Opticron Lumix FS7 Kit (1 Viewer)

Hi, have just seen Opticron are offering this camera as a kit for £249. As I have recently bought a Es80 GA ED scope I was wondering if this would be a good option to start digiscoping. Reading this forum it seems one of the top priorities on a camera is the ability to manually choose aperture priority and I cannot find any mention of this on the reviews I have read. Anybody know if it is possible with this camera? Any help appreciated.

There are no aperture or shutter priority modes on the FS7.

Paul.

Thanks Paul. I guess this makes the kit useless for digiscoping, if so, why are Opticron and In-Focus offering it for sale? Must have some reason. Has anybody used this kit and is it any good?

The ability to select aperture priority is just one of the many things that would go to make the 'perfect' digiscoping camera... alongside infrared remote control, small but not noisy CCD, screw thread around lens housing etc etc.

Some cameras have some of the features, some don't but so far we've yet to find a camera that a) is at a reasonable price point and b) has ALL the features to make it 'perfect' for digiscoping

The FS7 kit is designed to provide a solution that buyers can, with confidence, know will fit on their Opticron scope and eyepiece and that with a little practice will give acceptable results. It is by no means promoted as the "perfect" digiscoping solution.

We always test the cameras we select with a range of eyepieces and scope bodies to make sure they are useable and In Focus is normally included in the process of testing.

Hope that answers your questions to some extent.

The kits have only been shipping this week so it may be a few more weeks before forum members get to buy and use them to report on performance.

Cheers, Pete
Opticron Sales and Marketing

Paul Corfield said:

There are no aperture or shutter priority modes on the FS7.

Paul.

Click to expand...

Thanks Paul. I guess this makes the kit useless for digiscoping.


i wouldnt discount the camera just for those reasons, although im sure plenty would disagree. Im no technical expert but i should imagine that the magnifications we are using with digicams make depth of field a side issue. For me its more about the quality of the lens & how well it couples to the eyepiece & how stable it is. Personally i use a Sony that has neither A or S features & i mostly shoot at 100 iso with -1/3 exposure compensation. You can check out some of my results with this method if you wish on the "how long did it take you to learn digiscoping" thread

One of the main reasons for using Aperture Priority is to keep the camera lens as wide open as the zoom will allow to keep shutter speeds as high as possible as we don't have the luxury of bumping up the iso due to noise issues. Also stopping down the lens can bring shadowing with zoom eyepieces.
Neil.