Digiscoping Breakthrough!!

[Doug]

I must be a bit thick. I have a CP4500 with the eagleeye adaptor set up on a Kowa TSN3. I have been trying and trying to get decent shots but found either to stop blurring the shutter speed was too fast and the picture dark or I set the aperature to cope with the light and reduced the shutter speed - and blurred images resulted. This is where the 'me being thick' bit comes in. I was dumping all the dark photo's thinking they were unusable but I have just had 5 minutes on one in Elements and it is incredible how you can manipulate the image to make it lighter.

So am I right in thinking it is better to go for a faster shutter speed - 1/125th and faster, even though the image appears dark and then lighten it on the PC later - is this what everyone but me is doing?

I have felt like a complete failure looking at everyones splendid shots. I am still struggling to find the bird in the image finder - I must try one of these LED sights everyone is talking about.

Confessions of a dullard over - thank you for listening!!!;)

[James]

You might call yourself a dullard. Some of us are keeping quiet and learning!!!

James

[digi-birder]

Hi Doug,

This is something I have recently been trying, although I do seem to be getting faster shutter speeds with the Canon than I did with the Coolpix 995.

It certainly helps to try and get a high shutter speed. 1/125th is the recommended minimum. Another method is to increase the ISO speed in the camera. That also increases the shutter speed although it increases grain in the photo.

You can get decent photos with lower shutter speeds but you do need to have the bird sitting still (!) and have a cable release. Oh, and don't breathe.

[stevo]

Hi Doug

This might help try zooming back to about f3.8-4.0 or just until the vignetting goes,this way you will let more light into the camera & get a faster shutter speed.This setting seems to work best (to me anyway) in MACRO mode with the flower symbol lit yellow,aperture priority mode.

Hope this helps Stevo.

[Glen Tepke]

Set your camera to aperture priority and set the aperture wide open, i.e., the smallest number. This will result in minimal depth of field but you aren't going to get much depth using a scope anyway. If that doesn't give you a fast enough shutter speed, set exposure compensation to -0.3 or -0.7. This will darken the picture, but as you said, this is easy to correct in Photoshop. If your shutter speed is still too slow, increase ISO to 200. The increased noise isn't too bad on the 4500. Finally, use as little zoom as possible, both on the scope (assuming you are using a zoom eyepiece) and on the camera. Glen

[Doug]

Brilliant suggestions - thank you all. Sunday Afternoon, all being well, I will do some experimenting.

[Glen Tepke]

I should add that if you have tried everything I suggested in my previous post and still are not getting satisfactory shots, there are two possibilities: 1) it is dark out, in which case, go home!, or 2) your problem is not shutter speed. Fast speeds (1/125 or better) certainly make getting sharp shots easier, but are not essential if the bird is not moving. I often get only 1/40 and have gotten decent shots as slow as 1/3. Your problem might be with focusing -- try both autofocus (macro mode) and scope focus (camera in manual/infinity or mountain mode) on every bird if you can. Or it might be motion blur, in which case you need a rock-solid tripod and head, a cable release (EagleEye sells a bracket or you can make one), and to stay out of the wind. Glen