[SteveClifton]

Originally Posted by John Fleet

Steve
Thanks for this advice - I've been able to set most of them on my S90 but I wonder have you found a way to save the 'FUNC SET' settings? - I can't see one ....

John, if by this you mean things like ISO, White Balance, Raw & JPEG, picture quality etc, then in my experience they are all saved when using the Save Settings option in the menus.

To do this, press the menu button, and under the left hand menu (camera icon) scroll to the botton then select the Save Settings option.

[John Fleet]

Thanks Steve - I hadn't twigged that 'Save Settings' covered ALL setting i.e. those set under the Function Set as well as via the Menu. But someone I've now got the AF-Point Zoom and AF Frame options greyed out - any ideas?

[SteveClifton]

I had the same problem last week. After a bit of investigation, it seems that you can't have these on when one of the other settings is on too.

I'm not sure exactly what this was, but try duplicating my settings in the (camera icon) menu. The mode dial on top of the camera should be set to C (custom).

[John Fleet]

hmm
seems very odd! Options are now back after I turned continuous shooting option off. But when I turned it back on again they are still there, which makes me think I'm missing something...

[Tord]

Hi all,

Providing some more samples taken with S-95 / Nikon ED82A with the DS30X eyepiece.

Conditions were quite windy with wind speed around 7-8 meter/second

Pictures taken using RAW format, self-timer, default camera settings, applying some toning and sharpening in Digital Photo Professional before final resizing.

Roe Deer (Cloudy)
Distance to subject: 200 meters

ISO 80
Tv 1/100 s
Av 4.0
FL 12.8 mm (on a scale 6.0 mm - 22.5 mm)

This one shows OK technical quality, but nothing special.

Roe Deer (Sunny)
The motif is less interesting with the deer showing their posteriors just as the sun broke through for a few seconds but the technical quality of the picture is clearly better with quite good detail rendering.

ISO 80
Tv 1/200 s
Av 4.0
FL 9.6 mm (on a scale 6.0 mm - 22.5 mm)

Ship
Distance to subject: 2-3 km

ISO 80
Tv 1/500 s
Av 4.0
FL 9.6 mm (on a scale 6.0 mm - 22.5 mm)

This one is quite good in my opinion and demonstrates that the camera/scope combo has little chromatic abberation and is capable of delivering a quite stunning level of detail. You can actually discern fine details in the ship's structure. I believe the favorable light conditions helped here.

Lessons learned (?): Increase ISO to achieve shorter exposure times?

[SteveClifton]

Originally Posted by Tord

Hi all,

Providing some more samples taken with S-95 / Nikon ED82A with the DS30X eyepiece.

Conditions were quite windy with wind speed around 7-8 meter/second

Pictures taken using RAW format, self-timer, default camera settings, applying some toning and sharpening in Digital Photo Professional before final resizing.

Roe Deer (Cloudy)
Distance to subject: 200 meters

ISO 80
Tv 1/100 s
Av 4.0
FL 12.8 mm (on a scale 6.0 mm - 22.5 mm)

This one shows OK technical quality, but nothing special.

Roe Deer (Sunny)
The motif is less interesting with the deer showing their posteriors just as the sun broke through for a few seconds but the technical quality of the picture is clearly better with quite good detail rendering.

ISO 80
Tv 1/200 s
Av 4.0
FL 9.6 mm (on a scale 6.0 mm - 22.5 mm)

Ship
Distance to subject: 2-3 km

ISO 80
Tv 1/500 s
Av 4.0
FL 9.6 mm (on a scale 6.0 mm - 22.5 mm)

This one is quite good in my opinion and demonstrates that the camera/scope combo has little chromatic abberation and is capable of delivering a quite stunning level of detail. You can actually discern fine details in the ship's structure. I believe the favorable light conditions helped here.

Lessons learned (?): Increase ISO to achieve shorter exposure times?

Your images are all good, but just a few observations:

I think you could go to a higher ISO setting and still not suffer too much from excessive noise (grain). Try up ISO 200 next time if conditions are bright, though from the looks of these I don't think it would make much difference to your images as they all look to be slow moving, especially as you also used the timer.

I think atmospheric conditions are your biggest enemy here, unless of course you wanted the heat shimmer to be part of the effect of your pictures.

Don't be afraid to get closer to your subject, but most importantly, keep 'em coming....

[Neil]

[quote=Tord;2060245]Hi,


......All pictures were shot att about 50 meters distance. Please let me know what you think of the quality and what I could do to improve it. "

Looking at the pictures the last one seems to be the sharpest, probably because the lens wasn't zoomed as much as the others. I've found that the more you zoom the camera lens the more trouble the camera Auto Focus has . I often will Manual Focus over half zoom. But generally the best photos come with the zoom less than 50/% , particularly over water ( haze ).
Nice efforts.
Neil

[Wachtel]

Tord, nice pictures. FYI, the deer are fallow deer, not roe deer.

[Tord]

[quote=Neil;2071558]

Originally Posted by Tord

Hi,


......All pictures were shot att about 50 meters distance. Please let me know what you think of the quality and what I could do to improve it. "

Looking at the pictures the last one seems to be the sharpest, probably because the lens wasn't zoomed as much as the others. I've found that the more you zoom the camera lens the more trouble the camera Auto Focus has . I often will Manual Focus over half zoom. But generally the best photos come with the zoom less than 50/% , particularly over water ( haze ).
Nice efforts.
Neil

Hi Neil,

You are right. I have noticed a correlation between FL and sharpness.

The FL used for the last picture is 12.8 mm on a scale 6.0 - 22.5 mm. All others are taken at either 15.0 or 18.2 mm.

I would say the highest degree of magnification without loosing sharpness is 15.0 mm. At longest FL pictures become "soft". I don't think it's an AF limitation though - pictures are still sharp but resolution is impacted (if you see what I mean). I would guess it is an optical limitation (but I may be wrong).

For reference this picture was taken at 15 mm FL: http://www.birdforum.net/attachment....9&d=1298498017
Picture is aken at long distance 2-3 km, heat shimmer noticeable in spite of temperature way below freezing point.

If the wheather allows I will do some more tests this weekend, consistently using shorter FL.

/Tord

[Tord]

Originally Posted by SteveClifton

I think you could go to a higher ISO setting and still not suffer too much from excessive noise (grain). Try up ISO 200 next time if conditions are bright, though from the looks of these I don't think it would make much difference to your images as they all look to be slow moving, especially as you also used the timer.

I think atmospheric conditions are your biggest enemy here, unless of course you wanted the heat shimmer to be part of the effect of your pictures.

Don't be afraid to get closer to your subject, but most importantly, keep 'em coming....

Thanks for advise. I will follow them and post back new resultsm hopefully after the weekend - pending wheather conditions allow.
/Tord

[Tord]

Originally Posted by Wachtel

Tord, nice pictures. FYI, the deer are fallow deer, not roe deer.

Thanks,

You are right about the deer. My bad, I copied and pasted from the wrong window.

/Tord

[davidblades]

Guys

Can I ask please.... re the S95

When using it for digiscoping do you use any form of cable release for firing the shutter or just the shutter button??

Thank you in advance
David

[Tord]

Originally Posted by davidblades

Guys

Can I ask please.... re the S95

When using it for digiscoping do you use any form of cable release for firing the shutter or just the shutter button??

Thank you in advance
David

I started with a cable remote control mounted with a velcro, but unfortunately the velcro is obstructing the zoom control and some of the controls on the rear of the camera body and gave up after a short time.

I therefore use the timer, preset on one second delay and shooting a sequence (found 3 shots usually a good compromise between waste and likelihood of getting a decent shot).

Firing manually may work, but due to high risk of blur due to camera shake, shooting a sequence is highly recommended. Second shot and beyond should be sharp.

/Tord

[lobas]

Hi, can I ask how you change the timer from the default 10 seconds to 1 second, I can see how you change the number of shots but not the actual timer.

[SteveClifton]

Originally Posted by lobas

Hi, can I ask how you change the timer from the default 10 seconds to 1 second, I can see how you change the number of shots but not the actual timer.

Use the front lens ring, and, as you said, the rear one to control the number of shots.

Don't forget to save this setting in the menu, or it will revert back to 10 seconds next time you use the camera.

[Josef]

I really like the cable release, almost indispensible. When I get the bird in focus, press fully and let the good times roll until not seen in monitor. To set it up isn't that big a deal and it sure pays with results.

[lobas]

Originally Posted by SteveClifton

Use the front lens ring, and, as you said, the rear one to control the number of shots.

Don't forget to save this setting in the menu, or it will revert back to 10 seconds next time you use the camera.

Great stuff thanks for the prompt reply steve.

[photokai]

[quote=Neil;2041650]

Originally Posted by SteveClifton

Jackar adapter is also available from ebay:


Steve,
I see it's available from Hong Kong. I'm going over to Mongkok for dim sum lunch today so I'll look around for this. I need an adapter for the Panasonic FX68 but I'll I want to get the S95 so I'll pick up the adapter for it too.
I like your mods.
Neil

Hi Neil,

I'm also trying to find this adapter in Hong Kong. Would you please let me know the shop name in Mongkok if you found it.

Cheers,
Davis

[Neil]

[quote=photokai;2082385]

Originally Posted by Neil

Hi Neil,

I'm also trying to find this adapter in Hong Kong. Would you please let me know the shop name in Mongkok if you found it.

Cheers,
Davis

Davis,
I didn't find it and I haven't got the S95 yet.
Neil.

[photokai]

I see... Thanks a lot!

Davis

[oggbad]

The light has improved in the UK and I have managed to get out with my S95. With the right settings it is taking pictures almost as nice as the 7D.

Here is a Tawny Owl that was prepared to pose for me.

[antshrike69]

This thread has been very useful so thanks Steve in particular!
What do you use to connect the Jackar adapator to the lens of the scope itself? I've always hand held for digiscoping before so all this is new to me.

[John Fleet]

I use a simple step down ring - my Baader 13mm has 42 mm threads so after a couple of false starts when I managed to get thread sizes wrong and then buy a step rather than a step down ring I'm sorted. The technique for screwing onto the lens is to loosen the locking collet on my PF65ED scope so that the lens (with step down ring in place) can screw into the adaptor - that way you're not rotating the camera/adaptor combination which would be very awkward.

[SteveClifton]

Originally Posted by antshrike69

This thread has been very useful so thanks Steve in particular!
What do you use to connect the Jackar adapator to the lens of the scope itself? I've always hand held for digiscoping before so all this is new to me.

I use a Swarovski DCA adapter:

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-...warovski%20DCA

If you are not sure what this is, it basically allows a 'quick-release' connection between the Jackar Adapter and the scope's eyepiece. It has an inner and outer sleeve. The inner part stays attached to the eyepiece, and the outer part remains attached to the camera/adapter. The outer sleeve slides quickly over the inner part and is secured by a single screw.

There is a picture of it all connected up in post 28 of this thread, (pic 2, and again in pic 5)
A cheaper method might be to use John's method, utilising a step-ring directly to an eyepiece thread such as on the Baader eyepieces, but you would lose the rapid removal function which I find invaluable for birding.

Below is a video demonstrating the DCA with a DSLR camera. You can also connect a compact camera using the same method, but most modern compact cameras lack any form of lens threads, hence the use of the Jackar Adapter to hold the camera via it's tripod thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acsu332q9w4

And the DCA with a compact camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoDE_...eature=related

[antshrike69]

Thanks Steve and John.