Digiscoping with Pentax PF-65ED - eyepiece needed (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone

Thinking about digiscoping with a Pentax 65ed scope, so I am looking for a nice eyepiece and have many doubts.

I haver read that the best eyepiece would be the Pentax XW 20mm but it's very expensive. I have looked at the 17mm Baader hyperion, I know that it has a thread to mount the camera with the proper rings, same as the pentax. Is the BH 17mm recommended for digiscoping or are there better choices?

I have read that the xf 6.5-19.5mm zoom (20-60x) eyepiece is not so good. I don't intend to go further than 40x, stay at 20x most of the time, but I would prefer a zoom rather than a 20x or 25x fixed eyepiece. So is the XF zoom much worse at 20x than the 17mm Baader?

Is there any other better zoom that woud focus to infinity and give better quality up to 40x, and also easy to attach to the camera? I think that eye relief and FOV wouldn't be too important if I am going to digiscope, but I'm not sure about this.

I know that the Nikon 16-24-30x DS is a very nice eyepiece and needs a digiscoping adapter, but can it be used with the Pentax scope, or would I need an adapter to fit the scope? Would this eyepiece be better than other fixed eyepieces?

And last question regarding fixed or zoom eyepiece... what do you think it would give better quality: a fixed eyepiece and zoom camera lens, or a good zoom eyepiece and fixed prime lens?

Many thanks in advance

Spottingtoad, I am not an experienced digiscoper, but recently assembled a rig that seems to serve well on the Pentax PF scopes (I have a PF-65aii, as well as 80 and 100 mm ones). You do not mention what camera you have or plan to buy, but especially on the small PF-65 a large digital SLR seems to overbalance things on the tripod when switching from visual to photo mode. If you can, I suggest you spend the extra money for the Pentax 20 XW eyepiece and economize on the camera and adapter. You will enjoy the 20 XW as it is a great match for the PF-65. It gives 19.5x with a 3.6˚ true field for really spectacular use visually.

Pentax produced the PF-DS1 adapter that screws onto the threading of the XW eyepieces and was designed to hold their VERY small Optio S4i camera. This is a light, simple rig that is easy to carry and use while birding. The only problem is the S4i is only 4 megepixles, which is outdated now. Fortunately, the rig also works with the S5i with 5 MP and the one I use, the S 12 with 12 MP (cable release hits the button slightly off center on the S12, but still works). All these cameras are discontinued now, as well as the adapter. However, there is a PF-DS1 adapter on Ebay now for buy-it-now price of $29.95 and the S 12 cameras in good used condition usually go for less than $50.(In one recent sale, the camera and outfit went for under $10!) The Optio S12 has 3x optical zoom (plus additional digital zoom) and so will cover most any magnification within the capability of the PF-65 when using just the 20 XW eyepiece.

Obviously, there are other rigs that you may want to consider, so perhaps others will chime in with posts on what they use.
Hope this helps. - Bill

Hello Bill, thank you very much for your suggestions. I will look for XW eyepieces, especially the 20.

I have digiscoped just a little with a travelscope so I already have one universal adapters for an old point and shoot compact camera, but I also have a mirrorless too and I would like to directly mount the camera to the eyepiece with step up rings, so I don't think I will need the adapter you say and look for extra setup.

You are right, I would be putting too much weight, I should look too for a long balance plate and strong tripod head.

I think I'll start saving for the eyepiece, I guess it's worth it!
Thank you!