Any new digiscoping cameras yet?? Am I on the right track?

[jdlang]

I've been in the market for a good camera for digiscoping and have been reading the digiscoping camera forum for awhile now. I have a Pentax 80ED scope 20x60 zoom which I am very happy with. I have been playing around with the 720SW Olympus 7 MP, an underwater camera I have had. I'm not real happy with it but thought it may work, and besides, I'm getting experience with it! I have no vignetting problems with the camera zoom (3x). But I'm not getting sharp pictures like I want to. I usually use about 20-30zoom. I have played around a little with camera settings and have gotten better picts. And I only hand hold right now until I find the best suited camera for me. :D

I have tried the Sony DSC N2 and Cannon A620(bringing my scope into the store). I liked the N2 better, since the A620 has vignetting issues with my scope, but haven't tried the Fuji F30 yet (none in the stores near me) even though through this forum it is very highly regarded. I'm reluctant to buy the Fuji on line without having tried it. I have a Canon S2IS (12x zoom) which I love, but is worthless for digiscoping. But I do like the rotatable LCD, SD card and the AA batteries that this camera has. So I bring both cameras with me while birding until I buy the digiscoping camera that's best for me.

Questions:
1. Is the F20 similar to the F30? I did find one of those to try out in a store.

2. Am I on the right track, going for the F30 and using it with the Pentax scope? Any Pentax scope owners out there? I know people like coolpix too and would prefer the swivel LCD. (I'd also like AA batteries and SD card since I already use that with my S2IS!)

3. Can you adjust aperture as well as shutter speeds with both of these cameras? I was having difficulty finding out how to do that with the N2.

4. How do I attach or insert a picture to show you a couple of examples with the hand-held Olympus?

Please respond if you have any helpful information for me and THANKS so much for such a wonderful site with so much info and great threads!


jd

[john-henry]

I've been in the market for a good camera for digiscoping and have been reading the digiscoping camera forum for awhile now. I have a Pentax 80ED scope 20x60 zoom which I am very happy with. I have been playing around with the 720SW Olympus 7 MP, an underwater camera I have had. I'm not real happy with it but thought it may work, and besides, I'm getting experience with it! I have no vignetting problems with the camera zoom (3x). But I'm not getting sharp pictures like I want to. I usually use about 20-30zoom. I have played around a little with camera settings and have gotten better picts. And I only hand hold right now until I find the best suited camera for me. :D

I have tried the Sony DSC N2 and Cannon A620(bringing my scope into the store). I liked the N2 better, since the A620 has vignetting issues with my scope, but haven't tried the Fuji F30 yet (none in the stores near me) even though through this forum it is very highly regarded. I'm reluctant to buy the Fuji on line without having tried it. I have a Canon S2IS (12x zoom) which I love, but is worthless for digiscoping. But I do like the rotatable LCD, SD card and the AA batteries that this camera has. So I bring both cameras with me while birding until I buy the digiscoping camera that's best for me.

Questions:
1. Is the F20 similar to the F30? I did find one of those to try out in a store.

2. Am I on the right track, going for the F30 and using it with the Pentax scope? Any Pentax scope owners out there? I know people like coolpix too and would prefer the swivel LCD. (I'd also like AA batteries and SD card since I already use that with my S2IS!)

3. Can you adjust aperture as well as shutter speeds with both of these cameras? I was having difficulty finding out how to do that with the N2.

4. How do I attach or insert a picture to show you a couple of examples with the hand-held Olympus?

Please respond if you have any helpful information for me and THANKS so much for such a wonderful site with so much info and great threads!


jd

Hi jd,
As far as I can see the F20 is very similar to the F30 and should work OK, according to the specs I've just read on it it has Aperture and Shutter Priority so adjustments to exposure should be no problem.

To attach a picture to a thread just click on "manage attachments" below, browse to where you have your pic and select it to upload (Make sure you have saved it for web use previously), it's as simple as that.

There's one other camera you might like to look at, if you can find one, it's the canon A95, I use one and it really is a great camera, a bit slow compared to the more recent models but takes excellent pictures uses AA batteries and has a swivel screen, it takes CF cards rather than SD, but these are so cheap these days it's no drawback. There's a link below for a review on it.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona95/page9.asp

Regards

John

[jdlang]

Thanks John. I read lots of your posts and respect your opinion. I'll look at the link you provided and go into the store to try the F30. And I'll play around with trying to upload some photos.

JD

[jdlang]

John,
I'm wondering how old the A90 is. I'm not opposed to something older. I just want something that works well. But do want to try it and see how it works with my scope. So is it still around or is it a camera I have to find used?

JD

[buzzard12]

John,
I'm wondering how old the A90 is. I'm not opposed to something older. I just want something that works well. But do want to try it and see how it works with my scope. So is it still around or is it a camera I have to find used?

JD

I assume you are referring to the "old" Canon a95 which I have been using for a year now...Its been discontinued, first rule of anything that works too well is that you cant replace it and the new model doesnt do what the old one used to!
Technically it has been superseeded by the a620 and as such (the A95)is an old model camera but with a bit of searching is still available. Personally I love the camera, simple to use and capable of great results,given its limitations. I find it limited in low light conditions(but low light is a curse in winter in Sweden on dull days, the norm with any cloud cover) and a liitle slow when you have the subject in the frame and want to fire off 20 odd shots in a row...
Having said that its simplicity is key, I am not a pro photographer and nor do I seek to be, so shoot and fire and move on, etc, but this camera has suprised me as to results and surpassed my expectations.
Its adequate if you dont expect too much. Check out my gallery or John Henry's, who has some great shots and if I may say so has been an absolute gentleman with regard to his infinite aid to beginners in the field on this forum and continues to aid newcomers as he did me with unflagging understanding..
As with regard to the newer cameras I dont know what to say..

I do believe that Canon, Leica or Nikon could make huge profits off the perfect digiscoping camera, or for that matter a lesser brand name, features like internal zoom, swivel screen, quiet engine, long outdoor battery life are old news now, lets face it, but cater to us please... if they get it right,even with the limitationns of digiscoping it will sell them even more dslr cameras (not at the expense of profit)as we discover the joys of our birding observations digitally imbedded on our home computers....

Hope this helps...

Sorry about the minor tirade....

Ps; Any major camera company reps or designers reading this??Please feel free...

[jdlang]

I assume you are referring to the "old" Canon a95 which I have been using for a year now...Its been discontinued, first rule of anything that works too well is that you cant replace it and the new model doesnt do what the old one used to!
Technically it has been superseeded by the a620 and as such (the A95)is an old model camera but with a bit of searching is still available. Personally I love the camera, simple to use and capable of great results,given its limitations. I find it limited in low light conditions(but low light is a curse in winter in Sweden on dull days, the norm with any cloud cover) and a liitle slow when you have the subject in the frame and want to fire off 20 odd shots in a row...
Having said that its simplicity is key, I am not a pro photographer and nor do I seek to be, so shoot and fire and move on, etc, but this camera has suprised me as to results and surpassed my expectations.
Its adequate if you dont expect too much. Check out my gallery or John Henry's, who has some great shots and if I may say so has been an absolute gentleman with regard to his infinite aid to beginners in the field on this forum and continues to aid newcomers as he did me with unflagging understanding..
As with regard to the newer cameras I dont know what to say..

I do believe that Canon, Leica or Nikon could make huge profits off the perfect digiscoping camera, or for that matter a lesser brand name, features like internal zoom, swivel screen, quiet engine, long outdoor battery life are old news now, lets face it, but cater to us please... if they get it right,even with the limitationns of digiscoping it will sell them even more dslr cameras (not at the expense of profit)as we discover the joys of our birding observations digitally imbedded on our home computers....

Hope this helps...

Sorry about the minor tirade....

Ps; Any major camera company reps or designers reading this??Please feel free...

Buzzard12,
Thanks for replying. I couldn't find the Canon A95 and realized it was probably an older one that wasn't in stores anymore. (I don't know how to use quotes ono this site yet, so I'm just responding this way for ease and speed...sorry.) Your gallery has great picts of the goldeneyes and tufted duck, etc and like your daily blog. I'm really looking forward to getting some camera that will work better than what I have and I guess it is a matter of time and making choices of what's most important to me in the camera. I do wish the camera dealers would see the benefit to their catering to us digiscopers. It sure is a growing market. And it would make us happy. I'll look at John Henry's site too.

I have appreciated reading all of the more experienced digiscopers' reviews and takes on different cameras over the last months, but I still don't know quite which way I'll go, darn it!
JD

[jdlang]

Buzzard12,
Thanks for replying. I couldn't find the Canon A95 and realized it was probably an older one that wasn't in stores anymore. (I don't know how to use quotes ono this site yet, so I'm just responding this way for ease and speed...sorry.) Your gallery has great picts of the goldeneyes and tufted duck, etc and like your daily blog. I'm really looking forward to getting some camera that will work better than what I have and I guess it is a matter of time and making choices of what's most important to me in the camera. I do wish the camera dealers would see the benefit to their catering to us digiscopers. It sure is a growing market. And it would make us happy. I'll look at John Henry's site too.

I have appreciated reading all of the more experienced digiscopers' reviews and takes on different cameras over the last months, but I still don't know quite which way I'll go, darn it!
JD

Here are two photos by hand-holding the Olympus720SW with the Pentax 80ED at 20x. They are pretty good and passable, but I have gotten quite frustrated with most of the pictures I've tried (and know this camera isn't the one I will be happy with long-term and I know hand-held is quite different than being attached to the scope for sharpness). Oh, on the Peregrine Falcon I used unsharp mask to sharpen it up a bit. I did not do anything with the Killdeer on eggs. JD

[john-henry]

Here are two photos by hand-holding the Olympus720SW with the Pentax 80ED at 20x. They are pretty good and passable, but I have gotten quite frustrated with most of the pictures I've tried (and know this camera isn't the one I will be happy with long-term and I know hand-held is quite different than being attached to the scope for sharpness). Oh, on the Peregrine Falcon I used unsharp mask to sharpen it up a bit. I did not do anything with the Killdeer on eggs. JD

Hi JD, nice pics, especially the Peregrine in difficult lighting.
If you've got light as good as this for shooting you don't really want the F30, it's great for low light situations but there are better cameras around for good sunlight.
Have you had a look at the Olympus SP range, they uses AA rechargeable batteries and I presume you already have XD cards for your 720. I tried the SP-350 a little while ago, there is some CA with it but a sharp lens and easy to use.
I'm not recommending it just pointing out there are lots of other cameras on the market, best thing is to try as many different ones as you can.

A couple of pics below taken with the 350. Robin in low light and Great Tit in good light.

Regards

John

[ramiot]

I use a DSLR with a Pentax PF80ED and I am very satisfied. My DSLR is the Pentax K100D that I use with a A50mm(F:1.7) and a M28mm(F:2.8) and they work fine. My scope has the XW20X eyepiece and I use a step down ring between the lens and the eyepiece ( 49mm to 43mm). I like the idea of using a DSLR instead of a Point & Shoot because of the flexibility that camera offers for other photography such as Macro. One more thing because of miror movement and weight of the DSLR camera you will need to create a harness that changes the point of balance of the scope and at the same time ties the camera well to the scope, thus reducing any shake... P&S has its advantage ( LCD vs viewer, etc), but after having used both I prefer the DSLR and Pentax is my first choice.

Robert

[Robert L Jarvis]

Hi JD. Many digiscopers are now talking about the Nikon P5000, maybe that is in your local shop and may be worth a look. I have a Canon A95 and it is a good camera but now not available, it is let down though by it's poor light ability and small lcd.

[Neil]

Jd,
If you like your Olympus see if you can pick up a second hand Olympus 7070wz. One of the best digiscoping cameras of the last few years with a very sharp lens and a rototable screen , and fast.
I'm still not seeing DSLR on scope images that are sharper than the best digiscoping images. They can be better for tracking fast moving birds though if your manual focusing techniques are good ( mine are not ).
The Fuji F31fc (replacement for the F30 ) is very fast but has limited functionality and non-rotatable screen and quality is not as good as the Olympus 7070wz or the Nikon CP8400. Neil.