Fuji F10/F11 and F30??

[Forcreeks]

Hi, I wanted to start a new thread under the Fuji title, because the digiscoping prospects of these three models are so exciting. We've had a good initial discussion under a nearby thread, but I hope if you have a gallery or just some experience with the camera, and digiscope with the F10 in particular, which has been out the longest, you'll reply here.

In particular, I'm wondering about vignette comparisons to other digiscoping cameras, due to the 1/1.7" "Super CCD", as well as overall results and user satisfaction; controls like exposure compensation ease of menu, etc.

It occurs to me that these new cameras will for the first time, open up the world of birds in flight, and other bird-action shots to us digiscopers. Wouldn't that be awesome? With the ISO sensitivities they boast, and the 1/2000 fastest shutter, we should be able to stop the action-blur of subjects even on moderately lit days, or in light shade.

[digitalbirdy]

Hi Forcreeks
I have been using an F10 for some months now and quite frankly the results are stunning.

I have used 3 setups with it: 1st binoculars and got very good results, then a very inexpenisive Opticron scope which gave very good results at 20x magnification and have now just got a decent ED glassed Opticron scope and the test shots I have done are awesome.
... But sadly the birds have been hiding for the last 3 weeks!

I get NO vignetting and the image sharpness is really really sharp, especially if you can keep the lens in the F4-F5.6 range by jiggling the ISO.

Most of my shooting is done at ISO400 which amazingly produces no noise at all. What a great little camera.

PS. With all 3 setups I decided to make my own camera mounting brackets. Some very basic and all good fun.

PPS. Haven't needed to use a remote trigger yet, even with the 32x eyepiece.

[Forcreeks]

Thanks very much for reply Digitalbirdy. You've kept the excitement and tension high, waiting for reviews on the next two, the F11 and F30. The qualities you describe in F10 sound just fantastic for digiscopers. All the best.

[Mark W]

Digitalbirdy,

You sound very pleased with your F10 and I am considering it for my next camera. It would help me with my decision if you could share some of your images with the group.

Thanks,
Mark

[digitalbirdy]

Digitalbirdy,

You sound very pleased with your F10 and I am considering it for my next camera. It would help me with my decision if you could share some of your images with the group.

Thanks,
Mark

Hi everyone, as requested here are some links to a few of my F10 pics taken this year using cheap binoculars (£10 and handheld) and one with an inexpensive opticron scope on a tripod.

http://www.t1000.co.uk/camera/bird_5080sgnd_vse.jpg (Scope)

http://www.t1000.co.uk/camera/chaffinch6932crp1_800st.jpg (Binos)

http://www.t1000.co.uk/camera/robin28feb06_mead7193crp1_600tes.jpg (Binos)

... and here is a link to an article thread on DP review, showing a few of the brackets I made to hold the F10 (you'll have to scroll down it a bit) -
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1012&message=17308758

Note: Now I would buy the F11, but it was not available when I purchased the F10. The F11 gives much better manual control for digiscoping.

IE. You can control the aperture and shutter speed, this is not possible with the F10.

[Neil]

These are great results and make me want to rush out to get the F11 to use with my new Swaro bins.Neil.

[Forcreeks]

Adrian (hope you're cover's not blown, but was in DP Review); my hat's off to you for your innovative binoscoping adapters/mounts. Very well thought and done! I've always admired the practical problem-solvers of the world. Has there been any serious following to bino-scoping? Your pioneer work here, qualifies the pursuit for a Forum of it's own and a genre of it's own, if there were enough interest level. Thanks for letting us in on it!

I'm strongly leaning to get either the F11, or to wait for the F30. On the F30's side is the greatly improved 230,000 pixel LCD (and to think, you really liked the F10's). On the unknown side is the changed range of ISO sensitivities beginning all the way up at 100 and going up to ISO-3200. As I understand it, Fuji's ISO 800 could compete with anyone else's ISO-200 for low noise, some high praise. But in digiscoping, I'll only begrudgingly shoot at ISO-200 with any previous camera I've had, due to the noise levels. So the million dollar question is: Will F30's ISO-100 be as smooth as say my Olympus C-60's ISO-64? This is a good head to head comparison as both are 6+ megapixel cameras. This is the review information I'm eagerly awaiting.

[digitalbirdy]

Adrian (hope you're cover's not blown, but was in DP Review); my hat's off to you for your innovative binoscoping adapters/mounts. Very well thought and done! I've always admired the practical problem-solvers of the world. Has there been any serious following to bino-scoping? Your pioneer work here, qualifies the pursuit for a Forum of it's own and a genre of it's own, if there were enough interest level. Thanks for letting us in on it!

I'm strongly leaning to get either the F11, or to wait for the F30. On the F30's side is the greatly improved 230,000 pixel LCD (and to think, you really liked the F10's). On the unknown side is the changed range of ISO sensitivities beginning all the way up at 100 and going up to ISO-3200. As I understand it, Fuji's ISO 800 could compete with anyone else's ISO-200 for low noise, some high praise. But in digiscoping, I'll only begrudgingly shoot at ISO-200 with any previous camera I've had, due to the noise levels. So the million dollar question is: Will F30's ISO-100 be as smooth as say my Olympus C-60's ISO-64? This is a good head to head comparison as both are 6+ megapixel cameras. This is the review information I'm eagerly awaiting.

Hi Forcreeks - thank you for your kind comments.

For what its worth my thoughts regarding the Fuji F30:
Like you said there is a lot of talk about it - but it is still an unknown quantity.

Fuji certainly know how to stir up the publicity machine. They did it with their S9000/S9500 model last year and although its OK and good for its price, I was dissapointed with its performance overall and decided not to buy it.

I badly want the higher resolution LCD the F30 promises, but fear they may have a less expensive/worse, sensor or lens! And being a cautious creature I won't be the first to rush out and buy one.

Regarding Bino scoping:
As many digiscopers only opt for a x10 eyepiece, it occurred to me that a pair of binos would do the trick and be more portable.

Also you can look through one side - using it as a monocular and photograph with the other!

Being they are so easy to hold and use, I have found that with the high ISO and fast lens of the F10, a tripod isnt necessary either!

OK a tripod mounted £1500 Swaro/Leica/etc will be sharper and have further reach. But a setup thats more portable and quicker to use, will get used far more often.

Best of luck everyone.

[Bish]

I have just tried a F10 this afternoon with my Swarovski ATS80HD & 20-60x Zoom & am very pleased with the 1st results
The camera was used on a Swarovski DCB but without cable release & the pics were took at 3 x optical zoom 400 ISO
I found you can get the lens right against the eyepiece without touching the glass as the diameter is slightly larger
I was able to take pics up to 60x zoom on the scope without any vignetting but haven't posted any here as they were too soft
I will post some at 60x once I've modified my cable release to fit

Regards Bish. :t:

[Paul Jarvis]

Nice shots bish. It makes all the difference when the sun is shining.

[Bish]

Here are a few more F10 images I took today
The Cormorant was taken at extreme range & was just a black dot to the naked eye, the scope was at 60x & camera at 3x optical zoom 100 ISO
The image is not that good but I posted it to show the lack of vignetting at that magnification
The Sedge warbler was at 20x
The light was not too good so I dropped the ISO down & there is some camera shake due to the wind & cable release a bit short

Regards Bish. :t:

[digitalbirdy]

Here are a few more F10 images I took today
The Cormorant was taken at extreme range & was just a black dot to the naked eye, the scope was at 60x & camera at 3x optical zoom 100 ISO
The image is not that good but I posted it to show the lack of vignetting at that magnification
The Sedge warbler was at 20x
The light was not too good so I dropped the ISO down & there is some camera shake due to the wind & cable release a bit short

Regards Bish. :t:

Bish you're getting some nice pictures there. And the quality is certainly improving as you get used to the camera. I normally use ISO400 as it keeps the shutter speed nice and high, helping me get sharp photos. I also noticed that when the Fuji zoom past 2x through the scope, that the sharpness does not quite have the same bite.
I hope this info helps, it took me lots of photos to suss it out.

Regards - Adrian

[Bish]

Bish you're getting some nice pictures there. And the quality is certainly improving as you get used to the camera. I normally use ISO400 as it keeps the shutter speed nice and high, helping me get sharp photos. I also noticed that when the Fuji zoom past 2x through the scope, that the sharpness does not quite have the same bite.
I hope this info helps, it took me lots of photos to suss it out.

Regards - Adrian

Thanks for the comments & info Adrian I'll try that next time, I'm very pleased so far with the camera & the ability to use the scope at all zoom levels without vignetting is great & appears to be rare with other camera's

I noticed from your pic of the camera with velcro on it that you are using a LCD sunshade, Did you make your own or is it a commercialy made one?
I struggled to see the screen yesterday when the sun was out so need to sort this out before the next session

Regards Bish. :t:

[digitalbirdy]

Hi Bish

Yes seeing the screen in bright daylight is a real problem with the F10. I did buy a telescopic bellows type sunshade from Jessops, which I thought was quite expensive - somewhere around £15 I think.

I didn't find it help very much for me as my eyesight is not good for close up viewing. So I modified it by gluing a plastic magnifying glass to the eye end, and added a rubber eye cup. So now it works like a huge viewfinder. Now I can really focus the scope accurately.

[Can Popper]

Just found this thread. On another sub-forum, the Pentax spotting scope sub-forum, I posted some pictures I took with my Fuji F10 and Pentax 100 spotter.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=57013

The high ISO sensitivity of the F10 is great. I'm going to try to take some pictures of the comet Schwasmann-Wachmann with it this weekend. Hopefully the high sensitivity of the F10 will bring me some nice pics.

[potvis]

I use the Fuji F11 for digiscoping on a Nikon ED-82A with a DS30x eyepiece for three months.
My impressions:
Pro:- camera is quite responsive, startup quick , shutterlag ok.
- high ISO's are quite useable, though ISO 1600 shows noticable noise
- battery live is very good (up to 500 pictures)
- in-camera sharpening is low(which is good), post-processing
in Photoshop brings better results.
- no vignetting (in my combination), though there can be seen in
thumbnails a slight fall-off of light at the edges
- as vibration is big ussue in digiscoping due to the enormous focal
length ( in my case 1080 to 3240 mm. in 35-mm. eq.) high shutterspeeds
are essential and possible
Cons:
- The F11 has only a tripod mount, it will be hard to find a ready-
made adaptor that needs no customizing.
- the LCD-screen is without a LCD-shade hard to use in daylight for
focussing the scope (the F 30 will have a better LCD-screen,
so better wait for that)

For my equipment see: http://www.potvis.org/digiscoping/index.html
For some pictures see:
http://www.birdpix.nl/album_personal.php?user_id=2778

As for the wish to shoot flying birds, I doubt it, hand focussing is far to slow.
I have already problems with the fast moving waders, but I plan to have a try.

Dirk Dijkstra : :t:

[Neil]

I've just taken the plunge and bought the F30. We have a typhoon passing nearby here and causing rainstorms for the next few days , but I'll test and post photos as soon as I can. Neil.