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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Best Camcorder for general/digiscoping use (1 Viewer)

kennygee

Well-known member
My family want me to buy a camcorder for our family hols. I would want the new toy to earn its keep in my hobby. I am sure there have been lots of similar threads but not many survive after the crash.

My questions are:

1. Which camcorders have lens filter threads to mate with digiscoping adaptors? Do camcorders tend to need different attachment methods? I have a Kowa 823M scope and adapter, 21X and 32X eyepieces and 28mm and 52mm Kowa camera adapters. Are any models better in terms of vignetting than others?

2. Which cameras have good still image capabilities? What megapixel still images can I expect?

3. What are camcorders like for birding when used as standalone without a scope. What optical zoom should I go for?

I have a budget of £500 - £1000 and would be grateful for any suggestions.

Regards

Ken
 
Hello Ken
May I suggest you perform a thread search using the word pc330. There are two threads which will cover most ground. There is a concensus that a low power eyepiece is needed for videoscoping. I have found that progressive scan recording gives quite good results for web sized still images. I have attached two frame grabs from my own setup: Zeiss85; Maxview40; PC330 to illustrate the quality of progressive scan recording.
Cheers, Dave
 

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Thanks for the reply Dave.

I assume the PC350 is the replacement as the PC330 no longer seems to be available on WE. Is this correct as far as you know?

Cheers

Ken
 
kennygee said:
Thanks for the reply Dave.

I assume the PC350 is the replacement as the PC330 no longer seems to be available on WE. Is this correct as far as you know?

Cheers

Ken
Yes Ken, the PC350 is the latest version. It seems that the majority of companies are moving over to high definition DVs with more emphasis on widescreen capture.

PS: Here is an example of a still image captured from a PC330
 

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Cheers Dave

Nice shot - looks like that could be the one I need. For once I can buy some kit and my wife approves!!!

Does it take a filter and if so what size?

Ken
 
Ken
The filter size is 37mm. The posted images were taken with a Maxview 40mm eyepiece with a Zeiss bayonet adaptor. The PC330 has a 37mm-Tfilter adaptor which screws onto the Tthread of the Maxview eyepiece. I have no experience of any other adaptors.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Dave
 
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