I'm getting back into a digiscoping mindset for the Year of the Snake coming up. Wandering through our local Computer/Camera mall on Tuesday I couldn't pass up the offer of the Nikon Coolpix 310 (minor upgrade on the P300 ) for US$200. I have been recommending this camera to people looking for a low cost entry into Digiscoping for some time as I had enjoyed the previous model (P300) which used the same lens for stills and HD video. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-coolpix-p310/
It takes the same battery as the P300 which I like , so with charged batteries I headed out to the wetland yesterday in the pm. Not expecting too much as weather has been marginal here for a week I was pleasantly surprised when the sun popped out around 4.00 pm and we had a nice sunset around 6.00 pm. Two hours of good light for digiscoping is a luxury here at this time of the year.
The camera was easy to set up on the Swarovski DCB 11 ( was switching back and forwards with the Sony RX 100 ) . Vignetting at the wide end of the lens ( 24 mm ) was as you would expect (see below ) but it had disappeared by 45 mm which is at the end of the Macro Mode ( Green Flower symbol ) .
The P310 is not a camera you would buy if you were looking for the best quality images as it doesn't have a Nikon ED lens and has a small sensor, but with it's fast burst mode of 7 fps ( for 5 frames ), very sharp lcd screen and quick AF it's a good entry-level offering. It's HD video does a good job to. See here https://vimeo.com/59110245 at the long end of the zoom.
These images were taken from a hide at a distance of 35 - 45 meters. The last image of the Eurasian Curlews was at 70x on the Swarovski zoom (approx 3500 mm)
Neil
Nikon P310 and Swarovski STX 95 mm Scope (30-70x zoom eyepiece ) and Swarovski DCB 11 Adapter
Mai Po Nature Reserve
Hong Kong,China
February, 2013
It takes the same battery as the P300 which I like , so with charged batteries I headed out to the wetland yesterday in the pm. Not expecting too much as weather has been marginal here for a week I was pleasantly surprised when the sun popped out around 4.00 pm and we had a nice sunset around 6.00 pm. Two hours of good light for digiscoping is a luxury here at this time of the year.
The camera was easy to set up on the Swarovski DCB 11 ( was switching back and forwards with the Sony RX 100 ) . Vignetting at the wide end of the lens ( 24 mm ) was as you would expect (see below ) but it had disappeared by 45 mm which is at the end of the Macro Mode ( Green Flower symbol ) .
The P310 is not a camera you would buy if you were looking for the best quality images as it doesn't have a Nikon ED lens and has a small sensor, but with it's fast burst mode of 7 fps ( for 5 frames ), very sharp lcd screen and quick AF it's a good entry-level offering. It's HD video does a good job to. See here https://vimeo.com/59110245 at the long end of the zoom.
These images were taken from a hide at a distance of 35 - 45 meters. The last image of the Eurasian Curlews was at 70x on the Swarovski zoom (approx 3500 mm)
Neil
Nikon P310 and Swarovski STX 95 mm Scope (30-70x zoom eyepiece ) and Swarovski DCB 11 Adapter
Mai Po Nature Reserve
Hong Kong,China
February, 2013
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test P310 vignetting stx95 24mm DSCN0011.jpg274.3 KB · Views: 630
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northern pintails P310 stx95 45mm DSCN0038.jpg244.2 KB · Views: 636
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eurasian wigeon fem P310 stx95 dcb11 DSCN0378.jpg350.7 KB · Views: 667
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eurasian wigeon male P310 stx95 dcb11 DSCN0283.jpg425.7 KB · Views: 884
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eurasian curlews roost P310 stx95 70x DSCN0484.jpg353.7 KB · Views: 855