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

A note: Digiscoping with angled 85T* (1 Viewer)

jekatz

Well-known member
I just bought an angled 85 diascope and I think it is tops. I tried handholding my Sony dsc-W5 camera to the eyepiece and immediately decided to make a hands-free photo adapter with cable release, as the results looked very promising.

Now, a week later, I have what I consider to be a great set-up that I have not tested on birds yet; I have tested it in the yard, and I want to make one note for anyone wondering what digiscoping with a Zeiss 85 is like.

Unlike at least one other high-end scope I can think of, the Zeiss is slightly front-heavy on my bogen 3130 head; if I don't tension the tilt aspect of the head, it will sag forward and point at the ground. But when I affix the camera to the eyepiece, it becomes just slightly tail-heavy, but not too much; with a smaller, lighter camera, it might end up perfectly counterbalanced.

just another reason this could be a fantastic digiscoping scope.

Jon
 
hi yes i also found front heavy but ok with camera attached,superb scope by the way enjoy it.

regards cressi.
 
digitalbirdy said:
Jekatz I look forward to seeing details/photos of your home made cable release!

Its not pretty, but it is effective. I use it all of the time- it lets me keep my right hand on the control rod of the tripod head for aiming, while I operate the scope focus and the tension knobs on the tripod head with the left hand.

I bought the materials at the hardware store for less than US$10 and cut and drilled as needed. A strip of rubber loosely epoxied to the aluminum bar between the cable release end and the shutter button does two things: it keeps the shutter button from getting scratched by the thin actuating rod of the release, and it makes pressing the button with the thin actuating rod more effective- my cheap cable release wanted to slide around and press on the domed shutter button crooked if it was not perfectly centered...maybe you'll see what I mean.

I threaded the aluminum bar to accept the tapered cable release with a variety of screws, I forced them to cut into the aluminum until the proper taper and at least a few threads were cut. I then threaded in the cable release, and being quite hard it was able to cut its own threads given a good start.

The clumsy manner in which it attaches to the camera was mostly because I did not have a low-clearance bolt handy.

The adapter has an inner diameter of 60.5mm, allowing me to use it without removing the rubber on the eyecup (diameter 56.5mm, =2mm clearance).

If the photos are not illustrative I will be happy to take more or otherwise answer questions. I made it all with my dremel; that either explains why it looks the way it does or it says great things about dremel, i'll let you decide.

inspiration was derived from Mike McDowel's setup: http://www.birddigiscoping.com/mmswar.jpg

The Savannah Sparrow- while not a particularly colorful bird- made a great subject, and it allowed me the clearest photo i have yet taken.

Thanks for the interest,
Jon
 
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Oops, forgot to attach the photos:
 

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Brilliant design

jekatz said:
Oops, forgot to attach the photos:

Hi jekatz - brilliant design, well done. I shall start building one this weekend.

Oh I do love home made gadgets - and this one is simple and elegant.

Nice one.
 
jekatz said:
Oops, forgot to attach the photos:

Can You tell us what size thread you used for the cable release? I have looked hard and have not found a tap, the best I can figure is 5mm pitch 28 threads per inch or something like that, but I cant find anything in the us like that.
 
PCC said:
Can You tell us what size thread you used for the cable release? I have looked hard and have not found a tap, the best I can figure is 5mm pitch 28 threads per inch or something like that, but I cant find anything in the us like that.

Although I didn't tap this particular one initially, I read that a 4mm thread would work. The local Ace Hardware had two 4mm taps with different thread pitches, I think I used the 0.70mm pitch. I eventually tapped the aluminum bar directly on mine; on a friend's I epoxied a 4mm nut over the hole. Only time will tell which is more permanent...

Don't worry that the tap generates a straight thread but the cable release is tapered- the largest thread on the cable release should bite. If you are kind of gentle with it, that should be all you need.

Good luck-
Jon
 
Shutter Release Adapter

jekatz said:
Although I didn't tap this particular one initially, I read that a 4mm thread would work. The local Ace Hardware had two 4mm taps with different thread pitches, I think I used the 0.70mm pitch. I eventually tapped the aluminum bar directly on mine; on a friend's I epoxied a 4mm nut over the hole. Only time will tell which is more permanent...

Don't worry that the tap generates a straight thread but the cable release is tapered- the largest thread on the cable release should bite. If you are kind of gentle with it, that should be all you need.

Good luck-
Jon

Thanks, this is the one I came up with, it's one inch thin aluminum bent to shape and wrap around the camera. It has a hole on the bottom where the tripod threaded hole is. I use this with a universal adapter.
 

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PCC said:
Thanks, this is the one I came up with, it's one inch thin aluminum bent to shape and wrap around the camera. It has a hole on the bottom where the tripod threaded hole is. I use this with a universal adapter.


Very nice! I like that you can use this with a universal adapter; that should be a very useful design for a lot of folks!

Jon
 
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