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Digiscoping with the Nikon P6000 (1 Viewer)

Neil

Well-known member
I was in one of my favorite camera stores on Sunday when they got there first delivery of Nikon P6000s . I couldn't resist , even though I only went in for a new tripod bag.
For those familiar with the P5000 and P5100 , this will feel familiar. I wasn't sure if the lens would be as "lens friendly" as the previous models but it was fine on the two eyepieces I tested it on (sw 30x,45x ). I couldn't get an adapter for it yet but will try this week.
Nothing particularly special about the camera but AF seems reasonable and overall the camera is no slower than the P5100.
I didn't have a good day for testing today (the hottest , most polluted day I've experienced 37c, 85% humidity ), even though I was in the hide at 6.30 am it was like a sauna.
Here are some of the first images but the birds we're from 25 - 80 metres away through heat haze so not a fair test but the camera has potential.
Neil

Nikon P6000 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 45x eyepiece and homemade adapter

Mai Po Nature Reserve,
Hong Kong,
China.
September 2008
 

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Hi Neil
Thanks for the post I was thinking I was surprised you had not tested this camera out by now and quietly away I was hoping you would. The pics look good but my real hope was the AF speed which at present you portray as no real change from the P5100 so unless your view or indeed other testers change I will not be changing my camera for this......and I really was hoping for a NV3 lightning quick focus lock from this camera!

Thanks again for the post and I will look forward to more of your, and others, opinions.
 
Hi Neil
Thanks for the post I was thinking I was surprised you had not tested this camera out by now and quietly away I was hoping you would. The pics look good but my real hope was the AF speed which at present you portray as no real change from the P5100 so unless your view or indeed other testers change I will not be changing my camera for this......and I really was hoping for a NV3 lightning quick focus lock from this camera!

Thanks again for the post and I will look forward to more of your, and others, opinions.

Stephen,
My first impression is that it's not a big enough improvement over the P5100 to make the change, although it is a much better camera than the P5000. The AF capabilities have been discussed at length in other threads. Although not fast , I find it reliable, and with it's bright screen , faster to get onto the bird in the first place with AF lock on. I don't normally like to have the camera off the scope so I have to be able to focus close enough off the screen which you can do well with the P5100 and the P6000. It only let me down a couple of times yesterday , on a black drongo and the intermediate egret walking straight towards me, when I took a whole series that weren't in focus ( I took about 4 gigs yesterday ).
I didn't have any way of handling the Nikon RAW images yesterday so I didn't take any RAW, but I downloaded the Adobe DNG update last night which will handle them (free). The camera will only take one RAW image at a time and processing is about 5 seconds so I wouldn't buy the camera just for this feature. GPS is not something I'm interested in either.Neil.
 
I set up my camera on my balance bar as I couldn't find an adapter for it yet. These two photos show the vignetting with the Swarovski 45x eyepiece (18mm,72 degress FOV ) at wide on the camera and at 8.1 mm (green Macro zone ) where it disappears.
These grey herons were about 200 metres away through the haze yesterday at iso 400.
Neil.
 

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Let's cut to the chase eh? ;) Do you think there is any significant improvement over the P5100? From what I'm reading the answer is no.

The only way I could see it happening is if it had a usable ISO 200 and 400 (my old 4500 performs better at ISO200 than my 5100). Since the Fuji's we've had no compacts that seem to have reasonably low noise, is that right? I'd imagine it's something even everyday consumers would like too see.

End rant. :t:
 
The Grey Herons were taken at ISO 400, but of course a job to see noise in the uploaded pictures. Hopefully Neil can enlighten us.

Malc
 
Just to confirm the FSB-6 Digiscoping bracket won't fit the Nikon P6000 either, and no alternative as of yet for those who were thinking of upgrading!!!

Dougie
 
I took the P6000 out today with the Nikon D90 to test them both in the same situations. Light was hazy and dull and there were not many birds around but here are some of the images taken with the P6000 in jpeg and Raw.
I still haven't found an adapter but I've ordered the Nikon UR E-21 which will take about 10 days. The second and third images were converted from RAW using Adobe DNG .
Neil

Nikon P6000 and Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 30x and 45x eyepiece and homemade adapter.

Lamma Island,
Hong Kong,
China.
October 2008
 

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These three images were taken at different distances.
8 meters,15 metres and 22 meters.
The spot metering on the close photo was almost "spot on" according to CS2.
Neil

Nikon P6000 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 45x eyepiece and homemade balance bar
 

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I finally received the UR E-21 adapter for the P6000 . It has a 43 mm thread to match with the scope adapters ( in my case the Swaro DCA ) which is smaller than I would like so I'll continue to look for third party solutions. The lens hits the DCA at full zoom so I have to be careful, although I rarely use full zoom anyway as images tend to be a bit soft there.
I took it out to the local park today on the Swaro 30x eyepiece and my homemade balance bar. Here are some results which I very impressed with as you end up with a big file that will take a lot of cropping. Neil.

Nikon P6000 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 30x eyepiece and DCA and homemade balance bar.

Hong Kong,
China.
October 2008
 

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Nice images Neil thanks for posting them.|:D|
Are they from RAW files converted to jpg?

Having tried out the P6000 several times now, do you think that the 6000 is much better than the 5100?

Regards
Malc
 
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