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Nikon P300 for Digiscoping (1 Viewer)

SeeToh provided me with the zoom steps and F ratios for the P300 lens and I have attached a chart of the SYSTEM focal lengths and F ratios when the camera is used on the Nikon ED82 and Kowa 88 scopes.

FWIW, I also included a chart for the older P5000 on these scopes. As you can see, the P300 has up to about 1/2 stop slightly faster lens than the P5000 at similar focal lengths. In practice this means the P300 can have slightly faster shutter speeds than the P5000 when both are at the same ISO values.

HOWEVER, I think it is important to remember that the P5000 is more than 1 FULL stop FASTER at base ISO64 than the P300 at ISO160. Of course, advances in sensor sensitivty/JPEG processing may be the great equalizer for sensor noise at higher ISO but I suspect the P5000 may still hold its own due to its larger sensor. Also the P5000 lens shows no vignetting throughout its range with a 30x widefield lens and still delivers a 3787mm max focal length vs. 3000mm for the P300.

So on paper the real advantages of the P300 over the 4yr. old P5000 seems to be a much better LCD, faster continuos shooting and probably better/faster AF.

As for using the P300/FSB-8 combo on the Kowa 88 eyepiece, it does not fit over the eyepiece's rubber eyecup but if you replace the eyecup with the Kowa DA10 adapter it can work in a pinch but it's a somewhat loose fit and not secure.

FYI, our local digisco pro shop has made these Nikon FSB/Kowa custom adapters:

Turbo Adapter P2 for Kowa 88/77 eyepieces This sliding adapter may may work with the P6000 too.
Turbo Adapter P1 for Kowa 66/60 eyepieces

Don't know if they will sell outside Japan but the shop manager has posted to this forum a few times so if you email them they can reply in English.
 

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I had a play with the p300 today and was very impressed in general the frames per seconds were great:t:

A quick question before I part with my money. I noticed while in Manual mode the screen was looking pretty perfect for the shutter speed and iso ect but when the camera took the shot it was nearly black. With my Samsung in Manual mode the screen represents the picture it will take. Was I missing something on the set up or is this the normal for p300s.

I didnt get to long with the camera before I was pounced upon by a pushy salesman:-C
 
I would say your Samsung is unique among digital cameras. No camera that I know of previews WYSIWYG exposure on its LCD unless the shutter activates and having a too fast shutter speed is the reason your pic came out black.
 
I would say your Samsung is unique among digital cameras. No camera that I know of previews WYSIWYG exposure on its LCD unless the shutter activates and having a too fast shutter speed is the reason your pic came out black.

Many Thanks RJM.
It is handy the Samsund NV100 works then. Iso100 sht/speed 100 the screen can look dark. Up the iso or lower the speed the LCD lightens to respresent the photo about to be taken.

May I ask another question
How does the P300 preform on the Auto setting
 
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Just a quick question from someone who wears varifocals (eyes seem to be fading rapidly these days!)

I have always tended to use the viewfinder on my cameras rather than the screen, because nine times out of ten the screen doesn't seem as clear to me, and also because of reflection on the screen. However, the screens on both my current (old) cameras are only 3 x 2.5 cm. Is it easy to get a clear view through the P300's screen?
 
The P300 LCD is one of the very best but you may want to use a rubber Hoodman-style magifiying loupe attached to the screen for easier focusing.
 

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Oooh, that looks good! Does it have a name so that I can look up where to get one?

Another question..... looking on the Nikon site it seems to say that even using the adaptor with a Nikon DS eyepiece there is heavy vignetting at the wide setting, vignetting at the middle setting and some vignetting at the telephoto setting. Is this true from people's experience? Has anyone out there used the camera with a Nikon fieldscope and DS eyepiece?
 
The FSB-8 does not fit over the rubber end of the Kowa 883 eyepieces. So you unscrew the rubber end and the FSB-8 is then too big!!

I went to my local DIY shop and bought a length of grey plumbers pipe and a smaller diametre that fits exactly inside, take your eyepiece to experiment.

The tube fits snugly over the bare metal end of the eyepiece and snugly inside the FSB-8.

It is then a bit of trial and error to get the right length of tube to eliminate the maximum amount of vignetting, but it is possible and it does work.

The only problem I have is that a lot of my shots are just out of focus which I think is more a problem with me using only the auto settings on the camera and not using macro????

I need to have a play with the settings and maybe try to get the camera to manual focus too, but as I haven't even read the instructions yet......
 
The two attached images were shot using the P300 attached to the Nikon 82mm ED Fieldscope/30x DS Eyepiece via the FSB8.

The first image was shot at full zoom ie focal length 17.9mm (exposure 1/1600s). The second image was shot at the P300 focal length of 9.9mm (1/2000s) but cropped to be about the same size as the first. Both shots were taken as the same spot shortly apart.

As pointed out by RJM before, the P300 seems to have problem auto-focusing when set at full zoom. As a result, the first image appeared rather soft and dark.

But when shot at less than full zoom, the 2nd image appeared sharper/brighter despite more cropping to get it about the same size as the first image.

Nowadays, I tend to shot between 4 zoom-stops (6.3mm) and 7 zoom-stops (9mm) which seems to produce the best results in my opinion.
 

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Hi all,

could someone tell me what is the inner diameter of the FSB-8 ring? (I suppose it fits snugly over the objective's base.)

I have just ordered a P300 but being on a tight budget my wife would be less than happy if I bought the FSB-8 too. So I must do with some DIY solution, and I thought I could as well think about it while I'm waiting for my camera. Thank you.
 
Well, here are my very first attempts with the P300. The scope is a very cheap one (Scopium 80) which is a "poor man's Celestron 80" although with a Baader Hyperion MIII eyepiece. I made an adapter from plastic plumbing parts which fits snugly over both the camera and the eyepiece, and can be slid in place in a few seconds. Chromatic aberration is bad (cheap scope w non-ED glass) but can be more or less removed in software and clearly there is a lot of room to improve my technique, too. I know I won't make any ooh-aah photos with this setup but it will do for documenting shots.
 

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Just in the process of looking for Nikon CoolPix camera to you use on my Nikon ED82A. The manual settings look to be very good and I think will suit my needs well. Will get the camera first and then see about getting the Nikon FSB-8 Digital Camera Bracket.
 
Just in the process of looking for Nikon CoolPix camera to you use on my Nikon ED82A. The manual settings look to be very good and I think will suit my needs well. Will get the camera first and then see about getting the Nikon FSB-8 Digital Camera Bracket.

Have been using the Nikon ED82 straight with the P300/FSB8. Check out my flickr for the images from this combo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53435640@N05/?saved=1
 
Hello - Excellent photographs and thank you for sharing them.
Looks like you have the perfect setup there.
I purchased the Nikon Coolpix P300 today, very nice camera indeed. Take a look at my "temporary" digiscoping adaptor.One cardboard tube inserted into the other, simple and works perfectly.
Switched on the camera, "vignetting" experienced as expected,zoomed in a little with vignetting disappearing completely.
My digscopoing adaptor was quick to construct and cost nothing.I will of course need to get the real thing soon as this setup was just to make sure that all was well.
 

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Hello - Excellent photographs and thank you for sharing them.
Looks like you have the perfect setup there.
I purchased the Nikon Coolpix P300 today, very nice camera indeed. Take a look at my "temporary" digiscoping adaptor.One cardboard tube inserted into the other, simple and works perfectly.
Switched on the camera, "vignetting" experienced as expected,zoomed in a little with vignetting disappearing completely.
My digscopoing adaptor was quick to construct and cost nothing.I will of course need to get the real thing soon as this setup was just to make sure that all was well.

Nice job,
Neil
 
Decided to upgrade my camera adapter to Version2.A more precise and cosmetically improved adaptor.
 

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Has anyone used the 75x DS wide eyepiece with the Nikon ED82 & FSB-8 bracket,if so how did you get on?
Only asking as I wish to have a higher magnification configuration at times.
The 30x DS wide eyepiece works very well. When I initially switch on the camera “vignetting” occurs as expected. Zooming in a little corrects this.
Presumably with the 75x DS wide eyepiece “vignetting” is more extreme at first and more zoom is required.
 
I almost bought a p300 today (saw a decent deal on an ex-display one), suspect I'll crack and buy it by the end of the week. Just need to work out some homemade adapter to make it easy to use with my Swaro.
 
I almost bought a p300 today (saw a decent deal on an ex-display one), suspect I'll crack and buy it by the end of the week. Just need to work out some homemade adapter to make it easy to use with my Swaro.

Let those moths out of the wallet its a cracking compact:t:
 
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