[Paulyoly]

I find that the cameras auto focus is more forgiving in macro mode than not, is this true with other nikon cameras, if i'm not in macro mode then i always have to refocus the scope in order for the camera to focus, is almost as if the camera needs the scope out of focus in order for it to focus. so how many people shot in macro mode only?

[Ashley beolens]

I use my 4500 on macro, usually, but I am still waiting on an adaptor so that might change.

[IanF]

To be honest I've been trying it both ways - macro and landscape - using the 4500. I'm not sure that I find much difference between them. Using either method I find the autofocus sometimes has difficulty. The thing of overriding importance being to lock focus by half depressing the shutter button and then refocus finely before pressing the shutter release fully home.

[Paulyoly]

Originally posted by IanF
To be honest I've been trying it both ways - macro and landscape - using the 4500. I'm not sure that I find much difference between them. Using either method I find the autofocus sometimes has difficulty. The thing of overriding importance being to lock focus by half depressing the shutter button and then refocus finely before pressing the shutter release fully home.

I always half press the shutter button, so you half press then refocus the scope? using the lcd of the camera? What i mean is macro seems to be able to get a focus lock over a wider range, meaning i can turn the focus knob of the scope one way or the other and still get a focus lock in macro mode, but using the full 3x zoom it seems the scope has to be focused just right or no lock.

[Ashley beolens]

I would have imagined that if you use macro the camera is focusing on the mirrors inside the scope and therefore should be focused on what ever the scope is, whereas if you use infinity then you will be focusing on the object! I may be wrong though.

[IanF]

Hi Paul,

What I find is that whether in macro mode or landscape I find the camera rarely makes a spot on focus itself, perhaps because the camera wasn't designed for digiscoping in mind and the depth of field is only a few mm. The camera does autofocus on it's own, but sharpness say of the eye of the bird is rarely gained just by using the autofocus, whatever mode you use.

I definitely find I get better results by half depressing the shutter and whilst holding in place - dead easy with a cable release, just refocus the scope preferably with a 2x magnifier over the LCD screen. It makes a tremndous difference with the number of quality shots you get to keep.

One point you raise is the 3x zoom. The 4500 has a 4x zoom, but I have yet to get a sharp photo using the full 4x zoom. I find using 2 - 3 x zoom gives the best results.

[stevo]

The point you make about 2-3 zoom giving better results would be right.This is because as you zoom up to maximum zoom a smaller aperture is selected by the camera thus the amount of light entering the camera is cut down in turn a slower shutter speed is selected.

[Andrew]

Is it best to zoom with the scope rather than the camera or does this still reduce the aperture?

[IanF]

No option for me Andrew, I only have a fixed eyepiece on my scope

[Lawrie Hodges]

Originally posted by Ashley beolens
I would have imagined that if you use macro the camera is focusing on the mirrors inside the scope and therefore should be focused on what ever the scope is, whereas if you use infinity then you will be focusing on the object! I may be wrong though.

The telescope objective lens produces an image in the neighbourhood of the eyepiece. The eyepiece intercepts the converging light from the objective to produce, when correctly focussed, an image within the range of focussing of the user's eye (for normal vison in a young person: between 15 cm to infinity). There is a tendency, when using a telescope or microscope, to adjust the focus so that this final image is at or near the nearest point of distinct vision, just as when examining an object with the naked eye one tends to bring the object as close as possible. When a camera is attached to the telescope, it is this image which forms the object on which it must be focussed to produce an in-focus final picture. The camera does not focus on internal mirrors since these are also imaged (in principle) by the eyepiece elsewhere. If the telescope were to be focussed without the camera using the eye first and the resulting image produced at or near the near point, say 15 cm then, when the camera is attached, it would have to be focussed at 15 cm to get a clear focussed picture. That would require it to be used in macro mode. If the telescope were prefocussed at infinity, or at least some distance away (this is possible with practice and tends to relieve eye-strain), then the camera can be used in normal mode or with the infinity focus setting.
In practice we usually have the camera attached from the beginning and do our telescope focussing using the camera screen. Then either macro, infinity or normal mode should work. Ideally, it seems to me, we should set the camera in some sort of fixed-focus mode while focussing the telescope and when this is done switch to an auto focus mode. Of course, by then, the object of interest has flown away.

[stevo]

I find after trying Landscape & Macro mode that with my coolpix995,I get sharper shots with Macro.I to find it best to rough focus with the scope then half depress the shutter button,sometimes the camera cant get a focus lock so I fine focus then half depress the shutter button again, this usually cures the problem.I also check the focus in between each shot & adjust if needed.

[Ragna]

I generally use manual focus on infinity for the first few shots and if the bird is still there then switch to macro mode.I leave the camera set in manual focus mode.Will give landscape mode a try next time.I also use the continuous mode for the first few shots.