Help for a digiscoping novice (1 Viewer)

I would like to take up digiscoping but I have no knowledge at all and need advice.
I have a Leica televid APO 62 with a with a 32WW lens.I also have a Fujifilm S304 digital camera.
Can I use this camera with the televid scope or will I need to buy a Leica camera?
I know I will need to get an adapter but is this from Leica or from Fujifilm? Do I need anything else? :frog:

Hi senatore,

Nice to hear you fancy the challenge of digiscoping. Its a very rewarding pursuit. Be prepared for initial disappointments, it seems its part of the deal. I cant really comment on the equipment your pairing together, but you will find tons of good advice and suggestions in this thread: http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=243

All the best for your project, and i wish you many, many rewarding shots. Perseverance and patience are vital requirements, oh and a good sense of humour helps....

Look forward to hearing how you get on,

Tom

Hi Senatore,

There are some very accomplished digiscopers on this forum, and they might know more about your specific equipment.

My advice is to try the camera against the scope hand-held, and play about with the camera's zoom until you lose the vignetting (black circle round the edge). Do this on a stationary object in your garden.

I have been digiscoping for three years without an adaptor, and it depends on what results you are expecting, and what your equipment is like together, as to how important this will be. They are helpful when it comes to reducing camera shake though.

What will probably happen is you will get some quite good results, and then as time goes on, strive for better. At that point you may change scope or camera, and your adaptor may not suit the new set-up.

Initially, start with birds that are quite close or still, and practise on those - getting used to the delay in taking the photo after the shutter release has been pressed is the first skill - you may get lots of arse ends of birds that were in the frame when you pressed the button!!

As Tom said, it's practise practise practise for now until you start to get used to the technique.

Hope this helps

Sean

Hi Senatore,

You have a great scope and eyepiece with which to begin digiscoping, but I would recommend you get one of the swivel-body Nikon Coolpix models and couple it with an adaptor from Spidertech or Fotofennica in Finland.

In addition, a manual cable release is indespensible in preventing vibration during shooting. You can make the bracket for this yourself, if you are handy,
or buy one ready-made.

Also, make sure you have a sturdy tripod.

Good luck with your endeavours.

-Adam

I have played around with Fuji cameras on scopes and I haven't found one that works well without a lot of vignetting. A friend had the Leica scope/Leica camera combination and that didn't work well either without a lot of vignetting. The best cameras have been the Nikon Coolpix series (950/990/4500) and the new Contax that Andy is talking about looks good. Have a look at the Gallery and see what combinations people are using with your scope. Good luck. Neil.

Hi Senatore,

I'm still have a lot to learn but the following points usually apply for a camera to be compatible with a scope:

1) Relatively small lens
2) No external lens barrel movement after powering on (not mandatory)
3) Some cameras digiscope better in macro mode

Looking at the S304, it is very unlikely this will work due to the large 6X zoom lens.

As many others on the forum have noted, the Nikon Coolpix 9xx series and 4500, and a few Contax models work pretty well. I'm currently experimanting with the Pentax 43WR.

rka