Thanks to the efforts of Clay , I've been sent the new zoom eyepiece, UCA (universal adapter ) and Telescope Rail (balance rail ). It's like Christmas all over again.
I was looking forward to the 25-50x zoom ( Eye Relief 17 mm ) as I wanted a simpler solution than carrying several eyepieces out in the field with me ( I have the 20x,30x,45x and 20-60zoom ). It's the same size as the existing zoom and takes the current DCA adapters.
I took the zoom and UCA out to the local park with me on Friday and spent 7 hours in the heat and occasional showers ( with a couple of MacDonalds runs ) testing the Panasonic G1, Nikon P6000 and Ricoh GX100. I took the GX100 as it's lens is a tricky one and has vignetting with most eyepieces until almost full zoom.
I've attached a photo taken in the park with the GX100 set up on the UCA. It took me a while to set up the camera but it's a well engineered piece of kit and does a good job for cameras without adapter threads. I hadn't realised at this point that it was also reversible for DSLRs (see second photo ). Once I worked that out I set it up with the D90 and a 50 mm lens at home. Using the Telescope Rail (balance rail ) the whole lot was nicely balanced. I have it setup on the Manfrotto 501 head which gives me an extra couple of inches of sliding.
I like the UCA for setting up the G1 with Olympus 25/2.8 P lens which is not internally focusing so you don't lose AF as you do when using the DCA adapter ( 43 mm filter thread ). It opens up a wide range of other Four Thirds lenses which can be easily used with AF.
The Chinese Bulbul was taken at 30x with the zoom ( iso 800 ) and the duck with 25x and 50x .
I like the look of the color and sharpness out of the new zoom. It reminds me of the look from the new Kowa glass. I didn't compare side-by-side with the 20 - 60 zoom yet but I will get to it.
Yesterday I tested my Canons,Nikon 8400 and D90 at home. As I expected my A640 and A650 had vignetting problems, as did the G6 ( G10 not tested yet as I was told to tidy up the living room ). The A650 was unusable but interestingly the A640 had a nice unvignetted view at wide at 50x (1750 mm ). The 8400 ,not surprisingly, gave the best results throughout the zoom range. This gives a range of unvignetted views from 900 to 4200 mm .
I'll post more results with various cameras over the next few days. If anyone wants any special comparison let me know.
Overall I would estimate at least a 7% improvement in quality and a 30% improvement in usability.
Neil
Panasonic G1 plus STS80HD scope and Sw 25-50x zoom and UCA adapter
Hong Kong,
China.
July 2009
I was looking forward to the 25-50x zoom ( Eye Relief 17 mm ) as I wanted a simpler solution than carrying several eyepieces out in the field with me ( I have the 20x,30x,45x and 20-60zoom ). It's the same size as the existing zoom and takes the current DCA adapters.
I took the zoom and UCA out to the local park with me on Friday and spent 7 hours in the heat and occasional showers ( with a couple of MacDonalds runs ) testing the Panasonic G1, Nikon P6000 and Ricoh GX100. I took the GX100 as it's lens is a tricky one and has vignetting with most eyepieces until almost full zoom.
I've attached a photo taken in the park with the GX100 set up on the UCA. It took me a while to set up the camera but it's a well engineered piece of kit and does a good job for cameras without adapter threads. I hadn't realised at this point that it was also reversible for DSLRs (see second photo ). Once I worked that out I set it up with the D90 and a 50 mm lens at home. Using the Telescope Rail (balance rail ) the whole lot was nicely balanced. I have it setup on the Manfrotto 501 head which gives me an extra couple of inches of sliding.
I like the UCA for setting up the G1 with Olympus 25/2.8 P lens which is not internally focusing so you don't lose AF as you do when using the DCA adapter ( 43 mm filter thread ). It opens up a wide range of other Four Thirds lenses which can be easily used with AF.
The Chinese Bulbul was taken at 30x with the zoom ( iso 800 ) and the duck with 25x and 50x .
I like the look of the color and sharpness out of the new zoom. It reminds me of the look from the new Kowa glass. I didn't compare side-by-side with the 20 - 60 zoom yet but I will get to it.
Yesterday I tested my Canons,Nikon 8400 and D90 at home. As I expected my A640 and A650 had vignetting problems, as did the G6 ( G10 not tested yet as I was told to tidy up the living room ). The A650 was unusable but interestingly the A640 had a nice unvignetted view at wide at 50x (1750 mm ). The 8400 ,not surprisingly, gave the best results throughout the zoom range. This gives a range of unvignetted views from 900 to 4200 mm .
I'll post more results with various cameras over the next few days. If anyone wants any special comparison let me know.
Overall I would estimate at least a 7% improvement in quality and a 30% improvement in usability.
Neil
Panasonic G1 plus STS80HD scope and Sw 25-50x zoom and UCA adapter
Hong Kong,
China.
July 2009
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digiscoping GX100 sw25-50x UCA DSCN0151.jpg136.7 KB · Views: 560
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swarovski UCA 25-50x D90_1540917.jpg110.5 KB · Views: 556
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chinese bulbul G1 swzm30x UCA iso800 nw_1540090.jpg109.7 KB · Views: 491
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duck G1 swzoom25x olymp25mm_1540754.jpg129.3 KB · Views: 441
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duck G1 swzoom50x olymp25mm_1540751.jpg128.3 KB · Views: 456