Scope with camera attached?

[Eagle]

When will some one come up with a scope and camera already attached.

I know its called a long lens!!

But I was speaking with a fellow bider the other day.He wondered when it would be.I have all the attachments for digiscoping but...it takes so long to get the stuff sorted when the bird is in the scope I end up missing it anyway!!

My Rebel is better but I need to buy a longer lens my current one goes up to
200mm.

Which lens would be the best? I think 400mm but I'd like some help here.
Price? Should it be a Canon?

[pduxon]

Hi Eagle

Kowa do a scope, TD-1, which is a combined scope and digital camera. Very pricey £1499

[alan_rymer]

Its called a Camcorder!.;)

[Eagle]

Hi Eagle

Kowa do a scope, TD-1, which is a combined scope and digital camera. Very pricey £1499


Thanks Pete(good result for you last night!!!)

Ha ha Alan!! ;)

Any advance on the lens?????

[Eagle]

Just had a lok at it onWarehouse express ..not much information ..Anyone seen one got one???
Lightweight or heavy???

Comments???

Cheers


(I think 1500 a little expensive for me at the moment with all these holidays to be be paid for !!!)

[Andrew]

The new Kowa is in one of the two monthly magazines. Looks a bit suspect. Might be a poor camera married to a poor scope. If one bit went wrong you are lumbered with an half operational tool.

[pduxon]

Just had a lok at it onWarehouse express ..not much information ..Anyone seen one got one???
Lightweight or heavy???

Comments???

Cheers


(I think 1500 a little expensive for me at the moment with all these holidays to be be paid for !!!)

http://www.pyser-sgi.com/productdetail.asp?ProductID=1584

weight 2.3 kgs!!

[pduxon]

The new Kowa is in one of the two monthly magazines. Looks a bit suspect. Might be a poor camera married to a poor scope. If one bit went wrong you are lumbered with an half operational tool.

wasn't recommending it Andy!!

[Alastair Rae]

I can't work out if this is going to be a flash in the pan or a standard piece of kit in a few years time. Perhaps a camera spotting scope is just too specialised a requirement. Or maybe by 2010 we'll be beaming rarity shots straight from the scope to the internet.

Many of us are just too lazy to carry scope and a long lens. Hence the popularity of digiscoping. But fiddling around with adapters has to get easier somehow.

[Eagle]

http://www.pyser-sgi.com/productdetail.asp?ProductID=1584

weight 2.3 kgs!!


Thanks, Pete.

[christineredgate]

Most likely a standard similar to the binocular/camera combined.Not really a very good buy.

[jiminlondon99]

Most likely a standard similar to the binocular/camera combined.Not really a very good buy.
Unfortunately I suspect you are right as all the specification details for the camera I have seen give little or no mention of;
metering modes, focusing options, ev compensation, shutter speeds etc.

I will await with interest the review in next months Birdwatch.

jim

[johnruss]

Hi Eagle

Kowa do a scope, TD-1, which is a combined scope and digital camera. Very pricey £1499
Also is not waterproof at all. Lot of money to get wet..

[postcardcv]

I know this is an old thread, so might well not be of much interest now, but I had the chance to try one of these Kowa's out a few months back, so thought I'd share my thinking...

Firstly the camera is only 3mp, which by current standards is fairly low. The scope has only a 55mm objective, which is small most would subscribe to the bigger is better theory, especially for digiscoping. The camera has a very slow shooting rate and the AF seems slow too, neither are ideal for bird photography.

Personally I did not find it easy to use as either a scope or a camera, I guess it's trying to be both things at once and not mastering either. As has been mentioned if the camera went wrong you'd have to replace the whole unit, the same would apply if you wanted to upgrade. Given the price tag I'm not suprised that this hasn't been a big seller.

I think if you're main interest is photography a dslr and long lens would be a better bet (and 350D or D70 with Sigma 170-500 would cost a lot less than this Kowa). If you're a birder who wants to get some photos, then get a good 80mm ED/HD/APO scope and a decent compact camera, it would be a much better buy.

I should stress that this is just my opinion and clearly the Kowa can take good photos (as some examples in the gallery show), but I think the other options are much easier and more effective.

[erniehatt]

As I only am going to use my Canon A610 for digiscoping I have devised a bracket by which I can leave camera and scope connected all the time. I have now built a case to house the whole caboodle, its only a matter of fixing it to the tripod. Ernie