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ats 80 hd digiscoping questions (1 Viewer)

mark f

Well-known member
i currently use a canon 40d and 100-400is for photography and was hoping to get a better lens, but because of the inflated prices thought i would spend money on the ats 80 hd scope instead for birding. (ive always wanted a nice scope, the wife will use it aswell).

Now obviously i would like to try my hand at some digiscoping so what tripod and head should i consider with that scope and my 40d?

Would the 40d be a good camera to use?

What other accesories should i need also?

Obviously 40d isnt light so hence asking you what i need to keep things still!
And i suppose if i ever end up affording a 500is prime lens then i could use the tripod for that to.
Thanks. Mark
 
Mark, I have a Swarovski ATS 80HD scope and would suggest that you look at getting the Swarovski TLS800 and a "T" mount adaptor for the Canon camera. The advantage of the angle scope is that it is easier than the straight scope to balance. I use a Manfroto 501 head and this is ample strong enough to use with a Canon EOS 5 Mark 2 and I think the weight would be approx the same.

This is a link to some shots I have taken with the set up

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jingbar/sets/72157613030137780/

Bob Thompson
 
thanks for your reply and love th photos! So the tls800 is the tripod? and is the T mount made by swarovski?
 
Mark, the TLS800 is the Swarovski photo adapter for SLR cameras, see this link;

http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?KEY=1441

Any good and sturdy tripod will suffice; Manfrotto & Velbon make good ones, Gitzo are better still, but costly. You should be able to fit almost any head on your tripod, Bob is using the 501 from Manfrotto, which is good as it allows you to balance the load so it isn't back/front heavy. Others are available too.

BTW, the 'T' mount adapter fits between the TLS and your camera, to make them compatible I believe.


Steve
 
Sorry for the late reply, but Steve has summed it up. The scope, TLS800 and camera is a very rigid setup but I would suggest a tripod head that has a sliding plate built into it so that you can get the balance exact.

Happy Birding,

Bob
 
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