ZEISS DC4 Test images (1 Viewer)

lightshedder · Sep 22, 2006

If anyone is interested in the soon to be ZEISS DC4 Camera Eyepiece, I have posted a first set of images, as we refine the internal software, on www.zbirding.info, in the Community section, Photo tab, Gallery "ZEISS Camera Eyepiece DC4". "V.a" in the name, or "Software release "a"" in the description means the newest release so far. The rest in the gallery are from the original software release. All images are lightly processed in Photoshop Elements 4.0, about what you would do to any digiscoped image. V.a images required less processing. I invite your comments.

Also, if you go to the main www.zeiss.com/sports site (not the zeiss.de/sportsoptics) and follow the links to the DC4 page, you will find an email link. I will try to answer any questions you all have about how the thing works. There is also a gallery of DC4 images there, though no provision for comments.

Remember: the internal software is still under revision. These are preliminary images from a pre-production unit.

S. Ingraham
Birding and Naturalist Product Specialist
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics

Andrew Rowlands · Sep 22, 2006

Thanks for those links, Steve - some interesting stuff in there

Enjoyed reading it but a little too late in the day for me to follow it all through with the required levels of concentration!

Bookmarked for later perusal ....

Regards,

Andy.

RedBishop · Sep 28, 2006

Looks very intresting with good and vivid colors. I'd love to see a 100% unresized image.
The best news around this is that Zeiss are basically introducing a huge effort here that is targeted for digiscopers only, maybe they think the market is big enough ?
Maybe some other camera company will take it forward to produce a digiscoping specific camera (a replacment for the 4500....) or, maybe not.

lightshedder · Sep 28, 2006

RedBishop said:
Looks very intresting with good and vivid colors. I'd love to see a 100% unresized image.
The best news around this is that Zeiss are basically introducing a huge effort here that is targeted for digiscopers only, maybe they think the market is big enough ?
Maybe some other camera company will take it forward to produce a digiscoping specific camera (a replacment for the 4500....) or, maybe not.

If you go to the zbiridng site, to the DC4 gallery, and click on an individual image to open it, just below the image is a litte toggle for "Sizes". Click that. From the drop-down menu, choose "original" and it will bring up the full scale file.
In Explorer, it will resize to screen size. Put your mouse over the lower left corner of the image until the resize button appears. Click it and it will put the full scale image up so you can scroll around in it.
In Netscape/Firefox it also resizes to screen size, but you have a little magnifying glass when your mouse is over the image. Clicking the image will get you the full scale file.

At Zeiss we are not sure (who can be) that the digiscoping market is big enough to support specific products...however we are confident that there are a relatively large number of people out there who have always dreamed of being wildlife photographers...of catching the birds and beasts they love in beautiful images from a safe (for both them and the wildlife) distance...if only it were not so expensive, or so complicated.

So, we have the DC4. Dead easy. And not expensive at all when compared to the DSLR and super-tel that would be required to come even close to the results.

We will see.

S. Ingraham
Birding and Nature Product Specialist
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics, NA

banana · Sep 28, 2006

Indeed very intresting.
From first view of the camera spec, I think few extra MP (8mp would allow much bigger prints) would be useful, also RAW format and the battery life in CIPA standard are missing.
The original image I saw is suffering from JPEG compression artifacts (I saw it around the plover's bill on the rocks.
I wonder if this eyepiece would work (with the right adapter) on a PENTAX PF-80 scope ? any ideas ?

The magnification seem to be much to large, I'm using Pentax PF-80 with the zoom eyepiece (about x23) and Canon A95 and I always struggle to use as less as possible magnification on both the scope and the camera, the DC4 x40 seems to be too strong and I don't think would work in areas of the world where light is scarce.

What is the expected price on this?

lightshedder · Sep 28, 2006

banana said:
Indeed very intresting.
From first view of the camera spec, I think few extra MP (8mp would allow much bigger prints) would be useful, also RAW format and the battery life in CIPA standard are missing.
The original image I saw is suffering from JPEG compression artifacts (I saw it around the plover's bill on the rocks.
I wonder if this eyepiece would work (with the right adapter) on a PENTAX PF-80 scope ? any ideas ?

The magnification seem to be much to large, I'm using Pentax PF-80 with the zoom eyepiece (about x23) and Canon A95 and I always struggle to use as less as possible magnification on both the scope and the camera, the DC4 x40 seems to be too strong and I don't think would work in areas of the world where light is scarce.

What is the expected price on this?

This is a "true" 40x, not the 50mm equivalent estimation we are used to using in digiscoping circles. In my experience, most digiscopers taking images through a 40x eyepiece are actually shooting at something between 45 and 55x...and those using a 23-25x eyepiece are actually shooting nearer the 30x-35x range, and that is if their camera zoom allows them to reach the lower end of the zoom range without vignetting. So our expectations of field of view, camera motion effects, etc. are somewhat exaggerated.

40x gives a nice wide field, as is evidenced by the Blue Jay shots at 40 feet, and with the wireless remote camera motion is not an issue (unless working in a high wind).

Price has not been officially set anywhere as yet...but, depending on where you are in the world, it will run in 1500 euro/1000 pound/1900 US$ range. Not inexpensive, unless you compare it to the equivalent magnification in a DSLR and super-tel.

We'd all like more pixels, but the 4 meg files are getting to be excellent quality with the latest software revisions.

We make an "astro" adaptor which might mate with the Pentax scope.

S. Ingraham
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics

kylee · Sep 30, 2006

I am very interested in DC4, but why it says only limited to 1000 pieces? Should I need to preorder from Hong Kong dealers? Or is it possible or advisable to buy it online?

lightshedder · Sep 30, 2006

kylee said:
I am very interested in DC4, but why it says only limited to 1000 pieces? Should I need to preorder from Hong Kong dealers? Or is it possible or advisable to buy it online?

I am not sure it will be available in Hong Kong at all. The distribution, as I understand it (and that is not my field), is limited to the US, England, and the German speaking countries of Europe.
Due to the limited length of a sensor generation, and the very specialized DX0 software in the camera (which are designed for each other) we can not guarantee more than a limited production run, a certain number of units over the next two years. In the digital world, it is quite possible the particular sensor we built the camera around will not be available by the time we would need to reorder, and we would essentially be starting the design process all over.
Even the major camera makers only build a certain predetermined number of each model. When it is gone it is gone. That is, unfortunately, how the digital world works.

S. Ingraham

mayoayo · Oct 1, 2006

not too impressed!

lightshedder said:
If anyone is interested in the soon to be ZEISS DC4 Camera Eyepiece, I have posted a first set of images, as we refine the internal software, on www.zbirding.info, in the Community section, Photo tab, Gallery "ZEISS Camera Eyepiece DC4". "V.a" in the name, or "Software release "a"" in the description means the newest release so far. The rest in the gallery are from the original software release. All images are lightly processed in Photoshop Elements 4.0, about what you would do to any digiscoped image. V.a images required less processing. I invite your comments.

Also, if you go to the main www.zeiss.com/sports site (not the zeiss.de/sportsoptics) and follow the links to the DC4 page, you will find an email link. I will try to answer any questions you all have about how the thing works. There is also a gallery of DC4 images there, though no provision for comments.

Remember: the internal software is still under revision. These are preliminary images from a pre-production unit.

S. Ingraham
Birding and Naturalist Product Specialist
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics

Hi ...honestly im not too impressed with ANY of the results...have you seen any of the pictures that gerd Russen takes with his old swaro,or the pentax pf 80 pictures on any of the galleries??????

lightshedder · Oct 2, 2006

Oh well. Maybe you should mark it down to the skill of the photographer, rather than purely put it on the equipment. They are about as good now as what "I" can get with my 8mp Sony.

mayoayo · Oct 2, 2006

lightshedder said:
Oh well. Maybe you should mark it down to the skill of the photographer, rather than purely put it on the equipment. They are about as good now as what "I" can get with my 8mp Sony.

I see ..I thought you were using the new prototype for the pictures..they are pretty good ,i was just being hypercritical ....Although...It seems to me that some outfits are more suited than others....Pentax 80/xw20/sony camera seems to be a winner....
Thanks for all your work,you are good at it...

greg g · Nov 26, 2006

lightshedder said:
This is a "true" 40x, not the 50mm equivalent estimation we are used to using in digiscoping circles. In my experience, most digiscopers taking images through a 40x eyepiece are actually shooting at something between 45 and 55x...and those using a 23-25x eyepiece are actually shooting nearer the 30x-35x range, and that is if their camera zoom allows them to reach the lower end of the zoom range without vignetting. So our expectations of field of view, camera motion effects, etc. are somewhat exaggerated.

40x gives a nice wide field, as is evidenced by the Blue Jay shots at 40 feet, and with the wireless remote camera motion is not an issue (unless working in a high wind).

Price has not been officially set anywhere as yet...but, depending on where you are in the world, it will run in 1500 euro/1000 pound/1900 US$ range. Not inexpensive, unless you compare it to the equivalent magnification in a DSLR and super-tel.

We'd all like more pixels, but the 4 meg files are getting to be excellent quality with the latest software revisions.

We make an "astro" adaptor which might mate with the Pentax scope.

S. Ingraham
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics

I like seeing Zeiss moving in this direction of an eye-piece camera option. It will be interesting to see what it is like to use one for birding and photo pleasure.

geoffgamble · Dec 30, 2008

I have a used DC4, in mint condition, if anyone is intersted in purchasing it. Please see link below.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=130149

Cheers

ZEISS DC4 Test images (1 Viewer)

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