Nikon Coolpix ruining my birding! (1 Viewer)

Don't know if any others out there have found this.

I bought a CP4500 to use with my scope for digiscoping, however after a few weeks of very gradual improvement I was not happy with my images and realised two things:

1. It takes time to learn to take pics of the quality we often see in the gallery taken thru scopes.

2. I will use the qulity of my scope as an excuse for my failings and eventually will buy a Swaro/Zeiss/Leica instead!

However around the same time as this realisation I started using the CP4500 (mainly in macro mode) to take pics of Butterflies/insects/flowers. It was a revalation - with no skill on my part (apart from a little patience) I could come up with acceptable (to me) images of some beautiful sights.

So now instead of spending my time at my local scrape sorting through my sandpipers for that early yankee wader I find myself wandering around the local grasslands for blues and orchids!

Gotta get this sorted in the next couple of weeks or autumn will be half done before I get my scope out of the car again!

Ivan

I have the luxury of having a couple of cameras Ivan and I am also learning digiscoping. So when I know I don't have the mind set for digiscoping on a particular day, I just grab my other camera with a 10x optical and a 1.7x converter and continue on with my birding.

This digital camera business and digiscoping is an insidious disease. There is always one more thing to buy or something out there better than what you have. Of course that is the way the manufacturers hoped it would be. I am a gadget freak. The scope I have is really a neat scope. Not a swaro or Kowa but I feel for my purposes and my abilities at the moment, it is just fine. I never dreamed I would use it as much as I do even when I am not digiscoping. Doesn't mean that I don't dream of owning a swaro or kowa someday, but I have to try and be practical and right now my talents in the digiscoping dept. just do not justify the purchase of a better one. Someday though

There is no doubt about it that Digiscoping is an acquired technique. I have a background in photography and so possibly over came some of the problems encountered with switching to digiscoping that someone without that background may have. Even then I'm very much a novice still.

IMHO it is well worth persevering as I could never have obtained the shots I have done with my old equipment. There is almost a 'knack' to getting decent shots and it's certainly a help having someone to offer advice who knows what they are talking about. I am greatly indebted to Andy Bright for tips and guidance. All I can say is keep at it and use the Digiscoping forums on Bird Forum for guidance. It worked for me.

As you have seen, this forum will help you greatly.

Even if you stick to digiscoping birds and even if you have put in enough time and money to frequently get satisfactory shots, you will still come to realize that birding and photograpy are to some extent mutually exclusive activities. Of course, you can do both. I typically go birding with the scope and camera, and if a good shot presents itself, I take the time to try for it. I call it "opportunistic digiscoping." But I am compromising on both accounts -- I see fewer birds than I would if I didn't have the camera and get fewer shots than I would if I was focused on photography (no pun intended). I am constantly faced with the choice between trying for the shot or moving on and trying to see something else.

One solution is pursue just one of the activities on any given day, perhaps alternating birding days with photography days. You could enforce discipline by leaving the camera at home on birding days, but then you wouldn't be ready to get a record shot when that mega-rarity shows up.

I am moving in that direction. I tend to focus on birding when I am out with my wife or other birding partners, who find watching me digiscope about as exciting as watching paint dry, and focus on digiscoping when I am out by myself.

Glen

Yes this is a very personal decision you need to make. I only know that for me, just seeing the bird is only partly satisfying. I need to get a really decent picture of it before it "counts". Even concentrating on digibirding has problems though. I wanted to spend more time with lizards also. I think you just have to accept that no matter what you do, life is too short. Someday maybe I will.

I must admit,im pretty delighted with some of the shots ive obtained so far,despite only being a digiscoper for a few weeks!!
I just followed andy brights advice and "suggested settings" and dont really stray much from these!! ill probably start experimenting soon,but at the moment i havent seen the need,although I have been going to similar habitat recently (coastal marsh etc) . Part of the reason could be that ive been taking pictures through a scope for years,via an adaptor,so im used to focusing this way (a lot of people have trouble with getting objects in focus) , maybe its just beginners luck!!