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simple and light digiscoping kit, advice please (1 Viewer)

Newton Stringer

Well-known member
Hi all :hi:

I'm a newbie and looking for your expert digiscoping advice please.....

I am looking to buy some kit for digiscoping. I don't want to get bogged down with technology and heavy kit, so I am looking for a small compact type digital camera and mount to fit my leica apo 62 scope.

Trouble is there's so many cameras and adaptors and I don't know where to start.... I've got a mate who sold on his old coolpix and replaced it with a contax u4r, he raves about this camera and says it works really well, but they're no longer available....

So what I need is a compact camera and mount, which is simple to use.... I'd like it to be capable of taking at least a couple or three shots per second without frustrating shutter lag (that my mates old coolpix had). Maybe a remote control for taking shots is needed too to prevent camera shake too ??

I'm guessing the ability to make some adjustments is good, but I don't want something with a million settings to confuse me !! I also want to use the camera for pics of birds in the hand when I'm ringing so a macro setting is required (do they all have this anyway ?).

Has anyone got a leica 62 with a compact digiscoping set up that works really well ? Any advice or recommendations would be very welcome,

Thanks


G
 
thanks... are Leicas are pretty pricey ? Don't really want to spend more than £250 on a decent set up.... is this realistic ?

I'm not fussed about the latest models with 10 megapixels and all that... so long as its more than 4 megapixels and does the job well, I'll be happy.... or are the newer models a lot better than those that are a couple of years old ?

Sorry I'm a complete novice at this !!

Could always buy older models secondhand off ebay if I knew which ones worked best with my scope.... ?
 
Yukon scope and Fuji A340 camera, great light weight combo, fairly easy hand-held as lens is good fit to eypiece. I thought Fuji's own refurbished site might still have them at a good price (around £35), probably find one on ebay!
 
Hi newton birder,
I own a Leica APO 62 scope, and have added a Fuji F30 camera with a SRB Griturn adapter which also accommodates a cable release bracket and cable.
You can e-mail or phone SRB with the details of your scope and lense and they make it to your spec.
I bought the F30 through Birdforum classifieds plus adapter cost about £218.00.
Please keep away from the Leica adapter and cameras!!!
 
Thanks peeps

Kalispera, your set up sounds interesting, just looked and I can pick one up for around £130 off Amazon... Read a few reviews on here and it seems a popular choice.

Can you tell me a little more please, how do you find it ? Is it simple enough to use ? Good results ? I'd be looking for an adapter with a shutter release cable too... is this bulky ? Are there any problems you encounter ? I'd be using a 32x eyepiece....

Cheers

G
 
Please keep away from the Leica adapter and cameras!!!

Hi Kalispera,

I respectfully disagree with your last suggestion. Like PYRTLE, I could very well suggest the Leica C-Lux 1 for a nice, fast and small digiscoping camera. I don't have personal experience with the Leica adapter, but I know it works very well in many eyepiece-camera combinations. However, it doesn't work that well with the D-Lux cameras or the slim 40x/32x eyepiece (the one Newton has?). The best eyepiece for the APO62 would be the outstanding 26xWW.

Having said that, I am not sure the "Leica" C-Lux1 is necessarily a very good buy. You can get the same camera for much less from Panasonic (Lumix DMC-FX01 or some newer FX-models). It is very fast, has good focusing and its optical image stabilization helps a lot in handheld digiscoping. Its well-known downside is an unfortunately noisy sensor and aggressive NR-processing in higher ISO sensitivities.

I agree with Kalispera that the SRB Griturn swing-out adapter is an excellent piece of kit. They also sell very simple "centering/alignment collars" for handheld digiscoping. Also the Fuji F30/31fd is a very good suggestion, but the FX01/C-Lux1 has its strengths for snapshot-digiscoping.

Attached is one example of digiscoping with the FX01 (C-Lux1), Swaro 20xSW (very similar to the Leica 26x) and an SRB Griturn adapter in difficult lighting and trying to follow a woodpecker, which didn't stay long at one spot.

Best regards,

Ilkka
 

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Thanks all for your replies...

So another quick question... iporali mentions a 26x eyepiece, I can see that this would be better for digiscoping purposes, but I only have a 32x and I don't really want to be changing eyepieces all the time. Will I still be able to get on ok with my apo televid 62, a 32x eyepiece and a compact camera ?

My priority is always birding, but I'd like a compact camera and small adapter that I can just slot on if I come across a good photo opportunity or need a record shot of something...

I've read a few reviews of the fuji F30 and they're all pretty positive so I am considering a purchase, before I do can anyone tell me any bad points about this camera which may change my mind ?!!!

Thanks in advance....

G
 
I've read a few reviews of the fuji F30 and they're all pretty positive so I am considering a purchase, before I do can anyone tell me any bad points about this camera which may change my mind ?!!!G

The Fuji has many good qualities, not least price, build, weight and a good specification. However, recently I have noticed quite bad purple fringing in high contrast situations. At first I put this down to the cheap scope I am using but I have tried some simple point and shoot photos recently and it is present on those.

Check out the sample shots in the linked review, where the purple fringing isn't even mentioned.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2006/09/28/Fujifilm-Finepix-F30/p4

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this problem?

Ron
 
Ron, I think purple fringing got a mention in the dpreview review. Check also Holger Merlitz' comments :
http://www.holgermerlitz.de/rolli.html
So seems you're not going mad or anything |:D| Swings and roundabouts, I guess, with maybe a climbing frame thrown in for good measure.
Don't get me wrong. I still feel the F30 is an excellent product for the money but I think the purple fringing is another tick in favour of spending the extra £100 or so on the Nikon P5000 if money isn't an issue.

Ron
 
Blimey swings and roundabouts indeed !

I'm new to digiscoping and this will be my first camera so I think I'll probably go with the F30. Done a search, read some reviews, and most things seem positive, only down sides that keep being mentioned seem to be over processing and this colour fringing thing....

The colour fringing sounds a bit scary ? How bad is this ? I’m guessing if it was a real big problem then people wouldn’t be using this camera and the reviews I’ve read would all be slating it ?

I'm a novice and having now seen some of the pics taken through scopes with this camera they all look pretty good to me... the keen experts on the forum may be very critical of images and compare them in detail to other cameras, but I think the same pictures criticised look good ! So as a total novice I'll probably be quite happy if I can achieve similar...

As my knowledge progresses I'll probably become more critical and look for an upgrade, but for now to get me started I think this may be the right camera.... at the right price.

So does anyone have any thoughts on how well it would work with my apo 62 and 32x eyepiece please ? Any suggestions on the best adaptors ? Will I need a remote shutter release cable thingy ?
 
The colour fringing sounds a bit scary ? How bad is this ? I’m guessing if it was a real big problem then people wouldn’t be using this camera and the reviews I’ve read would all be slating it ?
Most of the time the colour fringing isn't a problem when digiscoping. If you look at the right hand photo in that link posted by normjackson you will get a good idea of the sort of situation which can aggravate the problem – small dark objects such as leaves or branches up against a bright sky. It normally shows up most at the periphery of the lens.

I tried messing about, digiscoping a blackbird sitting on the neighbour's aerial the other night and the dark bird up against the sky produced the problem. On the other hand birds up against a less contrasty background give no problems whatsoever.

Finally, most purple fringing can be sorted out quite easily on the computer with suitable software.

Swings and roundabouts. Cake walks and roller coasters.

Ron
 
Hello G,
Good points and bad points with the F30, it seems that since last evening when I responded to your call, that virtually everything has been covered, its like most things we all have our own opinions, but reading the threads on here regarding the F30 prompted me to buy one. I think there are more positives than negatives. The reason I purchased the F30 and SRB was that I owned the APO 62 scope, but also the Leica adapter and a Leica Digilux 2 camera, and it was a poor affair, individually they are brilliant, but expensive pieces, but together, forget it, again in these threads it has been highlighted about how inept the Leica set-up was/is. With the SRB adapter, newton, you mention you are a birder first, well the adapter is fitted to your scope and does 'swing away', you get the best of both worlds.
Ilkka I respectfully appreciate your comments.
 
I have the F30 and can also recommend it as a good digiscoping camera. For me the main downside is that you can't save your favourite settings as I could with my Canon A95 (it would even save the zoom setting that was best for digiscoping!) though ISO settings are retained the next time you switch on with the Fuji.

Personally I've never noticed any colour fringing, though images at higher ISO settings do come out a little over-processed with the F30. On the other hand, the F30's ability to shoot at higher ISO settings with little noise is its single best feature, and I've got many shots with it that I simply wouldn't have got with most other cameras.

You should also take a good look at the Samsung NV3, which has an internal 3x optical zoom, making it perfect for hand-held shots. I'm quite tempted by it myself. If the F30 was easy to hand hold like this I think it would be the perfect digiscoping camera. I will have to check out the SRB 'centering/allignment' collars that Ilkka mentions.
 
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Hi again...

Thanks for all your help and advice... been really helpful.

Its looking like I'm gonna go for the F30... just 3 more questions please and then I'll shut up !!

Will this camera work well with my 32x eyepiece on this scope ?

Regarding adaptors, I am looking for something light and easy to use... what’s this SRB thing like ? Was anticipating getting something small that I could quickly slot on to the scope when I needed to... Does the SRB thing live on the scope or is it quickly fitted and removed ? Do you have any pictures of the adaptor in place ? Ideally I'd like to keep my camera kit in my bag and whip it out when I need it really....

Is a remote shutter release thing definitely required for this set up ?

Cheers


G
 
Is a remote shutter release thing definitely required for this set up ?

I can't comment on the adapter but with regard to the cable release I don't have one and manage all right by either using the 2 second timer or continuous shooting mode. In this mode the camera takes consecutive exposures until the shutter is released when it saves either the first three or last three frames. Hopefully most movement takes place when the shutter button is first pressed so you should end up with at least one good photo.

The SRB swing away adapter comes with a cable release bracket so it should be easy to fit a release. It might be worth buying a cable release to give you the choice of using one or not.

Ron
 
I use an Olivon universal adapter and leave the camera permanently attached to it when I am digiscoping. I keep the adapter with the camera already mounted in a bag and it is very quick and easy to attach it to the scope when needed. It is also possible to swing the camera away to check that the scope is focussed properly but it does get in the way a bit if I want to use the scope normally.

I would imagine the camera could 'live' on the SRB adapter and the whole lot could be mounted on the scope when required.

Ron
 
Hello newton birder,
The SRB adapter along with the camera is fitted to the scope, (that is how I use it anyway), if you wish to use the scope the camera will 'swing away', there is a device on the adapter that STOPS the camera from swinging until it hits the scope, you can then use the scope as usual.
It is a bit of a pain setting up the adapter/camera for the first time, but there are instructions accompanying the adapter from SRB.
We have just had two weeks on Lesvos and on the first full day we set up the camera/adapter, which took a good hour, but that was it for the fortnight, you do keep having to adjust if it takes a knock, but its a case of making sure you have a 'circle' on the LCD screen, the screen will show vignetting in the four corners, but you can get the full screen by increasing the optical zoom by about 2/3rds.
Hope this helps!!
I'll bet your heads' spinning.
Regards, Donald
 
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