D70 + DCB + Swaro/top end scope ??? (1 Viewer)

Please have pity on a camera/scope novice on his firt post here!
I have a D70 which i use with sigma 170-500 lens with fairly good results on a god day!! I am in the market for a scope, likely to be the Swaro ATS 80HD. Is this camera/ scope combo with the Swaro DCB a viable option for good digiscoping, and has anyone got this/similar set up with some examples of photos on this site/profile etc????
Would be very grateful for any help/comments/links as I really want to improve my photo collection and cant afford the top camera lenses.
Many Thanks for any help.
Chris

I use a similar combination with the D100. There are two ways to do it - one with the Swaro SLR adapter, you get between 800-1100mm focal length, but you should meter manually. I've used the Nikon FS scope SLR adapter to the Swaro using the Swaro Plossl adapter, with fairly decent results. The second way is to use the Swaro eyepiece and a lens on the camera. The setup is: camera-lens-adapter-eyepiece-scope. The best lens for digiscoping this way is the Nikkor 45/2.8 p lens, but the 50mm/1.8 can be used too. Focal lengths of 2000-2500mm are easily obtainable. Beyond this - the camera vibration due to mirror movement blurs the image.

Yossi, Many thanks for your reply. The Swaro SLR adapter, does that fit to camera and Scope?? Fully understand the 2nd option...... Do you get good sharp photo's using this method at the 2000mm distances etc??? Any prefernece on the 2 options??
Many thanks again for reply Yossi and hope you or anyone else can expand this a bit further for me.

Hi Chris - as email is problematic today - here's my answer:

I've gathered two+ years of experience playing around with several scopes and many eyepieces. Luckily, there's a mechanic next door that helps me making all types of adapters at cost price. The disadvantage of the tele adapter of Swarovski (I've also tried the Nikon adapter that can be fitted) is metering. There's no metering, and you got to guess the exposure.

In the link below you can see how the other setup works -

http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Test/SW65_D100.jpg

Here you see the D100 fitted with a 50mm/1.8 lens, a 52:44 mm (T) ring, the aluminum adapter that has a ~44mm thread (can be 52mm though) grabbing at the other side the Swaro eyepiece. In this photo you see the Swaro 65 STS HD. I also have the 80 ST HD and some other scopes.

At this setup, shown in the link, reasonable quality is obtainable up to ~2000mm combined focal length. Exposure time is quite low, but still acceptable. A stable tripod is needed and a good head, (I used in this setup the Nikon UBK adapter that grabs the camera and the scope) but a device such as Manfrotto 359, supporting the camera is also an option. Stability is the key for sharp pictures. With my CP4500, as there's no mirror flap I can obtain focal lenghts up to 9000mm easily. If you can get a used CP990 or CP4500, you'll get easier into digiscoping. Using a DSLR is a big challenge, and I'm happy I've gone through it successfully. The 45mm/2.8 lens is easier to use and does not vignette easily, but the 50/1.8 stopped down to f:2.2-2.8 approx. gives good results too. Even my old plastic zoom 35-80mm gave decent pictures. It's a fascinating world, with a lot of trials and errors, but the results pay off.

Here is a shot done with the D100, 50mm lens, the Swarovski 80 AT HD with it's x20-60 eyepiece. The house is 2 miles away:

http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Test2/dsc24552s.jpg

Eliter7 said:

Please have pity on a camera/scope novice on his firt post here!
I have a D70 which i use with sigma 170-500 lens with fairly good results on a god day!! I am in the market for a scope, likely to be the Swaro ATS 80HD. Is this camera/ scope combo with the Swaro DCB a viable option for good digiscoping, and has anyone got this/similar set up with some examples of photos on this site/profile etc????
Would be very grateful for any help/comments/links as I really want to improve my photo collection and cant afford the top camera lenses.
Many Thanks for any help.
Chris

Click to expand...

You might also try out the Zeiss 85FL if you're considering a scope with zoom eyepiece - super for birding as gives almost 50% more view than other top scopes.

Thanks to both for replys, and especially Yossi for the detailed response and links, which are very helpful. The Swaro ATS 80 HD is definitely the scope I will buy as had a good trial with this, the Zeiss and Leica over weekend and whilst i agree the view on Zeiss is bigger and i guess maybe better for digiscoping etc, it just didnt look as good as the Swaro on quality to me. Difficult to really compare 2 such good scopes but just felt happier with Swaro.
Yossi you have confirmed a worry i had about the tls800 adapter about not being able to properly expose and control shot etc, so it leaves me the 'other option'. I see on your link you use a 'T ring' fixed adapter. Have not really had this as an option to properly look at, as I was working on using the Swaro DCB and a similar lense to your suggestion. This seems to me the best photo option as i should get much more exposure/imgae control and I can flip camera up and down as required etc. From what you said I should get little or no vignetting with simalar lense type but will i get quality from this method given ther will be some 'gap' between lense and scope eyepiece and presently no fixing element(T ring ) etc ???? And considering this option Im also thinking the Swaro 30* eyepiece may be better than 20-60* etc. Any thoghts on this method Yossi or from anyone???
Thanks again Yossi and anyone who may have time to post
Chris.

I have tried the Swar slr adaptor with my 300d,using the Swar 80d scope.The results using the 4500 are much better,as the one cannot zoom with the slr adaptor,but the shots are reasonably clear,albeit I did use auto focus,perhaps I should try manual focus as has been suggested.It was recommended that the AV setting was used with the slr adaptor.

Eliter7 said:

Thanks to both for replys, and especially Yossi for the detailed response and links, which are very helpful. The Swaro ATS 80 HD is definitely the scope I will buy as had a good trial with this, the Zeiss and Leica over weekend and whilst i agree the view on Zeiss is bigger and i guess maybe better for digiscoping etc, it just didnt look as good as the Swaro on quality to me. Difficult to really compare 2 such good scopes but just felt happier with Swaro.
Yossi you have confirmed a worry i had about the tls800 adapter about not being able to properly expose and control shot etc, so it leaves me the 'other option'. I see on your link you use a 'T ring' fixed adapter. Have not really had this as an option to properly look at, as I was working on using the Swaro DCB and a similar lense to your suggestion. This seems to me the best photo option as i should get much more exposure/imgae control and I can flip camera up and down as required etc. From what you said I should get little or no vignetting with simalar lense type but will i get quality from this method given ther will be some 'gap' between lense and scope eyepiece and presently no fixing element(T ring ) etc ???? And considering this option Im also thinking the Swaro 30* eyepiece may be better than 20-60* etc. Any thoghts on this method Yossi or from anyone???
Thanks again Yossi and anyone who may have time to post
Chris.

Click to expand...

First, there's a new Nikon adapter for SLR that allows metering called FSA-L1, which is still hardly available (as most Nikon's new stuff). It has the same magnification as the old one, and I guess the same optical design. It creates an 800mm lens with the Nikon FSIII (1200mm with the crop factor). I've tried the older version which I have with a standard X1.4 TC (Kenko Pro 300), and the results were reasonable, but the image was quite dark in the viewfinder.
The simplest way to couple the Swaro eyepiece to a camera IMHO is the Scopetronics Uni-adapt which can be fitted to many eyepieces, and has a ~44mm (T) thread. Add to this a 52mm to 44mm ring and you are set (that is if you are using a 52mm threaded lens on the camera). You can buy this ring from Scopetronics too. I've started there, that's the reason why my scope adapters are devided into two categories - 28mm threaded for my CP camera and 44mm threaded for the D100.
Re the Swaro 30X eyepiece - I have it as well as the X15 eyepiece, and frankly, I'm not happy with the "wide" field. It's not much wider than the zoom eyepiece, and is less flexible. I've compared the optical quality of the fixed X30 eyepiece and the zoom eyepiece @X30, and there was only a marginal difference in optical quality, if at all.
As I've said before, using a DSLR for digiscoping is a big challenge. It's far simpler and easier to use a good P&S camera. The advantage of the DSLR is easy tracking and fast response, but you are limited with the practical magnification.

Here are some samples:
Digiscoping with the D100 vs. CP4500 - same target different scopes, almost a year apart:
D100 using the Swaro 80:
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSC_9072b.jpg

CP4500, Leica Apo 62:
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSCN9083b.jpg

It is easy to tell the difference in sharpness.

Some other D100 samples (with various lenses):
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSC_5964B.jpg
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSC_5911b.jpg

And at 100meters away from the sparrows:
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSC_4137b.jpg

Some other CP4500 samples, using Leica and Swaro scopes:
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSCN8554f.jpg

http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSCN9093f.jpg

And the last one, taken with the CP4500, Swaro 80 and a 7mm Pentax eyepiece that was shaved (bottom part of the eyepiece was filed off to fit the Swaro):
http://www.kramery.com/digitalphoto/gallery/Digiscoping/DSCN9872b.jpg

Thanks again Yossi, an excellent reply as i have come to expect.
I really wanted to use my D70 to digiscope and avoid buying a CP4500 aswell so Im even more undecided now,hehe. Maybe I will have to get me a CP after all. Im going to try the DCB when i pick up my new scope and if looks ok ill maybe give it a go.
Will let you know how i get on, or if i get even more confused, which is most likely....
Thanks Again
chris.

When I go out for a far shooting session, I take both the CP4500+ a small scope and my D100 and some tele lenses + TCs. You can never know when you'll need the extra focal length. In the summertime however, it becomes here very hot, and using a telescope for shooting results in some very "artistic" effects - like a Van Gogh drawing due to the hot air distortions...
I recommend, if possible, to have a P&S alongside the DSLR, as they compliment each other. You can't go wrong this way.