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Kowa TSN-DA1 Digital Photo Adapter (1 Viewer)

Cindy M

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Andy B. asked if I'd share my experience with the Kowa TSN-DA1 Adapter, so here goes nuthin. I recently purchased a nikon coolpix 990 to use in conjunction with my Kowa TSN-2 spotting scope & 20x-60x kowa zoom eyepiece. After asking around and reading possibly too many webpages about lens adapters, I decided to try out the Kowa and I'm very pleased with this adapter.
It's a very stable & well-made piece of equipment, nothing flimsy about this product at all. The adapter consists of 3 parts- The inner tube & the outer tube (which has one locking screw) and a special adapter ring which which will adapt this unit to 77, 66, and 60mm series Kowa spotting scopes. (820/820 M does not need the adapter ring.)
*note: - You will need the separate item, "Extension Ring for Z7 Eyepiece" only if using the TSN-Z7 zoom eyepiece (made for the 82mm series Kowa spotting scopes.
In addition- You will need the separate item "Camera Adapter Ring" to adapt the whole unit to your specific camera regardless of the eyepiece being used. In my case it was the Kowa 28 mm Adapter Ring.
To use this camera adapter, I removed the scope eyepiece completely then installed the adapter ring to the scope- installed the eyepice to the scope, then folded down the rubber eyecup. Then install the camera adapter ring to the outer tube- attach that to the camera then insert the inner tube into the outer tube completely- then fix with the locking screw. Use the scope normally and then quickly mount the camera and lock into place with the screw lock. Considering how new I am to digiscoping, this adapter has increased my odds of getting a well-focused image by eliminating the camera shake I had when hand-holding the 990. I still find it a bit frustrating to first find the bird in the scope eyepiece, focusing the eyepiece, then attach the adapter, hoping the bird doesn't fly away in the interim, then find the bird yet again with the camera monitor and make sure it's still in focus- but like with all things, practice is helping :)

I ordered the photo adapter and ring both from Eagle Optics- first class operation all the way and this is not my first purchase from this company. They are helpful, knowledgable and I give them high marks all the way around for any optics purchase.
To read more about the Kowa adapter at the Eagle Optics website :

Eagle Optics- Kowa Digital Camera Adapter

Attaching an image of my setup-
 

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Thanks for that, Cindy.
You say that the device needs a seperate thread adapter to get to the 28mm thread of the Nikon.... what size thread does it come with? I'd assume that this thread adapter takes the camera slightly further away from the eyepiece?
Seems like a good adapter, much in keeping with other modern designs with a permanent fixing on the eyepiece.

It does take some time getting used to tracking birds through the monitor... the extend-a-view pro seems to help many people as it's no different to putting your eye up to the eye-cup of the scope (or the viewfinder of an slr camera)... though the actual image seen may not be as good, the 2x mag of the extend-a-view can make the image look a bit pixellated (espescially with the 'focus confirmation' option switched on.
Regards,
Andy
 
hi Andy- the TSN-DA1 Adapter doesn't come with any camera adapter ring, they are all sold separately. The camera ring is quite thin, so I don't think it factors in much real 'space' away from the eyepiece. It is very solid and with my model of scope it fits right up to the eyepiece, and I've had virtually no vignetting with this adapter- my biggest problem is with trying to make out what is in the monitor. I may resort to the extend-a-view if all else fails. I may even graduate to moving the tripod off my deck soon :)
 
I read on the digiscopingbirds list a report from someone who had attended a trade show where Kowa announced that they were coming out with a replacement extension ring for the zoom that Cindy described. I haven't heard anything else about it but my guess is that the new version will have an opening that will allow you to adjust the eyepiece zoom while the camera is attached to the scope, which would be helpful. Does anyone know if this is true? Glen
 
hi Glen, I haven't heard of such a product myself, but if you find out anything further I'd be interested in hearing more about it. With this adapter you can still use the zoom on the eyepiece, but only when the camera is unattached- which I really don't have a problem with because I'm not able to track the bird well using the camera monitor and find that technique frustrating because of the poor viewing quality of the monitor itself. I've used a scope for years but am new to using a led monitor on a camera, so I guess it's all a matter of what one is comfortable with. So far I have no complaints about the adapter & would highly recommend it to anyone using a kowa scope.
 
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Hi Cindy, I agree the Kowa works well; I've been using it since shortly after it came out. I also agree that finding the bird in the LCD is the hardest part, but that is going to be the case with any adapter. It gets easier with practice but it never gets easy. Some people rig extra sighting devices to their scopes to help them aim, including red dot pistol sights, spotting scopes designed for rifles, PVC pipes, simple wire loops and even upside down golf tees attached to the scope with putty. I haven't tried any of these yet. Glen
 
hi Glen, I've read about some of those methods at the yahoo forums- the idea of taping or glueing something to my scope just kinda gives me the heebie jeebies :)
hope to see some of your digiscoped images here soon?
 
I just read on digiscopingbirds that my suspicion was correct, that the new zoom eyepiece extension tube for the Kowa adapter has openings (3) that allow you to turn the zoom while the camera is attached. With that improvement, I would say that this adapter would be hard to beat for Kowa users. Glen
 
I found this thread which is 18 months old and was wondering if anyone had any further views on this adaptor after more use. I have a TSN-823 with the 20-60x zoom and a Coolpix 995 and this adaptor seems on paper to be a very good option. I would also be interested in thoughts from those with this scope/camera set-up who use other adaptors.
Many thanks in advance.
Peter.
 
I am still using the TSN-DA1 with my TSN-824 and CP 995 18 months later and am still happy with it. It is certainly easier to use than the EagleEye Digimount that I started with. I have not used any other adapters, so can't say if there is anything better out there for Kowa users. My only complaint would be the relatively high cost. I suppose another weakness is that if you are digiscoping with the zoom eyepiece and then want to switch eyepieces to, for example, the 27x, you have to remove the zoom extension tube discussed above from the middle of the adapter. Otherwise the adapter will be too long and your camera lens will be too far from the end of the eyepiece. This requires unthreading the camera ring from the extension tube, unthreading the extension tube from the main tube, and rethreading the camera ring to the main tube. In other words, it's a pain in the *ss. But if you do all of your digiscoping with just one eyepiece, which is what I do most of the time, you don't have to deal with that. Glen
 
Glen Tepke said:
I am still using the TSN-DA1 with my TSN-824 and CP 995 18 months later and am still happy with it. It is certainly easier to use than the EagleEye Digimount that I started with. I have not used any other adapters, so can't say if there is anything better out there for Kowa users. My only complaint would be the relatively high cost. I suppose another weakness is that if you are digiscoping with the zoom eyepiece and then want to switch eyepieces to, for example, the 27x, you have to remove the zoom extension tube discussed above from the middle of the adapter. Otherwise the adapter will be too long and your camera lens will be too far from the end of the eyepiece. This requires unthreading the camera ring from the extension tube, unthreading the extension tube from the main tube, and rethreading the camera ring to the main tube. In other words, it's a pain in the *ss. But if you do all of your digiscoping with just one eyepiece, which is what I do most of the time, you don't have to deal with that. Glen

Glen,

Thanks very much for the update.
I think this one will be the best for my purposes. Over here in the UK there isn't really much price difference between the main makes and I only use the zoom eyepiece so changing them won't be a factor.
I checked out your Gallery and there's some really great shots there, I assume taken with this set-up. The pics of whales and dolphins are superb of such difficult subjects and I also particularly like the Panama shots. I'm ignoring the Fea's Petrel out of envy as I still need it!
If anyone has some spare time (and you will find yourself there for a while!) I would recommend viewing Glen's Gallery.

Regards,

Peter.
 
Peter Sparks said:
I checked out your Gallery and there's some really great shots there, I assume taken with this set-up.

Thanks for the compliments, but be aware that many of my shots were not digiscoped -- I also have a DSLR with tele lens (Canon 10D and Canon 100-400). Almost all of the whales and dolphins and many of the Panama shots were taken with that combo. The text below each photo on my site indicates which equipment was used.

Glen
 
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