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

What do you think? (1 Viewer)

Wimpy

Well-known member
I couldn't find an appropriate thread to ask this question, so here goes.

I am in the process of buying a better scope. At present I have a "Piccolo" scope so as the song says "the only way is up"!

I had the opportunity to compare some scopes at the weekend and in the process took two images with two scopes side by side. The images were taken on Panasonic TZ7 under similar conditions, sadly not on the same subject, but the same distance away (approx 40m) and the same light conditions. Both were hand-held with no remote shutter, just point and shoot!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjOjNeczMGMBg&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjOjNeczMGMBg&feat=directlink

I would welcome any comments about the quality of the images with regards to the scopes involved. One was a reasonably price quality scope and the other a few hundred pounds more. I have not associated an image with a scope as I would like an un biased opinion.

Thanks in Advance

Wimpy
 
Very clever!

I think the one with the geese and the swan looks better (sharper) than the one with the ducks (which look brighter though).

Good luck! |=)|
 
Last edited:
I couldn't find an appropriate thread to ask this question, so here goes.

I am in the process of buying a better scope. At present I have a "Piccolo" scope so as the song says "the only way is up"!

I had the opportunity to compare some scopes at the weekend and in the process took two images with two scopes side by side. The images were taken on Panasonic TZ7 under similar conditions, sadly not on the same subject, but the same distance away (approx 40m) and the same light conditions. Both were hand-held with no remote shutter, just point and shoot!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjOjNeczMGMBg&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjOjNeczMGMBg&feat=directlink

I would welcome any comments about the quality of the images with regards to the scopes involved. One was a reasonably price quality scope and the other a few hundred pounds more. I have not associated an image with a scope as I would like an un biased opinion.

Thanks in Advance

Wimpy

Hi Wimpy,

What an excellent way to get an opinion on two scopes. Very clever.
To my eye the second image is batter but it is hard to tell as they are different photos. How about trying it with photos of the same thing then we could give you a better opinion. Maybe something static so you can compose the photos identically.

Cheers,
Martin
 
It's an interesting way of doing blind tests over the internet but there plenty of details to be attended to if you want valid results (aside from distinguishing the best from the clearly crap ... that's easy to do without the camera).

You need to know if the camera is limiting the image quality.

I think to do this compare you really need either higher resolution images (or the same crop of the image at full resolution) and more consistent target selection (feather detail would be good ... though even feather detail on a white bird or a black bird would help determine how good contrast is). Getting those waterbirds to cooperate might be a problem ;)

You also need to fix variable parameters like manual exposure to set the aperture and speed otherwise random changes might make one photo look "brighter" than the other.

Another comparison technique to check for a difference is ABX. Present three photos. One from one scope, one from the other and a third randomly from one or the other (see why you need more consistent targets) then ask the viewer to pick which scope took photo X. The stats for repeated different presentations a bit easier to deal with in this case so you can get a statistically significant result of the scopes differing or being the same.
 
Yes I realise that there are many variables that have not been controlled and as such it's not a fair test but using the "eyeball mk1" and the human memory make a comparison three days later even more difficult.

Thanks for your opinions so far.
 
Yes I realise that there are many variables that have not been controlled and as such it's not a fair test but using the "eyeball mk1" and the human memory make a comparison three days later even more difficult.

Thanks for your opinions so far.

I have to be honest and say I would be happy with either image! The images look to be of a very similar quality and if there is a few hundred pounds price difference between the two scopes I would find it hard to justify the extra spend.
Well done on both images, especially handheld.
Chris
 
I agree with epsomsalt in that there doesn't seem to be a big difference between the two photos. As I said above it's difficult to determine if this is due to the scope or not.

Were you handholding for these digiscope shots? They're very nice for that. I'm impressed.
 
Yes Kevin both were hand held. I really rushed the process. The shellduck was f3.3, 1/40th sec and the whooper was f3.3 and 1/80th, neither of these settings show any planning on my part. Both were ISO 80.

I was concerned about the chromatic aberration on the swan when zoomed in, is it acceptable, should there be less? The objective lens was fluorite (ED) .
 
Wimpy, have bought any scope yet? Also, I'm a little curious about which scopes were used for the pictures.
 
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