Is a 38x eyepiece too much for D/Scoping? (1 Viewer)

I use a bridge camera for video which can give me good results, but recently bought my wife a little point and shoot Nikon S3400. It has surprised me with the quality of the shots and the video. I "borrowed" it, bought a custom made adaptor and tried to marry it up to my Nikon 82ED A scope but just can't seem to get anything without vignetting. The eyepiece I normally have on the scope is a 38x wide (non DS) - is this likely to be causing the problem or could the camera be an issue - it has a 7x zoom.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Phil

Yes the camera with 7x is the problem in vignetting. Best with 3-4x zoom for Digiscoping

Terima Kasih Banyak Horukuru!

I guess I should look for a similar camera with a smaller zoom.

The cameras that most of the D/S guys seem to be using these days are more money than I want to spend. I'm not looking for the very best quality, more something compact and convenient that I can use quickly to get record or identification shots through the scope.

With so many new cameras coming on the market all the time surely there's a compact that will do the job without breaking the bank?

Yes any of the compact cameras nowadays can do the job as long it is below 4x zoom. Try Nikon Coolpix series

I have a canon A2300 with a 5x zoom ,24-120 mm 2.8/6.9 and it doesnt vignett except in a small part of the focus range,in the wider end,but this is normal with many cameras ,even with 3x or 4x zoom..your nikon is even wider in the wide end, probably 20 mm equivalent,and two points slower starting at f/3.4..i think is the combination wide/ moderate aperture that makes the vignetting happen..i

Thanks Mayoayo

I've been researching possible 5x zoom compact cameras and really like the look of the Canon S120 - particularly the very fast processor and f1.8 lens (at the wide end). Can't seem to find many people using it to D/S though?

I thought that I'd better just double check my current set up before I bought yet another camera. After a lot of fiddling around with two tripods (would be a lot easier with a straight scope) I found that I CAN get a clean image with the S3400 and the 38x eyepiece. In fact there are two different parts of the zoom range where vignetting disappears, one near the wide end and one near maximum zoom. It seems that the adapter that I had made doesn't allow the lens close enough to the eyepiece - my fault - I gave them the measurements!

Anyway I spent several hours sourcing and modifying some plastic waste fittings to get the distance right. Now the problem is that despite the closest tolerances I could manage the camera has to be supported by hand in portrait mode or it rotates. This looks like a job for a D/S adapter with a camera support. Suddenly I'm starting to see the attraction of phonescoping!!

I haven't given up on the S120 idea but now I'm looking at adapter options.

.Those are good news!,,,if you can get a couple of clear points on the zoom range...yes..distance is crucial as well..sometimes setting the camera too close creates vignetting,sometimes a couple mm far out and creates vignetting...Do you have other eyepieces for the ED 82?..maybe is worth to try other magnifications...i dont think the 38x is more or less forgiving to the vignetting issue,but low power helps with field of view and brightness...You can always try a universal adapter, like the baader microstage...That is going to be my route for the micro4/3..please post pictures of your set up...
Regards

Sorry Mayoayo no chance to post pics of my set up as I had to fly to the U.K. but I have brought the scope with me and a few days ago had the chance to try the Canon S120 through the 38W/A eyepiece. I was so impressed I bought the camera! Even handheld I am getting shots more easily than with the little Nikon compact and there is no vignetting through almost the whole zoom range. The feature that I am most pleased with so far is the step-zoom facility which means that once I get an adapter set to a particular focal length that I'm happy with then I can zoom to that setting every time without the guesswork of using the zoom lever. This should make things much quicker and prevent me hitting the eyepiece when I zoom in too far.

I haven't had a chance to try taking shots of any birds yet but maybe later today. The other thing I like about the S120 is that there is no waiting for the buffer to clear between shots - it's reported that you could just keep shooting till the sd card is full if you wanted to. I've only tried twenty or so shots and the camera was ready to go again after about 1 second!

I tried the G7X at the same time because I liked the idea of a flip out screen but it's useless for digiscoping - it flips up and away from the user and can't be rotated - turns out it's designed for taking "selfies" - a sad sign of the times!

Here in the UK the S120 is about half the price of the G7X at the moment - reduced from over £400 to £186 with a free £30 case and two years guarantee from John Lewis. The case is nothing special but does have a belt loop.

Torchepot said:

Terima Kasih Banyak Horukuru!

I guess I should look for a similar camera with a smaller zoom.

The cameras that most of the D/S guys seem to be using these days are more money than I want to spend. I'm not looking for the very best quality, more something compact and convenient that I can use quickly to get record or identification shots through the scope.

With so many new cameras coming on the market all the time surely there's a compact that will do the job without breaking the bank?

Click to expand...

Have a look at the Nikon Coolpix 300 Series as Jason suggested. The P340 is the new one but the slightly older P330 is also very good. Should be able to get good deals on Amazon/Ebay.
Neil.

Thanks Neil

I did compare the P340 with the Canon S120 they are very similar in specification and even look almost the same, but the Canon processor may be faster (I tried holding down the shutter button and it just fired away till I got bored - then it was ready to go again after about one second!) and the offer at Amazon and John Lewis made it a fair bit cheaper. I'm working my way through all the functions in the manual - it's got more than some DSLRs! So far I've only had a limited amount of time to try it with the scope but the results handheld are promising. I want to make an adapter which is really quick to use so will have to wait till I get back to my workshop. The tripod mount is lined up exactly with the centre of the lens (and close to the centre of gravity) so an adapter would not need side to side adjustment - making design a lot simpler.

The only negative so far with the S120 is that there is no connection for a remote shutter release and it's not possible to trigger it from a mobile either.

Torchepot said:

Thanks Neil

I did compare the P340 with the Canon S120 they are very similar in specification and even look almost the same, but the Canon processor may be faster (I tried holding down the shutter button and it just fired away till I got bored - then it was ready to go again after about one second!) and the offer at Amazon and John Lewis made it a fair bit cheaper. I'm working my way through all the functions in the manual - it's got more than some DSLRs! So far I've only had a limited amount of time to try it with the scope but the results handheld are promising. I want to make an adapter which is really quick to use so will have to wait till I get back to my workshop. The tripod mount is lined up exactly with the centre of the lens (and close to the centre of gravity) so an adapter would not need side to side adjustment - making design a lot simpler.

The only negative so far with the S120 is that there is no connection for a remote shutter release and it's not possible to trigger it from a mobile either.

Click to expand...

The lens on the S120 may be a little long to give you much unvignetted range but I haven't tried it myself. Have a look at the Vortex PS100 adapter.
You can alway make a tube out of cardboard and use elastic bands to get something going.
Neil.

Thanks again Neil

Here are a couple of shots just handheld through the scope at different ends of the zoom range (it's only a5x zoom) - much easier than a bird which moves around I know but they are promising at least for my needs.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/128400943@N02/hU28y0

Thanks for the tip on the Vortex I'll check it out.