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

Recent content by RAH

  1. RAH

    MM3/4 50ED stay on case

    Yes, I did buy the universal case and did not like it. It fit the scope very poorly - the bag is much too large, but the opening for the focus knob wasn't well positioned. I wound up modifying the Opticron case by folding and sewing back part of that flap that can block the focusing knob. It...
  2. RAH

    SDL v3 Eyepiece Now Shipping

    I recently purchased a MM4 60 GA ED/45 Travelscope + HDF T 15-45x Eyepiece. I bought it to give me a smaller and lighter alternative to my old Pentax PF-65 (plus Vixen 8-24mm eyepiece). I was expecting the Opticron to not be as good as my Pentax (even though 15 years old), but just lighter and...
  3. RAH

    MM3/4 50ED stay on case

    This is an old posting, but figured I'd answer anyway - I recently bought the Opticron case for the MM4 60 GA ED/45 scope with HDF T 15-45x Eyepiece. I agree with you that the case interfers with the turning of the focus knob; it pushes against the end of the fine-tune (front) knob. I think you...
  4. RAH

    Opticron MM4 ED Travelscopes 50 & 60 v. Nikon ED Fieldscopes 50 & 60

    I've had a chance to try the Opticron scope more. It appears to be better than my old Pentax PF-65 with the Viken eyepiece. The eye-relief is better on the Opticron throughout the zoom range, and it appears to be equally bright and somewhat sharper too. Of course, my Pentax is about 15 years...
  5. RAH

    Opticron MM4 ED Travelscopes 50 & 60 v. Nikon ED Fieldscopes 50 & 60

    Well, I am back with my review of the Opticron MM4 60 GA ED/45 15-45x60 with HDFT eyepiece vs a Hawke Endurance ED 13-39x50. This is all my opinion (obviously). Your results may vary. The Opticron is definitely worth the extra cost over the Hawke. It's kind of no-contest, really. The Opticron...
  6. RAH

    Opticron MM4 ED Travelscopes 50 & 60 v. Nikon ED Fieldscopes 50 & 60

    Well, I couldn't resist the urge and just ordered an Opticron MM4 60 GA ED/45 15-45x60 with the HDFT eyepiece. I decided that it might be a fair amount smaller and especially lighter than my old Pentax. So, I may be able to review it vs the Hawke - i.e. answer my own question. :)
  7. RAH

    Opticron MM4 ED Travelscopes 50 & 60 v. Nikon ED Fieldscopes 50 & 60

    I haven't posted on this forum for many yeaars, but I am getting back into birding. I have an old Pentax PF-65 ED scope which I like a lot, but recently bought a Hawke Endurance ED 13-39x50 scope as a smaller alternative. Comparing them to the Hawke, I'm wondering if I would get any benefit...
  8. RAH

    Sigma 500mm F4.5

    As Steve says, you should be using a tripod with such a lens anyway. So you really don't need VR. If you want to try handheld (NOT a good idea), then you'll probably need VR.
  9. RAH

    Help in converting 35mm slides to digital

    As mentioned by others, there are plenty of cheap scanners available. Surely you have some Best Buy or Staples stores in your area. If not, buying online is very easy and reliable. Amazon.com has an Epson V300 scanner for $139 which will do 4 slides at a time. Many others do the same thing...
  10. RAH

    Canon SX-1 significant upgrade from S2IS?

    I don't know anything about the image quality, but one thing to be aware about is that the newest Canon superzooms do NOT allow you to use converters that get mounted in front of the lens (like the Olympus TCON-17) via the use of an adapter tube. I think that the S5IS was the last model to...
  11. RAH

    500/4 or 600/4?

    My main thought is that you cannot have too much magnification, and you always want/need more. Is the 600 MUCH larger than the 500? Unless it's almost twice as large/heavy, I'd go for the 600. (I'm assuming money is not an issue or you wouldn't be looking at both).
  12. RAH

    Infrared Photography

    Check out this website: http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/infrared/index.html It has a bunch of links at the bottom for even more info. Myself, I have a Cokin infrared filter (mounts in a Cokin filter holder in front of the lens). Some folks complain that it lets light in thru the side on the long...
  13. RAH

    Safer Technique to carry tripod with heavy lens

    Very interesting idea, Fred. I use Manfrotto tripods mostly, and they all have the ability to mount just the head without a center column (it uses just a little stub), so your technique is usable by Manfrotto users whose center column is the "split" type.
  14. RAH

    Question about AF points

    Do you have the camera set to spot metering too? I suppose it isn't necessary, but I use both spot metering and the center point focusing on my E-520.
  15. RAH

    Image viewer to comapre images

    I agree that this can be a problem. One way I deal with it is as follows: Say I have 6 shots of essentially the same thing - e.g. a duck, with 6 shots taken within seconds of each other. You want to find the sharpest one. So how to determine which is sharpest? What I do is open the first 2...
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