New to digiscoping.....from an angler

[craynerd]

As an angler i`m constantly taking notice of the surrounds and wildlife. Also i always have my camera present for any interesting things i may see. I`d love to take pictures of birds and other distant wildlife but at present my only wildlife shots are of robins that were aprox 3 foot away on my rod and had a camera to hand.

Looking into digiscoping and you look to be able to produce some great shots. As a student i dont have great funds but i would prefer decent stuff and to build it up than buy on a budget.

I have a casio exilim Z3 3.2 mp with pentax 3x optical zoom - http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/Z3/Z3A.HTM

Now i have been searching the forums for the last 2 hours and i still dont understand exactly what i will need..spotting scope and eye piece....do i need something that will be specific to my camera ?



Chris

[Andy Bright]

Hi Chris,
At it's simplest, all you need is your camera and a spotting scope (often as not, sold with an eyepiece)
You can then either hold the camera up to the eyepiece and take your photos (but watch out for the camera lens hitting the eyepiece) or you can purchase a bracket type of device that will hold the camera up to the eyepiece (via the camera's tripod socket). The camera is then positioned just far enough away from the eyepiece so that the camera lens will never actually hit the eyepiece.

Handholding the camera up to a scope can produce good results but very often there will be lots of camera shake, and at these magnifications, the results can be very poor unless it's a very bright day to enable a fast shutter-speed to freeze movement.

Unfortunately, your particular camera may not be as easy to digiscope with compared to many the digiscopers use. We often use cameras with an internal focus mechanism, so that the lens doesn't actually move... these cameras often have a threaded part surrounding the lens so that we can attach a simple tube type 'digiscoping adapter' that slides over the scope's eyepiece.

Most scopes should produce some sort of results, though you do get what you pay for. Look for a scope with an objective lens diameter of 77mm+ and with a lowish powered eyepiece... 20x will be good.

cheers,
Andy


As an angler i`m constantly taking notice of the surrounds and wildlife. Also i always have my camera present for any interesting things i may see. I`d love to take pictures of birds and other distant wildlife but at present my only wildlife shots are of robins that were aprox 3 foot away on my rod and had a camera to hand.

Looking into digiscoping and you look to be able to produce some great shots. As a student i dont have great funds but i would prefer decent stuff and to build it up than buy on a budget.

I have a casio exilim Z3 3.2 mp with pentax 3x optical zoom - http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/Z3/Z3A.HTM

Now i have been searching the forums for the last 2 hours and i still dont understand exactly what i will need..spotting scope and eye piece....do i need something that will be specific to my camera ?



Chris

[alan_rymer]

And you also need a sturdy tripod, yuo're looking at at least £200 minimum, see what you can find 2nd hand, try to find a scope from a known brand.
If you find a scope, take your camera into the store and ask to try holding the camera to the scope eyepiece just to make sure your camera will be compatible with scopes, some have to0 much vignetting ( tunnel vision? ) to work well, using the zoom on the camera reduces vignetting but maximum zoom can be the cause of "soft" fuzzy pics.

Good luck in your search.