[IanF]

Hi Rich,

Don't forget that just like in normal photography, the lower the amount of zoom, the more light can enter the camera, hence the wider the aperture. At longer zoom lengths the aperture is narrower, hence the setting at low zoom may be F2,8, but at longer zoom lenghts it may be F4,5. Even on manual settings you won't be able to open up the lens wider at longer zoom lengths. That is just the way the lens is constructed. Even in SLR photgraphy a 70-210 lens will have a max aperture of F3,5 at 70mm but up to F5,6 at 210 or even worse. Physics v lens quality/design I'm afraid.

I leave my camera on Exposure setting 3, which takes care of most things. If the lighting is wrong then I use the EV compensation. Most critical I find is getting the focus spot on. Still difficult at times, unless the bird is very patient.

[Andy Bright]

Not too sure Rich, I'm sure that you're aware that the minimum f# goes up as you zoom in with the camera (although a number of 35mm zoom lenses offer fixed aperture throughout their range these days).
Maybe you're accidentally knocking the rotary dial and nudging the f# up.... in full manual I leave the shutter-speed as the active setting.
BTW, I think the ev control only adjusts what it can (f# or shutter-speed)..... if you're at the fastest shutter-speed with the lowest f#, ev+ won't do anything.
Andy

[christineredgate]

Anby B,watch this space,i am printing off the 16 pages,
Christine.
Ian F superb shots,how far away were you when they were taken?.

[IanF]

Thanks for the praise

The first two were a around 120 yards though the Pochard was more like 175 yards. These were amongst my first attempts at digiscoping in what were just about perfect conditions - calm conditions and bright afternoon sunshine from behind me.

[cspratt]

Nice shots Ian.

I found my best results with the Nikon 4500 and Kowa 823M were when I set the in camera "Sharpening" to OFF. Do others find this?

Bob Miller of Southwest Birders showed me that. Up to then my results were very poor. Turning the in camera sharpening to off improved things a great deal.

Chris. Spratt

[Dave Sherry]

"One thing I really want to know is can you reduce the ten seconds on the self timer on the Nikon 4500?"

Andrew,

I assume you are asking about the ten seconds down to three seconds so that you can get a quicker picture without camera vibration? If this is the cas eI can highly recommend the Jessops wing bracket (I think it was about £13) it fixes to the tripod screw hole on the bottom of the camera and then you position the top above the shutter release. This allows you to use a traditional camera cable release without the need for expensive Nikon electronic accessories, and it works a treat. You can fire off shots one after the other without camera shake or the three second delay. I use it on my Nikon 4500 and can recommend it.

Dave

[IanF]

Originally posted by cspratt
Nice shots Ian.

I found my best results with the Nikon 4500 and Kowa 823M were when I set the in camera "Sharpening" to OFF. Do others find this?

Bob Miller of Southwest Birders showed me that. Up to then my results were very poor. Turning the in camera sharpening to off improved things a great deal.

Chris. Spratt

Hi Chris,

Yes, I find the same. I find vitually every shot does need sharpening to some degree, but I do this in the the processing stage sing either PSP or Thumbsplus.

Dave, I agree entirely. I found my results were much improved consistency wise once I started using the Jessops release. It's even better if you trim the base of the bracket off as it means you don't have to remove it to rotate the camera or replace the batteries and it fits snugly in the camera bag !

[Richard Ford]

Not sure if I have a differently designed Jessops release bracket. I have trimmed the bracket but its the large securing screw that blocks the battery compartment, I am trying to find a smaller screw, but have not had any luck so far.
Any suggestions?

BTW, not sure what I was doing but the F-stop issue seems to have sorted itself out.!!
Is ‘Sharpening off’ the default setting, I can’t say I have looked?

Rich

[IanF]

Originally posted by redwing
Not sure if I have a differently designed Jessops release bracket. I have trimmed the bracket but its the large securing screw that blocks the battery compartment, I am trying to find a smaller screw, but have not had any luck so far.
Any suggestions?

BTW, not sure what I was doing but the F-stop issue seems to have sorted itself out.!!
Is ‘Sharpening off’ the default setting, I can’t say I have looked?

Rich

Sorry Richard, you are right about the large knob ! I recall now that I swapped mine around with a smaller one off an old 35 mm flash bracket. It doesn't obstruct the battery compartment door at all now.
I seem to remember that the sharpening setting default is 'off'. I did experiment with using it, but I prefer not to use it nowadays.

[CJW]

Originally posted by Andrew


One thing I really want to know is can you reduce the ten seconds on the self timer on the Nikon 4500?

I don't know if anyone has answered this, but the way to do it is to press the shutter in the timer release mode and once it starts counting down from 10 seconds, press the shutter again and you get a 3 second countdown instead. Hope this helps.
Chris.

[Andy Bright]

While we on about cable-release brackets.. just about to upload a mini review (there's only so much you can say about them!) of the new eagleeye generic bracket.

[christineredgate]

This may be in the wrong thread ,but as everyone is discussing digi scoping settings etc,it may be spotted by someone with same problem.has anyone else found that when the camera is on the scope,and you have the picture in the centre,having had to adjust the scope a little,as it may have slightly moved out of view,when the camera is attached,and then when you leave go of the tripod handle,the camera then tends to drop and the picture moves.I tighten the tripod handle really well,and I have even tried using the correct adapter for scope and still it happens.I leave go of everything to use the remote,so as to avoid camera shake(as recommended,)but it tends to defeat the object if the camera tends to drop slightly.
Scope used is swarovski,camera c4500,and tripod is velbon sherpa 10000.
Any ideas gratefully received,unless of course i am the only one who has this problem due to incompetence!!!
Christine.

[Richard Ford]

Don’t worry Christine I think you will find we all have this problem to an extent, it depends on the camera i.e. the 995 is heavier that the 4500 so the ‘drop back’ is less.
It depends a little on the tripod, but if you are moving the set-up around and adjusting your position only with the handle, but with a very light touch you may find that when you lock it the position is correct. Alternatively it may be something you will just get used to and account for after a while. By which I mean framing the picture slightly off centre and letting it fall into position, I know I do this and don’t really think about it now.

Rich

[stevo]

Hi Christine

I think the problem youre having has happened to us all at some stage.Having the camera attached to the scope can make the set-up back heavy.Two suggestions if your scope mounting plate allows it then try mounting the scope slightly further forward,to compensate for the weight.The other one is to aligned the scope slightly above the subject tighten the head(not fully) take your hands away & let the scope dip slightly so it lines up with the subject then fully tighten the head up.One other way is if you have a battery pack then try mounting it(velcro, elastic band) to the underside of the end of the scope this can act as a counter balance.Hope this helps.

Regards Stevo.

[christineredgate]

thanks Stevo and Richard,will persevere,it is just annoying,that a soon as one has the object in focus it moves.Especially with birds it is difficult enough trying to catch them in one position then by the time was has re-arranged,the've flown off again,or swum away.Such is life!!!
Christine.

[digi-birder]

Christine,

It sounds like both your pan and tilt action is controlled by the one handle. My first tripod, a Velbon, did this and I found it annoying that this did not provide a rigid lock. Also the very act of tightening the handle moved the field of view. This was a problem even when using only the scope without the camera attached.

I now have a Manfrotto tripod where the pan and tilt are controlled independently by two very strong screws. The handle is merely to move the head around. I find this tripod very easy to use and the scope does not move as the screws are tightened.

[MickeyJay]

Originally Posted by Andy Bright

The camera settings used for digiscoping are one of the most frequent requests that I receive, so I thought it would be an idea to state my own and to invite others to share their own settings with the forum.
It would be understandable to assume that every digiscoper would use the same settings.... this isn't the case and there seems to be several ways to reach the same goal. The following settings are for the major digiscoping cameras, the Nikon cp990, cp995 and the cp4500.... some of these may be applicable to other Nikon coolpix cameras and maybe cameras from other manufacturers.

First off, it's important to use your camera in a manual or semi-automatic mode.... programme and auto modes can often give you inappropriate exposure settings for bird photography, maybe giving you a slower shutter-speed in preference to a higher aperture value... the latter is totally irrelevant for digiscoping, extra depth of field is unlikely and far less important than freezing any movement.

Full Manual:
You choose shutter-speed and aperture value....you can judge if the photo will be over/under exposed by the linear exposure meter.

Aperture Priority:
You set the aperture value (lowest available setting is vital) and the camera works out what shutter-speed is appropriate for the given light

Shutter-Priority:
Where you set the shutter-speed and the camera sets the appropriate aperture value for the given light.
I use full manual and tend to under-expose slightly by choosing a slightly faster shutter-speed than the camera recommends to freeze bird/camera movement as much as possible... Correct exposure is often subjective but blur isn't, anyway under-exposure can be rescued in Photoshop, though over-exposure is very difficult to rectify.
Aperture priority is a fairly reliable mode and may be the best bet when the bird is active and you need to get a shot off quickly.

Focus modes:
There is always some debate about what mode produces the sharpest images. I have tried them all over the last 3 1/2 years and still come to the conclusion the 'Macro' (flower symbol) produce the best images. 'Infinity' is handy if you have obstructions (branches/reeds and similar) between the camera and subject as you simply focus on the subject until sharp and the camera will take the shot without trying to find a focus lock itself.
If you do utilise the latter, try to do it with the camera in 'manual focus' with the distance set to infinity rather than using the main 'Infinity' (mountain symbol) focus setting, this seems to give slightly improved results.

In the actual camera menus:

White Balance:
Leave it on Auto, ... you can have a play around with the White Balance preset if you have a white object in view for the camera to take a reading, though not really worth the bother as you can rectify most problems in Photoshop.

Metering:
Now this is quite important as it determines where the camera takes its light reading of the image from, so as to correctly expose the image... Best to ignore matrix metering as it can often lead to the wrong exposure for a small bird against a light/dark background, though if the bird dominates the view it o.k. Spot Metering is useful as the camera will only take a light reading from the centre spot (hopefully where the subject is)... exposing the subject correctly but to hell with the background.
An in-between metering mode is 'Centre Weighted' or 'Partial Spot'..... The camera will concentrate on exposing for the centre spot but doesn't totally ignore the lighting of the background.
Finally, and in combination with a focus mode we will get to later, we have 'Spot AF Area' metering. basically spot metering but at different points around the image. I tend to use this for most of my shots, that's why my backgrounds look too dark or bright!

Continuous:
Fairly straight forward in that you can choose to shoot one shot at a time or a series of shots (about 6 for full size images on the cp4500). Handy to take a burst of shots in quick succession in that you're more likely to capture a good pose with an active bird (diving Ducks)... just delete the crap ones afterwards. There is a price to be paid for using 'Continuous mode' as you will have a fairly long wait while these images are written to the memory card (feels like an eternity if the bird is suddenly posing beautifully).
You can take a single shot whilst in 'Continuous mode', but the write-to-card time is slightly longer than if the image had been taken in 'Single mode'.
There are other multi-shot shooting options, but these can only be used when using lower quality image settings.

BSS:
Nikon's amazing feature for getting sharp images with shaky hands, unfortunately not much use for birds that are moving. The camera keeps taking photos as long as you have the shutter button pressed down, you take your finger off and it will only save what it regards as the sharpest image. A moving subject will totally throw it off, but it can be used for static birds.

Image Adjustment:
This controls the contrast in the final image. Best left on normal, though I prefer low contrast on the cp4500 to help keep blown-out highlights to a minimum. You can always boost contrast in-computer with far more control.

Saturation:
Best left on normal setting. Auto settings on any of the image adjustment controls can leave you at the mercy of the camera's 'brain'.

Sharpening:
See above.

Image Quality:
Always on 'Fine'. This saves the image at a low jpeg compression ratio.... you can't really see any jpeg artefacts in the results. 'Hi' will save the image as an uncompressed Tiff, so this is the ultimate for quality but you'll be waiting 20+ secs before the image is written to the memory card and you can take another shot.

Image Size:
Keep on 2272x1704, which is the maximum size. May be tempting for 35mm people to use 2272x1520 for 3:2 format images rather than 4:3... but a waste of time and pixels as you can crop to 3:2 in-computer.

Focus Options: (3 Sub-menus)

AF Area Mode:
This refers to the Nikon AF zone system that presents five focus targets that you can choose from, in auto the camera will focus on the zone that has an object closest to the camera... in manual you can choose which zone the camera will focus on (via the mini joystick). This handy for 'nice' compositions with the bird off-centre.
You may have guessed by now that the 'Spot AF Area' metering mode that I mentioned earlier is linked to these focus targets... you will get spot metering over the active target (active target is highlighted red on the screen).
I'd recommend using 'AF Area Mode' in manual combined with the 'Spot AF Area' metering mode... if nothing else it will help the camera focus on what you want it to rather than some twig in the bottom of the image (even that's not foolproof).

Auto-Focus Mode:
Absolutely vital to switch it to 'Single AF', seems to be the default setting these days.... but check it if your camera is constantly searching for something to lock onto when you're in a manual/semi-auto mode.

Focus Confirmation:
Tricky one.... highlights the area in-focus on your screen, so you can focus your scope and know when the subject is in-focus because it 'twinkles' (for want of a better word). It can make your eyes go a bit funny on the older Nikons, better on the newer ones. Not totally reliable and I find my own judgement of what is in perfect focus to be more reliable on many occasions, so have it switched off. If I go through a rough patch of 'iffy' photos I'll switch it on again in desperation.... but usually switch it off again when I realise something else was to blame for the 'iffy' pics.
Focus Confirmation can make the view look very 'bitty' when used with an Extend-a-view sunshade2x loupe.

That's about it for my settings.... what about yours?
Andy B

Thank you so very much for taking the time to post this article. It's midnight in my part of the world and I can hardly wait for the sunrise to apply this new found knowledge. What would us newbee's do without you.

Warmest regards,

Mickey Jay

[christineredgate]

Mickey ,without this Forum and the help we receive esp re digiscoping I think there would not be as many people using this method of photography with the success they have.I do not know of your whereabouts,as to whether or not you live in a small village off the beaten track,but I do here in Cumbria.The nearest place which sells a digi camera is 30 mls away.May not seem far,but to get there ,one has to drive on one of the most dangerous roads in the country.So this Forum has taught me all I need to know re digiscoping,ie camera settings etc.I do not have access to a camera club,I have never seen anyone else digiscoping in the village,even at peak holiday times,when the place is full of holidaymakers all wearing digicameras hung around their necks.So again my only place of contact has been this Forum.
So,yes Mickey,we have a great deal thank BF for ,and everyone who gives their time to help and advise.

[Geoff Pain]

Christine,I got a Manfrotto sliding plate to mount my Swaro on,this means you can slide the scope backwards or forwards thus altering the point of balance and I have found this most handy.Price around £30 from Jessops.

[Mick Allen]

Andy, Tried the settings at the weekend, with a DTL opticron eyepiece purchased from Rogerscoth on Fri. with my I Magic 80. 1st impressions where very good, by far better than any previous outings, though the Low Contrast didn't work for me, better on normal. Hope I'll have the courage to post one of my photo's in the future.

Thanks again Mick A.

[christineredgate]

Originally Posted by Geoff Pain

Christine,I got a Manfrotto sliding plate to mount my Swaro on,this means you can slide the scope backwards or forwards thus altering the point of balance and I have found this most handy.Price around £30 from Jessops.

Geoff,thanks for the info.Does it work with any Manfrotto head.I am using a 125 head,I think.I'll give Jessops a call tommorrow.
Thankyou.

[craig whitmore]

Originally Posted by Andy Bright

The camera settings used for digiscoping are one of the most frequent requests that I receive, so I thought it would be an idea to state my own and to invite others to share their own settings with the forum.
It would be understandable to assume that every digiscoper would use the same settings.... this isn't the case and there seems to be several ways to reach the same goal. The following settings are for the major digiscoping cameras, the Nikon cp990, cp995 and the cp4500.... some of these may be applicable to other Nikon coolpix cameras and maybe cameras from other manufacturers.

First off, it's important to use your camera in a manual or semi-automatic mode.... programme and auto modes can often give you inappropriate exposure settings for bird photography, maybe giving you a slower shutter-speed in preference to a higher aperture value... the latter is totally irrelevant for digiscoping, extra depth of field is unlikely and far less important than freezing any movement.

Full Manual:
You choose shutter-speed and aperture value....you can judge if the photo will be over/under exposed by the linear exposure meter.

Aperture Priority:
You set the aperture value (lowest available setting is vital) and the camera works out what shutter-speed is appropriate for the given light

Shutter-Priority:
Where you set the shutter-speed and the camera sets the appropriate aperture value for the given light.
I use full manual and tend to under-expose slightly by choosing a slightly faster shutter-speed than the camera recommends to freeze bird/camera movement as much as possible... Correct exposure is often subjective but blur isn't, anyway under-exposure can be rescued in Photoshop, though over-exposure is very difficult to rectify.
Aperture priority is a fairly reliable mode and may be the best bet when the bird is active and you need to get a shot off quickly.

Focus modes:
There is always some debate about what mode produces the sharpest images. I have tried them all over the last 3 1/2 years and still come to the conclusion the 'Macro' (flower symbol) produce the best images. 'Infinity' is handy if you have obstructions (branches/reeds and similar) between the camera and subject as you simply focus on the subject until sharp and the camera will take the shot without trying to find a focus lock itself.
If you do utilise the latter, try to do it with the camera in 'manual focus' with the distance set to infinity rather than using the main 'Infinity' (mountain symbol) focus setting, this seems to give slightly improved results.

In the actual camera menus:

White Balance:
Leave it on Auto, ... you can have a play around with the White Balance preset if you have a white object in view for the camera to take a reading, though not really worth the bother as you can rectify most problems in Photoshop.

Metering:
Now this is quite important as it determines where the camera takes its light reading of the image from, so as to correctly expose the image... Best to ignore matrix metering as it can often lead to the wrong exposure for a small bird against a light/dark background, though if the bird dominates the view it o.k. Spot Metering is useful as the camera will only take a light reading from the centre spot (hopefully where the subject is)... exposing the subject correctly but to hell with the background.
An in-between metering mode is 'Centre Weighted' or 'Partial Spot'..... The camera will concentrate on exposing for the centre spot but doesn't totally ignore the lighting of the background.
Finally, and in combination with a focus mode we will get to later, we have 'Spot AF Area' metering. basically spot metering but at different points around the image. I tend to use this for most of my shots, that's why my backgrounds look too dark or bright!

Continuous:
Fairly straight forward in that you can choose to shoot one shot at a time or a series of shots (about 6 for full size images on the cp4500). Handy to take a burst of shots in quick succession in that you're more likely to capture a good pose with an active bird (diving Ducks)... just delete the crap ones afterwards. There is a price to be paid for using 'Continuous mode' as you will have a fairly long wait while these images are written to the memory card (feels like an eternity if the bird is suddenly posing beautifully).
You can take a single shot whilst in 'Continuous mode', but the write-to-card time is slightly longer than if the image had been taken in 'Single mode'.
There are other multi-shot shooting options, but these can only be used when using lower quality image settings.

BSS:
Nikon's amazing feature for getting sharp images with shaky hands, unfortunately not much use for birds that are moving. The camera keeps taking photos as long as you have the shutter button pressed down, you take your finger off and it will only save what it regards as the sharpest image. A moving subject will totally throw it off, but it can be used for static birds.

Image Adjustment:
This controls the contrast in the final image. Best left on normal, though I prefer low contrast on the cp4500 to help keep blown-out highlights to a minimum. You can always boost contrast in-computer with far more control.

Saturation:
Best left on normal setting. Auto settings on any of the image adjustment controls can leave you at the mercy of the camera's 'brain'.

Sharpening:
See above.

Image Quality:
Always on 'Fine'. This saves the image at a low jpeg compression ratio.... you can't really see any jpeg artefacts in the results. 'Hi' will save the image as an uncompressed Tiff, so this is the ultimate for quality but you'll be waiting 20+ secs before the image is written to the memory card and you can take another shot.

Image Size:
Keep on 2272x1704, which is the maximum size. May be tempting for 35mm people to use 2272x1520 for 3:2 format images rather than 4:3... but a waste of time and pixels as you can crop to 3:2 in-computer.

Focus Options: (3 Sub-menus)

AF Area Mode:
This refers to the Nikon AF zone system that presents five focus targets that you can choose from, in auto the camera will focus on the zone that has an object closest to the camera... in manual you can choose which zone the camera will focus on (via the mini joystick). This handy for 'nice' compositions with the bird off-centre.
You may have guessed by now that the 'Spot AF Area' metering mode that I mentioned earlier is linked to these focus targets... you will get spot metering over the active target (active target is highlighted red on the screen).
I'd recommend using 'AF Area Mode' in manual combined with the 'Spot AF Area' metering mode... if nothing else it will help the camera focus on what you want it to rather than some twig in the bottom of the image (even that's not foolproof).

Auto-Focus Mode:
Absolutely vital to switch it to 'Single AF', seems to be the default setting these days.... but check it if your camera is constantly searching for something to lock onto when you're in a manual/semi-auto mode.

Focus Confirmation:
Tricky one.... highlights the area in-focus on your screen, so you can focus your scope and know when the subject is in-focus because it 'twinkles' (for want of a better word). It can make your eyes go a bit funny on the older Nikons, better on the newer ones. Not totally reliable and I find my own judgement of what is in perfect focus to be more reliable on many occasions, so have it switched off. If I go through a rough patch of 'iffy' photos I'll switch it on again in desperation.... but usually switch it off again when I realise something else was to blame for the 'iffy' pics.
Focus Confirmation can make the view look very 'bitty' when used with an Extend-a-view sunshade2x loupe.

That's about it for my settings.... what about yours?
Andy B

I'm trying to use Andy's settings . Have a Coopix 4500, Eagle Optics Raven straight through 20/60, Simplicity Tool swing out adapter.(which, I recall, was developed by a BF member), a Nikon remote cable, and am having the devils own time. at age 85 I have a mind like a steel trap. Everything goes in and I can't get anything back out.

1. Full Manual:
You choose shutter-speed and aperture value....you can judge if the photo will be over/under exposed by the linear exposure meter.
Question: Where on earth do I find the linear exposure meter?

AF Area Mode:
This refers to the Nikon AF zone system that presents five focus targets that you can choose from, in auto the camera will focus on the zone that has an object closest to the camera... in manual you can choose which zone the camera will focus on (via the mini joystick).

Where is the mini joystick?

2. A big problem seems to be lining up camera and scope using this adapter.
Question: When everthing is in alignment and I'm trying to focus using the scope (camera in macro mode) should I be seing the image as a circle in the middle of the monitor, or full sceen as if the scope were not there.? The circle I'm getting is so small I can't begin to focus.
TIA
Craig

[Andy Bright]

Hi Craig.

Originally Posted by craig whitmore

1. Full Manual:
You choose shutter-speed and aperture value....you can judge if the photo will be over/under exposed by the linear exposure meter.
Question: Where on earth do I find the linear exposure meter?

This visual exposure indicator should appear at the bottom of the monitor. It gives an indication as to whether the photo will be over-exposed or under-exposed. Altering the shutter speed and/or the aperture will cause the little segments to light up one or the other side of the central segment... a correct exposure (according to the camera's light metering system) will show just the central segment illuminated.

I would strongly suggest using Aperture priority instead of full manual, just keep the f-number as low as it can go.

Originally Posted by craig whitmore

AF Area Mode:
This refers to the Nikon AF zone system that presents five focus targets that you can choose from, in auto the camera will focus on the zone that has an object closest to the camera... in manual you can choose which zone the camera will focus on (via the mini joystick).
Where is the mini joystick?

It is the little tranluscent button below the monitor. It's actually a 4-way toggle switch and push button combined.

Originally Posted by craig whitmore

2. A big problem seems to be lining up camera and scope using this adapter.
Question: When everthing is in alignment and I'm trying to focus using the scope (camera in macro mode) should I be seing the image as a circle in the middle of the monitor, or full sceen as if the scope were not there.? The circle I'm getting is so small I can't begin to focus.
TIA
Craig

How large this image circle is, or whether it is there at all, is down to the specifications of eyepiece and how close the camera lens is to the eyepiece. Zooming in with the camera's lens should enlarge the image circle and hopefully you should be presented with a full image on the monitor well before you reach maximum camera zoom.

If, for some reason, you cannot get an image large enough to ascertain correct focus, you can try using the digital zoom feature of the camera (keep pressing the zoom + control until the zoom indicator turns yellow), fine tune the focus like this and then zoom back into normal (non-digital zoom) to take the shot. Using the extend-a-view pro monitor shade/magnifier would also help enlarge the image view for fine focus.

cheers,
Andy

[fleisher]

Andy,

Really impressed with how giving you are to all of us who are new to scoping. Thank you for all of your posts and for your wonderful webpages. Being new to digiscoping, I am struggling, like many others that are new to this endeavor, to find the right camera, scope, adapter, etc. I just bought the Pentax 80ed-a which included their zoom eyepiece to use with my Canon G2. Given what you have written elsewhere about both zoom eyepieces and digiscoping with the Canon G series I was not real surprised to find that I had real problems with vignetting. Less problems when I use the Scopetronix Maxview 40 for the Pentax scope but still some even when I zoom all the way out. So I have come to the conclusion that the Canon G2 is the culprit and probably needs to be replaced. Thus my question, given the age of the Nikon 995 or even the 4500, is this still the route you would take or would you recommend a newer model? If so, which one? In addition, since all of this depends on finding the right adapter, which adapter would you recommend for whatever camera you pick. Thanks again.

[Marian9]

Great source for anyone new to digiscoping as I am. I have been watching birds for years but have never attempted to photograph them using a spotting scope. It offers a great opportunity to quickly obtain fine pictures at a fraction of the cost if one were using the traditional long lenses.

Originally Posted by Andy Bright

The camera settings used for digiscoping are one of the most frequent requests that I receive, so I thought it would be an idea to state my own and to invite others to share their own settings with the forum.
It would be understandable to assume that every digiscoper would use the same settings.... this isn't the case and there seems to be several ways to reach the same goal. The following settings are for the major digiscoping cameras, the Nikon cp990, cp995 and the cp4500.... some of these may be applicable to other Nikon coolpix cameras and maybe cameras from other manufacturers.

First off, it's important to use your camera in a manual or semi-automatic mode.... programme and auto modes can often give you inappropriate exposure settings for bird photography, maybe giving you a slower shutter-speed in preference to a higher aperture value... the latter is totally irrelevant for digiscoping, extra depth of field is unlikely and far less important than freezing any movement.

Full Manual:
You choose shutter-speed and aperture value....you can judge if the photo will be over/under exposed by the linear exposure meter.

Aperture Priority:
You set the aperture value (lowest available setting is vital) and the camera works out what shutter-speed is appropriate for the given light

Shutter-Priority:
Where you set the shutter-speed and the camera sets the appropriate aperture value for the given light.
I use full manual and tend to under-expose slightly by choosing a slightly faster shutter-speed than the camera recommends to freeze bird/camera movement as much as possible... Correct exposure is often subjective but blur isn't, anyway under-exposure can be rescued in Photoshop, though over-exposure is very difficult to rectify.
Aperture priority is a fairly reliable mode and may be the best bet when the bird is active and you need to get a shot off quickly.

Focus modes:
There is always some debate about what mode produces the sharpest images. I have tried them all over the last 3 1/2 years and still come to the conclusion the 'Macro' (flower symbol) produce the best images. 'Infinity' is handy if you have obstructions (branches/reeds and similar) between the camera and subject as you simply focus on the subject until sharp and the camera will take the shot without trying to find a focus lock itself.
If you do utilise the latter, try to do it with the camera in 'manual focus' with the distance set to infinity rather than using the main 'Infinity' (mountain symbol) focus setting, this seems to give slightly improved results.

In the actual camera menus:

White Balance:
Leave it on Auto, ... you can have a play around with the White Balance preset if you have a white object in view for the camera to take a reading, though not really worth the bother as you can rectify most problems in Photoshop.

Metering:
Now this is quite important as it determines where the camera takes its light reading of the image from, so as to correctly expose the image... Best to ignore matrix metering as it can often lead to the wrong exposure for a small bird against a light/dark background, though if the bird dominates the view it o.k. Spot Metering is useful as the camera will only take a light reading from the centre spot (hopefully where the subject is)... exposing the subject correctly but to hell with the background.
An in-between metering mode is 'Centre Weighted' or 'Partial Spot'..... The camera will concentrate on exposing for the centre spot but doesn't totally ignore the lighting of the background.
Finally, and in combination with a focus mode we will get to later, we have 'Spot AF Area' metering. basically spot metering but at different points around the image. I tend to use this for most of my shots, that's why my backgrounds look too dark or bright!

Continuous:
Fairly straight forward in that you can choose to shoot one shot at a time or a series of shots (about 6 for full size images on the cp4500). Handy to take a burst of shots in quick succession in that you're more likely to capture a good pose with an active bird (diving Ducks)... just delete the crap ones afterwards. There is a price to be paid for using 'Continuous mode' as you will have a fairly long wait while these images are written to the memory card (feels like an eternity if the bird is suddenly posing beautifully).
You can take a single shot whilst in 'Continuous mode', but the write-to-card time is slightly longer than if the image had been taken in 'Single mode'.
There are other multi-shot shooting options, but these can only be used when using lower quality image settings.

BSS:
Nikon's amazing feature for getting sharp images with shaky hands, unfortunately not much use for birds that are moving. The camera keeps taking photos as long as you have the shutter button pressed down, you take your finger off and it will only save what it regards as the sharpest image. A moving subject will totally throw it off, but it can be used for static birds.

Image Adjustment:
This controls the contrast in the final image. Best left on normal, though I prefer low contrast on the cp4500 to help keep blown-out highlights to a minimum. You can always boost contrast in-computer with far more control.

Saturation:
Best left on normal setting. Auto settings on any of the image adjustment controls can leave you at the mercy of the camera's 'brain'.

Sharpening:
See above.

Image Quality:
Always on 'Fine'. This saves the image at a low jpeg compression ratio.... you can't really see any jpeg artefacts in the results. 'Hi' will save the image as an uncompressed Tiff, so this is the ultimate for quality but you'll be waiting 20+ secs before the image is written to the memory card and you can take another shot.

Image Size:
Keep on 2272x1704, which is the maximum size. May be tempting for 35mm people to use 2272x1520 for 3:2 format images rather than 4:3... but a waste of time and pixels as you can crop to 3:2 in-computer.

Focus Options: (3 Sub-menus)

AF Area Mode:
This refers to the Nikon AF zone system that presents five focus targets that you can choose from, in auto the camera will focus on the zone that has an object closest to the camera... in manual you can choose which zone the camera will focus on (via the mini joystick). This handy for 'nice' compositions with the bird off-centre.
You may have guessed by now that the 'Spot AF Area' metering mode that I mentioned earlier is linked to these focus targets... you will get spot metering over the active target (active target is highlighted red on the screen).
I'd recommend using 'AF Area Mode' in manual combined with the 'Spot AF Area' metering mode... if nothing else it will help the camera focus on what you want it to rather than some twig in the bottom of the image (even that's not foolproof).

Auto-Focus Mode:
Absolutely vital to switch it to 'Single AF', seems to be the default setting these days.... but check it if your camera is constantly searching for something to lock onto when you're in a manual/semi-auto mode.

Focus Confirmation:
Tricky one.... highlights the area in-focus on your screen, so you can focus your scope and know when the subject is in-focus because it 'twinkles' (for want of a better word). It can make your eyes go a bit funny on the older Nikons, better on the newer ones. Not totally reliable and I find my own judgement of what is in perfect focus to be more reliable on many occasions, so have it switched off. If I go through a rough patch of 'iffy' photos I'll switch it on again in desperation.... but usually switch it off again when I realise something else was to blame for the 'iffy' pics.
Focus Confirmation can make the view look very 'bitty' when used with an Extend-a-view sunshade2x loupe.

That's about it for my settings.... what about yours?
Andy B