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Coolpix 995 aperture priority mode (1 Viewer)

I seem to have all the correct settings on my camera but i still seem to get poor pictures, what i have noticed on aperture priority mode is the lowest fstop is 5.1 (on full telephoto which you need for digiscoping) I can get 2.6 but only on wide angle,is that correct or am i doing something wrong.
can anyone answer my question?
Many thanks Colin.
 
I am sure the experts will be on in a bit but as another struggling digiscoper I would say I can't get good results with the 995 at full zoom - they always seem soft even if focus is OK and shake eliminated. I get the best pictures with the camera in the sweet zone midway between wide and telephoto (with the flower yellow in macro mode). This will give you a lower f number and faster shutter speeds too. It helps to get the camera as close as possible to the eyepiece to reduce vignetting. I use it with a Leica APO77 and either 20x or 32x eyepiece.

Oh, and welcome to Birdforum!
 
brianhstone said:
I am sure the experts will be on in a bit but as another struggling digiscoper I would say I can't get good results with the 995 at full zoom - they always seem soft even if focus is OK and shake eliminated. I get the best pictures with the camera in the sweet zone midway between wide and telephoto (with the flower yellow in macro mode). This will give you a lower f number and faster shutter speeds too. It helps to get the camera as close as possible to the eyepiece to reduce vignetting. I use it with a Leica APO77 and either 20x or 32x eyepiece.

Oh, and welcome to Birdforum!

Thanks for the tip Brian, its nice to know i am not the only one with aperture problems, i will try some practice shots on my bird table, at the moment its very dull. Thankyou.
 
Yes, the maximum aperture gets smaller (larger number) as you zoom in. Use the widest aperture for the whatever zoom setting you are using to get the highest shutter speed possible. Brian's advice to avoid maximum zoom is good. It's hard to say why you are not getting good shots without more information. Could be that you are going into the digital zoom range -- disable digital zoom, it's worthless. Could be over-magnification from using too much scope power -- stay below 30x. Could be camera shake from inadequate tripod/head or triggering shutter with your finger rather than cable release or self-timer. There are lots of other threads on this subject -- try searching.

Glen (995 user)
 
Glen Tepke said:
Yes, the maximum aperture gets smaller (larger number) as you zoom in. Use the widest aperture for the whatever zoom setting you are using to get the highest shutter speed possible. Brian's advice to avoid maximum zoom is good. It's hard to say why you are not getting good shots without more information. Could be that you are going into the digital zoom range -- disable digital zoom, it's worthless. Could be over-magnification from using too much scope power -- stay below 30x. Could be camera shake from inadequate tripod/head or triggering shutter with your finger rather than cable release or self-timer. There are lots of other threads on this subject -- try searching.

Glen (995 user)
Thanks glen, my camera settings seem ok, i always use 20x mag, my tripod is ok, digital zoom is news to me, i will look into that. Your galleries are amazing
i wish i could take pics like that.
 
westhammer said:
Thanks glen, my camera settings seem ok, i always use 20x mag, my tripod is ok, digital zoom is news to me, i will look into that. Your galleries are amazing
i wish i could take pics like that.

Thanks. It usually takes a while to get the hang of digiscoping. My first attempts produced nothing but junk, even though I was using pretty much the same equipment I'm using now. What kind of scope are you using? Glen
 
Glen Tepke said:
Thanks. It usually takes a while to get the hang of digiscoping. My first attempts produced nothing but junk, even though I was using pretty much the same equipment I'm using now. What kind of scope are you using? Glen
My scope is a kowa tsn, 20 x60.My very first picture is a great crested grebe at its nest, i had just bought the camera and knew nothing about it, i just held the camera against the eyepiece, and guess what? its turned out to be my best photo so far, how can that be,
 
westhammer said:
My scope is a kowa tsn, 20 x60.My very first picture is a great crested grebe at its nest, i had just bought the camera and knew nothing about it, i just held the camera against the eyepiece, and guess what? its turned out to be my best photo so far, how can that be,

Colin,

Which Kowa do you have? They all have TSN in the model number. You should be able to get decent pics with any Kowa, but you will be less dependent on good light if you have one of the larger models (82 or 77mm), and better still if you have one of the flourite models, such as the TSN-823 or 824.

Are you still hand-holding or are you using an adapter? Few people have hands steady enough to get consistent results hand-holding.

What exactly is wrong with your photos -- out of focus, blurred, purple fringing, too dark, too light? Maybe you could post an example that would give some clues.

Glen
 
I am also new to digiscoping, and to using the 990 Coolpix. I followed the recommended settings in Andy Brights' article, but also cant seem to get my f-stop number lower than 3 something... I have yet to see a f-2 appear under any circumstances. If I set my shutter speed to anything faster than 1/125 the photo is too dark to make anything out.. if I set to 1/30 or 1/60, I get a light enough picture, but everything is blurred. I admit I havent a clue what I'm doing so I just fiddle with combinations.

I was under the understanding, however, that the settings for the different zoom in the camera menu i.e. telephoto 2, telephoto 3, wide angle... should be just left on the default or normal setting? I also disabled digital zoom, and only use the optical zoom, never going all the way to 4x. I have managed a couple of decent shots here and there, but I think its more luck than anything else. I also would like to know how to get the aperature priority and shutter priority to cooperate.. I was under the understanding that if I chose one of the settings (a fast shutter speed for instance), that the camera would pick up the light available and set the aperature accordingly on its own. No?
 
Glen Tepke said:
Colin,

Which Kowa do you have? They all have TSN in the model number. You should be able to get decent pics with any Kowa, but you will be less dependent on good light if you have one of the larger models (82 or 77mm), and better still if you have one of the flourite models, such as the TSN-823 or 824.

Are you still hand-holding or are you using an adapter? Few people have hands steady enough to get consistent results hand-holding.

What exactly is wrong with your photos -- out of focus, blurred, purple fringing, too dark, too light? Maybe you could post an example that would give some clues.

Glen
My scope is a tsn 2. I have been using a remote cable release (nikon mc eu1) but on tuesday it gave up on me,i put in a new battery but no difference, anyway i did not like the thing.This morning i have been experimenting ,hand holding the camera and i have got better results, now i am thinking did i have a dodgy cable release? I have just ordered a manual cable release with bracket, which should give me better results, i hope
 
Balego said:
I am also new to digiscoping, and to using the 990 Coolpix. I followed the recommended settings in Andy Brights' article, but also cant seem to get my f-stop number lower than 3 something... I have yet to see a f-2 appear under any circumstances. If I set my shutter speed to anything faster than 1/125 the photo is too dark to make anything out.. if I set to 1/30 or 1/60, I get a light enough picture, but everything is blurred. I admit I havent a clue what I'm doing so I just fiddle with combinations.

I was under the understanding, however, that the settings for the different zoom in the camera menu i.e. telephoto 2, telephoto 3, wide angle... should be just left on the default or normal setting? I also disabled digital zoom, and only use the optical zoom, never going all the way to 4x. I have managed a couple of decent shots here and there, but I think its more luck than anything else. I also would like to know how to get the aperature priority and shutter priority to cooperate.. I was under the understanding that if I chose one of the settings (a fast shutter speed for instance), that the camera would pick up the light available and set the aperature accordingly on its own. No?
Hi balego. Frustrating is it not.I have only seen f2 on wide angle, i dont think you will get that on zoom.I always choose aperture setting, set it on the lowest f stop possible and let the camera work out the shutter speed and if it is blurry then you need a cable release to eliminate camera shake and it helps a lot if it is a clear day. I know a little about digiscoping but i am still learning,i hope someone reads your post who knows more than me that can help you. Colin.
 
As others have said, you want to stay away from full zoom. Try using the the camera in macro focus mode (the little flower) and keeping the zoom range so that the flower is yellow.

You never did say what tripod you are using. Hopefully you are not using the center post extended.

If light is poor, then it is a good idea to use the aperture that provides the fastest shutter speed. But keep in mind that stopping down to f6 or so can actually increase overall sharpness a bit. this is something to experiment with when you start getting better results.

Try turning in-camera sharpening to high.

Use ISO 100.

Be prepared to sharpen a bit in Photoshop or some other image processing program.

Practice on stationary objects in your back yard.

Use a magnified LCD shade. I use a $2 slide viewer converted for the purpose.

Did I mention practice ahead of time? Doing so helps you work out a routine that works for you. You can do this with no pressure to "get the shot".

Extend your scope's lens shade if it has one.

I mentioned practicing didn't I? I sure hope so. That's how you figure out how to make the whole rig work. No amount of online advice can replace that.

Don't expect miracles if its windy and there is poor light.

Keep your subject within 20 meters. Shorter distances and lower overall magnification results in better images. Sure, digiscoping can have great reach. But pushing the limits is a formula for soft images. You might be surprised how much atmospheric disturbance there is in even 20 meters of air.

Remember to enjoy yourself while digiscoping even if you don't get any decent pictures. Hey - its nice being outside and looking for wildlife at your leisure.
 
Thanks for the info Jay
I have been practicing this morning, my new cable release has arrived and i have been using it, i have removed the spotting scope waterproof case and the eyepiece rubber because i have found they get in the way of the digimount adaptor, now the camera lens is right up against the eyepiece and the results are getting better, i am using iso 200 at the moment. Many thanks.
 
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