we don't need more than 8/10 megs for digiscoping as lower noise sensors is more important.
Neil.

[horukuru]

Yeah excellent shots Neil and Rob Lee. Any thought with the Sony W300 ?

[Neil]

Yeah excellent shots Neil and Rob Lee. Any thought with the Sony W300 ?

When the W300 first came out I thought it was a bit pricey. I also felt that the extra megs didn't add much. I think I would go for the Panasonic LX3 instead but I'm "confined to quarters" as regards to buying anything more at the moment.
Neil.

[Robert L Jarvis]

Hi Neil But how do they compare to your other compacts, Nikon, Fuji for example? not to mention your Sony. Methinks your test does not go far enough after all you are saying the best camera for keepers; is no longer available, so how would it compare to an A570 A590?
Robert

[Neil]

Hi Neil But how do they compare to your other compacts, Nikon, Fuji for example? not to mention your Sony. Methinks your test does not go far enough after all you are saying the best camera for keepers; is no longer available, so how would it compare to an A570 A590?
Robert

Robert,
I was mainly testing out the Kowa 25x eyepiece on the Swaro so didn't bother with the A590IS as it doesn't like too much ER . I will test the F100 though as it has a longer zoom that will appreciate the extra ER.
I still prefer the A640 and A650 to the A590IS . If my A640 dies I will have to buy one off Ebay. You should be able to get them second hand for some time to come. I bought my third Coolpix 4500 second hand.
Neil

[Robert L Jarvis]

Hi Neil My son has an A620 and I have tried many times to get this to work with my TSN3 with the Kowa zoom eyepiece and Opticron HDF eyepiece and either handholding or on the SRB swing away. I have not met with success, too much vignetting and to get rid of it is not easy, too much zooming.

Robert

[Neil]

Hi Neil My son has an A620 and I have tried many times to get this to work with my TSN3 with the Kowa zoom eyepiece and Opticron HDF eyepiece and either handholding or on the SRB swing away. I have not met with success, too much vignetting and to get rid of it is not easy, too much zooming.

Robert

Robert,
The old A series cameras need at least 20 mm of ER so difficult with zooms. I had an adapter cut down for my Swaro 30x and can use it from about 1/4 zoom to half zoom with no vignetting or shadowing. There is also one position on the Swaro 45x ( 18 mm of ER ) that works at about 1/3 zoom.
Neil.