Digiscoping with FZ%

[gvenhuizen]

Hi,

I have not been able to find the answer to the following question.
Is it possible to do digiscoping with a FZ5 and a Swarovski ATS65/80 HD (20-60x)? Or FZ5 and Zeiss 85mmTF L (angled)? And what would I need?
Really hope somebody can help me out.

Kind regards,
Geert Venhuizen

[Neil]

Geert,
As mentioned in the digiscoping discussions a camera with a 3 or 4 x zoom is the most suitable for digiscoping. Longer zooms won't work due to too much vignetting, especially with the 12x zoom cameras.Neil.

[gvenhuizen]

Hi Neil,

Thx for your answer. Still: what if I do not use the full zoom, just up to 3x or 4x? I mean, that should be possible with the FZ5.

Regards,
Geert

[Neil]

Geert,
The problem is that the more you zoom to the wide end of the zoom the more vignetting you will get. It will be like looking down a tunnel. Neil.

[demojohn]

First, Does your lens exstend when you zoom if it does it will be dificult to attach to a scope.I use a fz30 and it works
for me.

Hi,

I have not been able to find the answer to the following question.
Is it possible to do digiscoping with a FZ5 and a Swarovski ATS65/80 HD (20-60x)? Or FZ5 and Zeiss 85mmTF L (angled)? And what would I need?
Really hope somebody can help me out.

Kind regards,
Geert Venhuizen

[davids]

First, Does your lens exstend when you zoom if it does it will be dificult to attach to a scope.I use a fz30 and it works
for me.

Demojohn

How do you attach you FZ30 to your scope? Have you got any results you could post?

David

[gvenhuizen]

First, Does your lens exstend when you zoom if it does it will be dificult to attach to a scope.I use a fz30 and it works
for me.

Okay, in the meantime I have found out the following (via scopetronix.com).

First: there is a digiscoping adapter available at www.scopetronix.com called the Max-View S. This is T-threaded on top. It fits the Swarovski ATS65HD, and I guess the eyepiece of the 65 to be the same size as the 80, so it would fit the ATS80HD as well (USD 169,95)

2nd: If you use (I don't know the name in english, so i'll describe it) the thing that comes with the FZ5 to protect against too much sunlight and put it the other way around on your FZ5, it has T-thread where you can attach eg. macro lens or in this case an adapter (this I learned from a fellow-Dutchie who also uses the FZ5, but had never heard of digiscoping)

3rd: You need a stepring in between the sunprotector-thing and the MaxView-S, which can also be bought at scopetronix.com (USD 30,95)

Does this make sense? Or is it just Scopetronix wanting to sell to some foreigner?

Many thanks again.
Geert

BTW: and yes, the lens comes out when zooming....

[Neil]

The Maxview S is a 40mm eyepiece with a Swarovski mount on one end and a universal T mount on the other end to which you can fit an adapter. It is an 11.5x magnification eyepiece on a Swarovski scope with about 29 mm of Eye Relief which is about 9 mm more than you get with the Swarovski zoom at 20x. This may be enough to work with the FZ5 lens but would have to be tested. Don't forget that the Sw 65mm let's in less light than the 80 mm and the shutter speeds will be lower but you will have higher magnifications (possible 11.5 x 10x = 115x optical ) which is way too much for the 65mm scope (about 50 x would be advisable which would suggest that you should use about 6x camera zoom ). You would need to check how much vignetting there was at half zoom on the camera. I'm interested to how combination would work. Neil.

[normjackson]

I suspect trying to use the FZ5 for digiscoping is a bit like trying to do the slalom in ski jumping skis : you'd end up having to make a lot of adjustments just to achieve inferior results.

Cameras which have been used successfully in digiscoping are quite reasonably priced now; certainly when measured against scopes, tripods and all the specialist digiscoping paraphenalia. That's a change from the the days when the Coolpixes (4500 was $700 on release) were the only recommended choice.

My single cent's worth :h?:

[gvenhuizen]

Yep. Though I am tempted to give it a try (als because I bought the FZ5 a little less than a year ago), I guess I'd better buy a Coolpix. Probably end up cheaper in the end even. Thanks for all your help here. Great forum!

Geert

[demojohn]

Hi.
I Used A tube with the right thread to fit the camera and got a friend to turn a wooden plug to fit in the tube with a hole in the centure to fit the eyepice.
D.J.

Demojohn

How do you attach you FZ30 to your scope? Have you got any results you could post?

David

[demojohn]

Demojohn

How do you attach you FZ30 to your scope? Have you got any results you could post?

David

Have a look under FZ30 demojohn you will find picture of both.
D.J.