Good problem to have? (need help here)

[janm]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the forum and this is my very first post so please bear with me ...

I think I have a good problem to have here. Reason I say that is that my brother-in-law is going to give me a spotting scope - Simmons model nbr 1281 20-60x80 - that's about 5 years old. I already have a Nikon D70 DSLR and so I'm interested in digiscoping. My questions are:

1) Is it even practical to digiscope with the D70 or should I just go get a new point and shoot? At first I was excited about using the D70, but the more I read out here the more it sounds like I'd be better of with a simple point and shoot camera instead.

2) If a point and shoot is more practical then what would you recommend if A) price is no object and B) in the less than $250 range? Is a rotatable LCD panel a driving factor here?

3) How do I find out what adapters, etc. I will need to effectively "marry" the camera and scope? I see lots of adapter products, rings, etc. and even a wizard that helps folks figure out what to buy for their setup, but of course nobody ever mentions the Simmons brand and even the manufacturer's web site (they were recently bought out by Meade) doesn't have specs or a user guide.

4) Lastly, anyone have any thoughts concerning a tripod here?

Thanks in advance for any/all help and advice offered here. Would be most grateful.

[iporali]

my brother-in-law is going to give me a spotting scope - Simmons model nbr 1281 20-60x80 - that's about 5 years old. I already have a Nikon D70 DSLR and so I'm interested in digiscoping.
Hi Jan,

Welcome to BirdForum. Lucky you - a nice "problem" indeed ;).

From what I read about the Simmons 20-60x80 scope it looks like it is a nice "mid-class" scope, which does not (?) have "ED" glass and the zoom has relatively short eye-relief (12.5mm). I probably wouldn't try to use a DSLR with it (vignetting problems & expensive solutions). A small P&S camera would IMHO be a better match: Canon Elph 800IS (price no object), Panasonic FX3 etc (less expensive) should work well. You could simply try handholding the camera to the eyepiece and you should see whether or not you are happy with the results. If you pixel-peep the images, you will probably notice some chromatic aberration ("purple fringing" coming from non-ED glass), but at shorter distances and less contrasty pics it shouldn't be too disturbing.

Some ideas about different adapters can be seen eg. here http://www.srb-griturn.com/index.asp?function=DISPLAYCAT&catid=1

Best regards,

Ilkka

[janm]

Hello Ilkka,

Thank you so much for replying to my post. Indeed it is the Simmons spotting scope that I couldn't seem to find any specs for so your information is most helpful and appreciated. Guess I couldn't have expected someone to give away a high end scope here, but even so it's enough for me to get started with and I'll definitely take your advice about the P&S camera.

Had already read enough here by now to realize that with the D70 I might be better off or at least able to get comparable results by just buying a long lens and have done so. Will be interesting to compare results of the two setups.

Again - thanks so very much. You've been so helpful here and I am most appreciative!