Less knowledge about digiscoping than a novice!

[Allen S. Moore]

I am always impressed by the photographs many people on the Forum produce by digiscoping. I often wonder whether digital cameras exist which have sufficient magnification to produce reasonable images without attaching them to a telescope? I used a digital camera (HP Photosmart R717 - not bought with birds in mind) with a bit of magnification when I was in Australia 3 months ago and managed reasonable photographs of birds, eg. singing honeyeater, magpie lark & willy wagtail, that enabled me to identify the first two on the first day or two before I became a bit more familiar with the birdlife. Are there digital cameras that have a lot more magnification?
Allen

[christineredgate]

Allen,why not peruse the digiscoping threads on the Forum.There are many cameras mentioned and it may give you some idea as to your requirements.

[normjackson]

I used a digital camera (HP Photosmart R717 - not bought with birds in mind) ... Are there digital cameras that have a lot more magnification?
Allen
Surely :
http://www.imaging-resource.com/WB/WB.HTM?view=dp_long
Or the 10-12X Optical "Super" Zoom cameras here (looks like it needs updating) :
http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
These would give three to four times the magnification of your current camera, or maybe 5+ times with an optional tele converter attachment. Still less magnifications than digiscopers are used to though.

And incidentally, there are also a few "convenience" alternatives to the usual digiscoping route. These combined camera/scopes :
http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?CatID=30&ProdID=417
http://www.kowascope.com/frontend/proddetail.asp?pn=TD-1&co=10000331
And the soon to be released (?) Zeiss DC4 eyepiece for use with Zeiss scopes :
http://www.zeiss.com/c1256bcf0020be5f/Contents-Frame/3040dd99ca4df2a0c12571f50023e832

[Allen S. Moore]

Allen,why not peruse the digiscoping threads on the Forum.There are many cameras mentioned and it may give you some idea as to your requirements.
Thanks. I was thinking that I would be overwhelmed by all the information, knowing nothing at all about the subject and all that, but I'll persevere!