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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Actually taking the shot (1 Viewer)

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Andy Bright

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England
After attaching and switching on the camera it will be necessary to fine tune the focus of the scope via the camera’s monitor as the human eye rarely sees an image as the camera does. Increasing the camera’s zoom to it’s maximum will often help you to achieve a correct focus on the subject before zooming out again to take the shot. The key to digiscoping is evaluating when the subject is in perfect focus via the camera’s (slightly inadequate) monitor, this is where a high quality scope helps as they provide a clearer image for you to determine whether the subject is in focus.

With the camera in aperture priority mode and the aperture value set to the lowest number, the camera will show the shutter-speed it deems sufficient to give a perfect exposure of the shot. If the bird is large in the camera’s monitor, this reading should be correct when using standard matrix metering. If the bird is quite small in the screen, using spot metering or Nikon’s area zone metering will tell the camera to evaluate the light from a specific area of the image (the bird), and therefore giving the correct exposure for the bird but not necessarily for other parts of the image.

If the bird is fairly still a fast shutter-speed isn’t essential but is desirable to get the sharpest image. A shutter-speed of 1/125 second is often good enough in most situations. Very still birds can be captured with speeds as slow as 1/8 second with a rock solid tripod, cable-release and no wind in conjunction with the Nikon BSS setting, this setting will take a number of shots while you keep the shutter-release button pressed and then decide on the sharpest image to save to the memory card. If you are convinced the bird isn’t going anywhere in a hurry, use of the camera’s built-in 3 second self-timer is an option for those without a cable-release.

Presuming that you have the camera set to Single AF mode (camera menu, focus options), the shutter-release button on the camera is a two-stage process, a half-press will provoke the camera to get a focus lock on the subject and a full press will take the picture. On the half-press you should see the focus lock indicator give a solid illumination (situated next to the optical viewfinder on most Nikons), this tells you that the camera has locked onto the bird and everything should be fine. If the indicator is blinking, the camera has failed to lock on…. A second try will often remedy this, alternatively try to aim the camera at another part of the bird as the camera’s auto focus works on contrast detection, the legs, bill, contrasty plumage or edge of the bird usually offer more contrast. As a last resort try the ‘Infinity’ focus mode to guarantee a focus lock, though slight scope refocusing will be needed. ‘Infinity’ focus mode comes into it’s own when there is foliage obstructing some part of the bird and thus distracts the camera’s auto focus system.

Take plenty of shots of the subject, varying camera zoom every now and again. Review what you have taken and delete the poor ones to free-up more space on the memory card. Zooming in when reviewing the images will give you a better idea of their worth.
Use of continuous shooting mode will help to capture moving birds such as diving ducks, many shots will be poor but one may catch the subject in a good pose.
Remember not to get too close to the subject, as a birder you should be aware of the signs from a bird that isn’t happy about your presence, if it gets twitchy you move back slowly.

As with conventional bird photography it is the amount of light that will determine the quality of the results, so gloomy days will always be a struggle. If it is a sunny day, try to make sure the sun is behind you or to one side rather than directly in front of you (plan all birding trips with the position of the sun in mind).
Another potential downfall is heat haze; this is often invisible to the naked eye but can totally ruin the image. Unfortunately there is very little that can be done to alleviate this problem, though changing position to bypass the worst areas or shooting earlier/later in the day can help.

Wind is another major problem, blowing your tripod, scope and camera about and resulting in blurry shots. The old ploy of hanging a heavy object underneath the tripod head is a good one for increased stability; a bag filled with rocks usually suffices. Try to get your tripod down to the lowest possible working height, opening the legs right out if your ‘pod has adjustable angle legs.
 
Cool Andy. Camera is sitting on my desk :) I did install the dual card reader but that's about as far as I have gotten. Printing this one out too. I figure by the time you get all your tutorials down you will have the makings of a book!
 
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