CalvinFold
Well-known member
So maybe I'm dreaming an impossible dream, but here's my wishlist for a new digiscoping camera that may not exist.
I'm generally quite happy with my Coolpix 4500, but things like faster save speeds, ability to shoot moving subjects (faster shutter speed?), better low-light photography, bit more resolution, etc. of the newer cameras often makes me wishful.
So here's my wish list:
Cost is a concern (too high and I can never have my dream Coolpix replacement), but feature set is more important (not going to replace the Coolpix for less features).
My current Coolpix 4500 and scope rig is shown here.
I'm generally quite happy with my Coolpix 4500, but things like faster save speeds, ability to shoot moving subjects (faster shutter speed?), better low-light photography, bit more resolution, etc. of the newer cameras often makes me wishful.
So here's my wish list:
- Digiscoping-friendly. In other words, there are known adapters for known scopes, etc. so I can buy off-the-shelf components.
- Internal zoom. I don't want to mess with a camera that zooms external to the camera body. 3-5x zoom is likely more than adequate.
- Threaded for lenses. Should work on it's own (without external lens), but still accept threaded accessory lenses. It does occur to me though that this might get me stuck with afocal photography like I am now. I'd rather shoot straight off the scope rather than the eyepiece, so I'm open to suggestions on this point.
- Prosumer friendly. I've never been good with manual settings outside of using canned setups listed online. On the other hand, I do like that availability. So a camera with "Auto" for basic point-and-shoot, "Semi-Manual" for some manual settings and some auto settings (so the camera is fairly smart to compensate for my cluelessness), and "Manual" for the full manual experience.
- Pivot-body or a pivot-screen. If it's a pivot screen it has to be fairly adjustable, like the flip-screens on many camcorders. I don't want just a couple of preset flip-out angles, not flexible enough.
- Larger screen. The tiny little 1.5" screen on the 4500 is a pain at times. This might be more of a nice-to-have because...
- ...still want a fairly compact, lightweight camera.
- Good low-light (dawn/dusk) photography without blowing-out highlights (wide dynamic range). Good Dmax is a plus since I shoot at sunrise/sunset, but Dmin is necessary because my favorite subject is a white raptor. ;-p
- Built-in flash is a nice-to-have for basic off-scope household use, but it doesn't have to be more than a short-range fill-flash. I can do without though, as this would be 99.99% a camera attached to a scope.
- Over 4 megapixels. On this note though, I would prefer less megapixels and better optics over more megapixels and "meh" optics.
Cost is a concern (too high and I can never have my dream Coolpix replacement), but feature set is more important (not going to replace the Coolpix for less features).
My current Coolpix 4500 and scope rig is shown here.
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