[jvhigbee]

Can someone give me an idea of the settings on their camera under various conditions, such as sunny, cloudy, etc.? I am trying a different approach using a canon 10D fitted with a 50mm 1.8 lens and using a kowa scope and adapter. Several problems with this but most severe seems to be slow shutter speed even with lens full open. Doesn't seem to me this should differ much camera to camera so knowing what others are getting with Cp4500,etc would help.

[stevo]

The thing that first strikes me about the set up you are using is the fact that your using a 50mm lens on your camera.Most SLR cameras that are connected to a telescope do away with the conventional lens, the telescope becomes the lens.This could be why your having problems with slow shutter speeds,the camera is to far away from the scope to allow sufficient light to enter it.

[jvhigbee]

For sure there is a lack of light but possibly no more so than others. This is why I would like to have some comparative data. My camera lens and the scope eyepiece are almost touching and there is no vignetting so it should work similar to othe digital cameras?

[IanF]

I'm using a Nikon 4500 with a Kowa 823 32x.

Aperture wise I have mine set as wide as possible. This obviously varies with the amount of optical zoom utilised. It can vary between F3,2 to about F4,5 depending on zoom and lighting. I do use the EV compensation for strong back light or bright highlights which helps exposure settings too.

Shutter speeds range from 1/30th to 1/250th on a really birght day. Obviously the faster the better for moving birds / windy conditions.

I have only a fixed 32x eyepiece. From what I have seen of some zoom eyepieces they can be a good bit darker reducing the amount of light entering the camera.

[jvhigbee]

Thanks Ian,
it sounds like I am in the ballpark. I can get as high as 1/500 on bright day and1.8. Using zoom at 20x. Still waiting for 30x wa which should make it better. I have to keep eye to camera or cover viewfinder (slr's don't preview on screen) so trying to control movement is probably worst problem.