Initial aquisition definitely was a problem when I started using a telescope (angled). Compared to that, using a camera seems relatively easy.
Niels
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Advice needed for a camera (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter jurek
- Start date
Initial aquisition definitely was a problem when I started using a telescope (angled). Compared to that, using a camera seems relatively easy.
Niels
crapbirder
Well-known member
Exactly my problem with angled scopes which I resolved by fitting a sighting aid to the lens hood. This was basically a vertically-extended version of the fore sight commonly fitted to rifles. Target acquisition was achieved by lining up the top of the 'scope eyepiece with the top of the fore sight.
Whether this would be an effective method with BIF I have no idea but it might be worth a try.
Hi,
I imagine mounting a rifle sight to a camera could be a bit difficult, but since I previously experimented with a NATO rail on a hotshoe, I thought maybe something like pictured in the attachment would work.
Perspective drawing:
Isometric drawing:
It's designed for 3D printing and should be fairly cheap as it's just a single piece with no optics. The crosshairs are of 1 x 1 mm^2 thickness, the view opening is 32 mm x 18 mm. I've made the far "ring" 6 mm in diameter and the near ring 5 mm to help with alignment, but if you have experience with rifle sights ... maybe it would be better to do it the other way round?
(I have just completed the drawing, so I haven't printed the part yet.)
Regards,
Henning
I imagine mounting a rifle sight to a camera could be a bit difficult, but since I previously experimented with a NATO rail on a hotshoe, I thought maybe something like pictured in the attachment would work.
Perspective drawing:
Isometric drawing:
It's designed for 3D printing and should be fairly cheap as it's just a single piece with no optics. The crosshairs are of 1 x 1 mm^2 thickness, the view opening is 32 mm x 18 mm. I've made the far "ring" 6 mm in diameter and the near ring 5 mm to help with alignment, but if you have experience with rifle sights ... maybe it would be better to do it the other way round?
(I have just completed the drawing, so I haven't printed the part yet.)
Regards,
Henning
crapbirder
Well-known member
Apologies if my post did not make it sufficiently clear that I did not mount an actual rifle sight to an angled telescope. In fact, nothing more sophisticated than a plastic cable tie cut to length as shown in the accompanying image.
The length at which to cut the cable tie was decided by taking a sight line through the top of the 'scope eyepiece and the tip of the cable tie and trimming the cable tie until the target object was in the centre of the 'scope eyepiece. Again, it must be emphasized that I have not tried this method for photographing BIF but at the cost of a few GB pence for a cable tie, it must be worth considering.
Attachments
Hi,
Ah, I see ... "rifle sight" is a pretty good description actually
The sight I drafted is similar to the old "sports viewfinders" (if the German term translates) used in the mid-20th century, only that with the short focal lengths then in use, the old ones were often visibly pyramid-shaped, opening out to the far end.
Regards,
Henning
Ah, I see ... "rifle sight" is a pretty good description actually
The sight I drafted is similar to the old "sports viewfinders" (if the German term translates) used in the mid-20th century, only that with the short focal lengths then in use, the old ones were often visibly pyramid-shaped, opening out to the far end.
Regards,
Henning
Vespobuteo
Well-known member
TS writes "- It should still be a good camera with telephoto lenses, able to take high quality pictures (not just documents). "
FZ1000 is an interesting suggestion, good value for money considering that the IQ seem to be quite close to a D300s (and 350D) with good IQ up to ISO800. The weak point would be the lens (could be sharper at 400mm) and durability (not weather sealed).
The definition of "high quality pictures" is of course subjective but for publishing pics on the web and print smaller sizes, the FZ1000 would be fine. If the budget is larger, I would probably go for a more conventional DSLR, but the cost could easily triple.
https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Com...kon-D300s-versus-Canon-EOS-350D___958_614_183
Last edited:
Hi,
Coincedentally, this is what my FZ1000 looks like at the moment:
I actually bought the (cheapo) scope for mounting it on my birding scope, but as it fit my camera, I just put it on to see what it looks like.
When I just picked it up and actually adjusted the sight to match the sightline of the camera, it became apparent that at 400 mm, the margin of error is not very big if you want to keep a bird in the frame.
(The scope has a 4x magnification with a wide eye relief and gives a pretty good view for the purpose. I didn't expect to use it on the camera as depicted, but except for its bulk and weight, it appears to be quite a functional setup, to my suprise.)
Regards,
Henning
Coincedentally, this is what my FZ1000 looks like at the moment:
I actually bought the (cheapo) scope for mounting it on my birding scope, but as it fit my camera, I just put it on to see what it looks like.
When I just picked it up and actually adjusted the sight to match the sightline of the camera, it became apparent that at 400 mm, the margin of error is not very big if you want to keep a bird in the frame.
(The scope has a 4x magnification with a wide eye relief and gives a pretty good view for the purpose. I didn't expect to use it on the camera as depicted, but except for its bulk and weight, it appears to be quite a functional setup, to my suprise.)
Regards,
Henning
kb57
Well-known member
Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a go...I definitely need to put the time in to learn the menus.
Similar threads
