Digiscoping options for Leica Ultravid 8x20 BR (1 Viewer)

[sope0018]

Several months ago I purchased a set of Leica Ultravid 8x20 BR binoculars from B&H and have fallen in love with them for general nature observation and birding. I even use them at night sometimes to look at the moon and stars. They are with me wherever I go!

Anyway, I've been using them to take pictures of birds at my feeders by using them in tandem with my iPhone 13. It is doable, I've gotten ok at it but of course it is a challenge and takes some time to line up correctly with the smallish exit pupil. I know there are adapters out there that help you lock in the binocular and phone so that digiscoping is quite a bit easier, as the phone and the binocular become one piece. Does anyone have any recommendations for an adapter that would work well with this particular combination? There are so many options online but I'd love to hear from folks that already have some experience in this area. Thanks for your time!

 

[Joe H]

I was just surfing through old posts and came across this one. Sorry I can't directly respond directly to your request, but I do have a picture I took through a Leica 8x20 Ultravid with a Cannon point and shoot pocket camera. It's a New Caledonian Goshawk. I was there on a work trip and everything related to bird watching had to fit in pockets. I steadied the little bins on a slender tree by wrapping the neck strap around the trunk. The camera was zoomed in a bit but still captured a lot of the black ring, which I like. If I zoomed the camera in enough to eliminate the ring the image was too blurry.

The picture isn't great, but it ended up to me as a memorable picture of a bird I'm unlikely ever to see again and I would have never got it without using pocketable gear. If you do end up with a compact bin/phone combo that gives good results, please post your results. I usually have a pocket bin and a cell phone on me but my results with the phone and the little Leica have been iffy.

 

[lmans66]

I admire you for your spirit.... digiscoping has always been on the 'fly', sort of speaking..... and while it has advanced with some companies offering adapters etc, it is still a hit and miss game when it comes to things like you have in mind. I really doubt you will find anything for that combination.

in the older / earlier days of digiscoping (1990's thru 2000's) using any scope / camera combination.....I would go to the hardware store and find PFC couplings, pipe etc...and cut and glue to fit etc. It was fun, exciting....creating...using your brain etc.

So....I would suggest that.....start being creative and improvise where needed. Experiment...play... That was always part of the enjoyment of early digiscoping... jim

 

[jafritten]

I toyed with various contraptions before I brought myself to buy a used DSLR and a used telephoto. What worked best for me was a combo of a rainguard cap glued onto a smartphone cover with the smartphone set to voice controlled shutter release. The results were not too bad but the problem is that the short focal length of the phone lens decreases the magnification of the binoculars by a factor of 2 or so. It was good fun, though!

 

[fazalmajid]

An iPhone won't work, the lenses are too wide (although perhaps the iPhone Pro with its "telephoto" lens could work). I can almost fill the frame with my Ultravid 8x20 BL on my Ricoh GRIIIx (40mm equivalent on full-frame, with the macro setting). The cheapest solution would be to have a simple press-fit fixture 3D printed, otherwise you could also check the BF Digiscoping forum for more help. Most digiscoping adapters are made for spotting scopes, however, and would be preposterously oversized for the Ultravids.

 

[Viraj]

Sometimes I am taking photos with Eschenbach Club 8 X 20 with my iPhone SE 2020. It is easier to take photos with smaller binoculars because shaking is less. It is much more difficult for me to take photos with NL 8x42. However, I recently bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ82 bridge camera solely to take photos for identification purposes.

 

[BKoh]

I digiscope with binoculars quite often. Previously with a Celestron Trailseeker 8x42, now a Swarovski EL 8x32. I don't use an adapter, I just hold them together and shoot.

For me the key is being able to securely hold the binocular eyepiece flat against the phone camera. This means the binocular should have flat-topped twist up eyecups. This gives a flat surface you can press against the phone. The phone itself should either be bare or have a case that has a flat surface in the area surrounding the camera.

I wear eyeglasses, but my phone doesn't. As a result I have to extend the eyecups to create the eye relief needed, else the phone camera gets blackouts. Rubber eyecups are flexible so they won't work well, screw-up eyecups always give a flat surface.

Shooting tips: practice so that you know where/how to hold the bino and phone together. Use burst mode to capture a series of pictures, improving the odds of getting a keeper.

Attached are some shots taken with my Samsung Note 9 through my Celestron Trailseeker 8x42.

 

[BKoh]

I tried a 2x Sirui 60mm teleconverter lens attachment for my smartphone, but the results were poor.

I also tried a Vixen 6x15 monocular, but it had insufficient eye relief, rubber eyecups and mediocre optics. Results were also poor.

I have been tempted to try a better monocular, but have so far made do with my binoculars. I do have a Pentax 4x20 WD (separates into 2 monoculars, good optics, very long ER), perhaps I will test it as a lighter alternative to holding my Swaros to the phone.

 

[Swedpat]

I tried a 2x Sirui 60mm teleconverter lens attachment for my smartphone, but the results were poor.

I also tried a Vixen 6x15 monocular, but it had insufficient eye relief, rubber eyecups and mediocre optics. Results were also poor.

I have been tempted to try a better monocular, but have so far made do with my binoculars. I do have a Pentax 4x20 WD (separates into 2 monoculars, good optics, very long ER), perhaps I will test it as a lighter alternative to holding my Swaros to the phone.

Hi! Do you still have the 4x20? I wondered about how well the small eye lenses work, and see it's stated 19mm ER. But with only 40deg AFOV it does not require large lens. So this model works good with eyeglasses?

 

[Swedpat]

Hi! Do you still have the 4x20? I wondered about how well the small eye lenses work, and see it's stated 19mm ER. But with only 40deg AFOV it does not require large lens. So this model works good with eyeglasses?

I forgot I already got the answer on that question in another thread.