Nikon 5600 Settings (1 Viewer)

I have the Nikon Coolpix 5600 attached to an ED82A scope using the Nikon adapter. It works well enough in certain conditions but is awful in others. I have been fiddling with a lot more since I got the 701RC head, which keeps the combo steady. My problem is that find I have very little control over the settings of the point-and-shoot. The camera has very little manual control, relying on modes instead. I usually use either AUTO or SPORTS mode with varying results which usually require a lot of tweaking after the fact. Does anyone here use this combo, and if so do you care to share any tips for settings.
Thanks,
Greg

If you read some of my earlier threads, you will see my frustration with the 5600. The thing is, at least for me, it worked really great in well-lit conditions. My photos were frozen perfectly, well lit, and very clear as long as I had excellent lighting. In even the slightest shade the photos became grainy, hard to see, etc. I would get the photo in the LCD looking OK, then when I try to shoot the autofocus would screw everything up and the photo would come out dark and grainy or have other issues. I would then hookup a 2 MP hp and take the same picture and it was alwways better despite this camera being a dinosaur that was poorly cared for. The lack of manual controls frustrated me to no end. I finally did a search on the 5600 on amazon and read the one star reviews. If you notice there are many complaining about blurry, grainy photos. I am not sure there is any work around, I called Nikon and the rep basically told me to try one of their other models. As a side note, I did not have weird, coloring issues. My photos were either excellent or terrible, there was no grey area. The camera either captured plenty of light or rendered the photos nearly impossible to view.

Thats what I was afraid of. I bought the camera specifically because it had the adapter for Nikon Fieldscopes. The set-up is handy with the adapter, although attaching it and removing it from the eyepiece can be a struggle. I have gotten some great shots in well-lit conditions, mostly through luck. There is very little you can do to effect the process except take a lot of pictures to increase the odds that you will get a few keepers. I just wish Nikon had put a little more thought into the choice of cameras to pair with the scope. I would suggest that Nikon add some digiscoping pre-sets to the SCENE mode on any point-and-shoots they plan to pair with scopes if they aren't going to include manual functions. Maybe in-between "Fireworks" and "baby-portrait".

Greg

Greg, you guessed it. Use it in good light and put it on action mode, continious, and fire away. Unless there is camera shake or some other issue, you should have good daytime shots in perfect lighting. I just wouldn't hold my breath on anything else, 9x out of 10 the camera won't perform in anything less than perfect lighting for me, even when less expensive cams work fine under the same conditions.

You might need to buy a second camera to use for conditions that aren't in the open. I've looked on amazon and found reviews for cams that are supposed to be good in low light and at least one of those were confirmed by members here (see an earlier thread if interested). As soon as I can find a used one locally, I'll hook it up and see how it performs. One thing about buying used, you have to make sure it's going to work since there is no return policy.

sort of reminds me of my old 990,, if the light was good it could provide excellent photos but when the light started to drop the quality went south,, never could find proper settings to try the lower light conditions after thousands of photos,, accepted the condition,,

may want to look for a P5000 on the used mkt as should be some good prices,, I have one and it is great,, no desire to move to the 5100 as the 5000 serves me well,,

your 28mm adapter will work on the 5000 & 5100,,

Derry