[Richard]

Dear All,

I would like to hear some views on taking quick and quite close pics please.

I have a Nikon 4500 and this is my first Spring season with it. I am struggling to get pictures of migrants and butterflies ie things that are often quite close and move about quickly. I use a Cheang adaptor and can set my scope up within seconds. However, sometimes that is too long and often, even with the x20-60 scope eyepiece at x20 I am too close to get a well proportioned picture. I have an Eagle Eye x5 zoom but find it hard to point in the correct direction and get enough light.

I see my options as

1) getting a Nikon x3 teleconverter. I assume there will be little or no vignetting and that the loss of light will be more favourable than the Eagle Eye x5. Can anyone confirm these assumptions?

2) by a digital SLR. I really like using SLRs and have not settled to the LCD yet. Does anyone use a digital SLR with a 300-350 telephoto lens? If so which camera please - know this option will be expensive. I would still use my 4500 for digiscoping.

3) get a digital video camera so that I could more easily follow the bird or butterfly, both in bushes and in flight. I have seen some good videograbs but know little about the camera or software needed. What kind of resolution do they give? Enough to allow good quality 6x4 prints? Roughly how much would an appropriate video camera cost.

Comments gratefully received.

Richard Rogers

[Glen Tepke]

I have experience only with option #1. The Nikon 3X teleconverter does suffer from vignetting; I have to zoom in about half way with my CP995; to eliminate it; I assume the 4500 would be the same. Also it blocks the viewfinder so you have to use the LCD for finding the bird, which can be very difficult. But it is very bright and sharp and I have had some success with it shooting flying seabirds on pelagic trips, but have not really tried it with small, close birds. Glen

[stevo]

If your looking to take pictures of birds that are guite close it might be worth investing in Eagleeye`s new digiscoping eyepiece,which is designed for getting a well proportioned image of birds that are fairly close(this eyepiece should help with vignetting to).If your looking to take images of butterflies try the MACRO mode on your CP4500 as I believe you can get down to about 2cm.What scope are you using?Hope this info helps.

[Richard]

Glen, thank you for your comments. They have been noted!

Stevo, thanks, I have a Leica scope with a reasonably close focus considering, I need an additional lens for butterflies as they fly off if you get too close (so macro setting no good) and I'm not sure what you mean by "Eagleeye`s new digiscoping eyepiece" - do you mean their x5 teleconverter (which I already have)

Richard

[Andy Bright]

You may be better off getting another digital but with a heftier lens.... maybe a Nikon 5700 or one of the Olymous camera's with 400mm + (presuming you are loaded with money) . I still find that 400mm isn't much when it comes to small Passerines, certainly if printing is your thing.
I don't remember excessive vignetting with my old TC3-ED teleconverter on my cp990 (and that was only a 3x optical zoom camera), the newer cp995 and 4500 go slightly more wide-angle but shouldn't be too bad.
Andy

[Ragna]

Richard
Question 2: you cant get used to the LED screen; not many of us can,I along with most on here use a Extenda view x2 which fits over the screen and you use it just like a slr camera,it does pixelate the image aa bit but you soon get used to this. Hope this helps

[Paulyoly]

Originally posted by Richard
G "Eagleeye`s new digiscoping eyepiece" - do you mean their x5 teleconverter (which I already have)

Richard

He means they make a fixed eyepiece for your leica scope that has a lower magnification than the 32x that leica offers, it's designed for digiscoping and i believe it threads directly to the 28mm threads of the nikon cameras. i find i can focus fairly close using the macro mode of the camera with my pentax 18x eyepiece, closer than the claimed 19 feet by pentax, the scope is out of focus to the eye, but the camera can still compensate and i get a good pic. Is your problem to much magnification, to slow a shutter speed? I took great butterfly pics with my 3x Oly c3020 by simply sitting at a nice looking flower that the butterfly was on and waiting, eventually they came back and ignored my presence.

[IanF]

For the butterflies I find the Nikon 4500 macro mode, whilst pretty good, requires you to have to get far too close to them to get a decent sized image. I've started using the Olympus B300 attached which enables a little more distance between you and the camera without noticeable loss in quality of image. I dare say the TC3-ED would have the same effect only more so.

[Dave Smith]

I find that I can get close enough to butterflies provided the camera is held at arms length. The attached photo is one I took on Monday with my CP880 on full zoom (only 2.5) and macro mode. The image is not cropped (only reduced in size).
I have recently aquired a 3x teleconvertor which I haven't tried on a butterfly yet, but seems to still need to be fairly close. If you are close to the butterfly there is more flexibility in deciding the angle of the shot.
If you digiscope a butterfly your only choice of angle is more or less horizontal unless you climb a tree.

[Richard]

Thanks to all for your comments

Ragna, I am sure you are right about the LCD screen, I have made a LCD viewing aid myself but it is bulky, I will get the Eagle Eye UK one - it seems expensive for what it is but if I can use the 4500 more like an SLR it will be worth it.

Andy, I have just looked at the Nikon 5700 - I hadn't realised the cost of the top end cameras, they are not an option.

Paulyoly, thanks, I realise what Stevo means now. The fixed eye piece sounds good but I could not easily use it with Cheang's adapter.

Dave, good idea - I will try holding the camera at arms length (but not with the Extenda View!) and see how I get on.

Richard

[digi-birder]

Originally posted by Richard
I have made a LCD viewing aid myself but it is bulky, I will get the Eagle Eye UK one - it seems expensive for what it is but if I can use the 4500 more like an SLR it will be worth it.

You might be as well looking at:

http://www.photosolve.com

as recommended to me on this forum a few weeks ago. They have the Xtend-a-View at a much cheaper price than buying it from EagleEye UK, even taking postage from the US into account.

I am awaiting the arrival of mine this week, as well as the 5X zoom lens.