Blincodave
Well-known member
Thanks Mark. Very informative. How do you attach your Canon S95 to the DCA?
Dave
Dave
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Sigma 30mm f2.8 for M4/3 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SjerPlover
- Start date
Canon S95+DCA
Dave,
I use one of these;
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Ele...tml?_$ja=tsid:11518|cat:17847002|prd:17847002
Originally designed for the S90, it needed a couple of slight modifications; a tiny piece of the metal lip removing with a hacksaw and the hole of the bolt that screws into the cameras tripod socket needed enlarging slightly with a drill - the S90 must have had a marginally thinner body.
Anyway this will give you a 37mm which you can then attach directly to the DCA.
Hope this helps,
Mark
Dave,
I use one of these;
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Ele...tml?_$ja=tsid:11518|cat:17847002|prd:17847002
Originally designed for the S90, it needed a couple of slight modifications; a tiny piece of the metal lip removing with a hacksaw and the hole of the bolt that screws into the cameras tripod socket needed enlarging slightly with a drill - the S90 must have had a marginally thinner body.
Anyway this will give you a 37mm which you can then attach directly to the DCA.
Hope this helps,
Mark
DCA + Sigma 30mm f2.8
I have purchased a Lumix G3 with the 14-42 kit lens and the Sigma 30mm f2.8.
My first impression is that this will be far along the most satisfactory combination I have ever used with my angled Swaro scopes and the DCA.
My present location is not good for birding but as soon as the weather permits
I will post some shots of test objects. using the Swaro 20xw. the 30xw. and the 20-60 zoom with the Sigma lens and the DCA.
Regard to all who have posted previously. Your posts have been most helpful.
I have purchased a Lumix G3 with the 14-42 kit lens and the Sigma 30mm f2.8.
My first impression is that this will be far along the most satisfactory combination I have ever used with my angled Swaro scopes and the DCA.
My present location is not good for birding but as soon as the weather permits
I will post some shots of test objects. using the Swaro 20xw. the 30xw. and the 20-60 zoom with the Sigma lens and the DCA.
Regard to all who have posted previously. Your posts have been most helpful.
Blincodave
Well-known member
That would be appreciated! Especially with the 30x eyepiece
Dave
Dave
Here are some shots using the 30 X-W lens with DCA on the angled Swaro 80 HD. I have left the autofocus in play due to a problem with manual focus on the Sigma 50 f2.8 which I will describe later. Focus was obtained with the scope prior to attaching the camera. The DCA was extended about 5mm. The sky was overcast.
Distances stated were gross estimates (guesses).
The dogwood flowers are about 60 yards. the tee box marker is about 45 yards, and the lamp post fixture is about 30 yards. The tee box file had to be cropped to below one half size to upload.
I have found that manual focus is essentially impossible with this particular Sigma lens due to a "sticky" focus ring that causes a very jerky movement when you try to focus with it. Have other users encountered this problem? If others are not having this problem I will return mine for an exchange.
Distances stated were gross estimates (guesses).
The dogwood flowers are about 60 yards. the tee box marker is about 45 yards, and the lamp post fixture is about 30 yards. The tee box file had to be cropped to below one half size to upload.
I have found that manual focus is essentially impossible with this particular Sigma lens due to a "sticky" focus ring that causes a very jerky movement when you try to focus with it. Have other users encountered this problem? If others are not having this problem I will return mine for an exchange.
Attachments
Blincodave
Well-known member
They look encouraging shots. Can you explain precisely what you meant by: 'The DCA was extended about 5mm'.
Cheers,
Dave
Cheers,
Dave
Hi Dave
The outer sleeve slides upward on the one that attaches to the scope lens and tightens with a turn of the screw. This prevents what looks to me like slight malfocus around the margin of the image. No problem with vignetting.
Does your manual focus rjng turn smoothly? Mine is very rough. It sticks and then jumps when you attempt to turn it further. Do you know if others have this same problem?
Regards.... JH
The outer sleeve slides upward on the one that attaches to the scope lens and tightens with a turn of the screw. This prevents what looks to me like slight malfocus around the margin of the image. No problem with vignetting.
Does your manual focus rjng turn smoothly? Mine is very rough. It sticks and then jumps when you attempt to turn it further. Do you know if others have this same problem?
Regards.... JH
Blincodave
Well-known member
Thanks for the reply. Again, very informative. Sorry I can't comment on the lens itself because this is just a prospective purchase at the moment.
Dave
Dave
Sigma 30mm f2.8 lens with Swarovski 80
I have carried out some further tests & found that you can get good results with the 20X eyepiece if you can get the camera lens to eyepiece distance down to 0.5mm. The 30X eyepiece works well with a distance of 7.00mm.
More tests to do with the 45X EP & the 20-60 Zoom.
I use a Swarovski DCB bracket (modified) to support the camera & secure the camera with the tripod thread.
I have carried out some further tests & found that you can get good results with the 20X eyepiece if you can get the camera lens to eyepiece distance down to 0.5mm. The 30X eyepiece works well with a distance of 7.00mm.
More tests to do with the 45X EP & the 20-60 Zoom.
I use a Swarovski DCB bracket (modified) to support the camera & secure the camera with the tripod thread.
sigma 2,8/30 with kowa 664 and 30x wide
I'm struggling to get some nice pictures with my kowa 664 since more than a year. With the 2,8/30 from Sigma I had a bit more success, when I used it on Helgoland last week. The distances where beetween 15 and 30 m.
May be, they are far away from perfect - I'm quite happy with them.
I'm struggling to get some nice pictures with my kowa 664 since more than a year. With the 2,8/30 from Sigma I had a bit more success, when I used it on Helgoland last week. The distances where beetween 15 and 30 m.
May be, they are far away from perfect - I'm quite happy with them.
Attachments
These look good. With the 664 you will need good light to get the best from it and don't expect great results at long distance.
I would be happy with those.
Neil.
Long distance digiscoping
Thank you, Neil!
Is there a recommandation for scopes for long distances?
Under best circumstances - i. e. good seeing - you get better sharpness with a bigger lens, according to optical theories. But I think, the lens-diameter is not really giving the limit for sharpness.
Many people say, that you need a big lens to have enough light. I think, you often have good light, enough for a smaller lens. Sometimes, it is too darc even for a big lens. How often do you have medium light, not enough for a 66 mm Kowa but for the 88 mm?
A dealer for fotostuff (in a shop in Helgoland) told me, that new scopes have a much better coating, for a example, the televid 82 compared to the older televid 77. Has anybody experienced this?
Thank you Michael
Thank you, Neil!
Is there a recommandation for scopes for long distances?
Under best circumstances - i. e. good seeing - you get better sharpness with a bigger lens, according to optical theories. But I think, the lens-diameter is not really giving the limit for sharpness.
Many people say, that you need a big lens to have enough light. I think, you often have good light, enough for a smaller lens. Sometimes, it is too darc even for a big lens. How often do you have medium light, not enough for a 66 mm Kowa but for the 88 mm?
A dealer for fotostuff (in a shop in Helgoland) told me, that new scopes have a much better coating, for a example, the televid 82 compared to the older televid 77. Has anybody experienced this?
Thank you Michael
robert mckay
Member
both new sigma lenses
Hi Grundy. Thanks for this helpful information. I am interested in both of these new Sigma lenses (19mm and 30mm). They seem to be the only internally focusing micro four thirds primes that might work for digiscoping. I have the swarovski 25-50 eyepiece on an AT80HD and am hoping to set everything up with a DCA adapter. I am excited by the possibility that the 30mm lens might work optimally a bit further away from the eyepiece - so maybe I can leave the eyecup attached to the eyepiece when I attach the DCA/camera/lens and still get good results???
If you could clarify a couple of things, I'd be most grateful:
1) In post #2, you say that on a 20x eyepiece the lens needs greater than 10mm distance. But in post #29, you say that the optimal distance is less than 0.5 mm with the same eyepiece. Have I misunderstood something?
2) Could you please tell us more about the 19mm lens. Was there any vignetting? I'd love to know how it would go on a 25-50 zoom with a DCA. From my limited understanding of optics, I'm hoping that the relatively small f/2.8 aperature might mean that the entrance pupil is a bit further out than with the panasonic 20mm f/1.7, so vignetting might be easier to control.
If it doesn't vignette, the 19mm lens would give me the focal length range I am after and would autofocus on a DCA without straining the autofocus motor. Sounds perfect!
Thanks for anything more you can tell us about these lenses.
Hi Grundy. Thanks for this helpful information. I am interested in both of these new Sigma lenses (19mm and 30mm). They seem to be the only internally focusing micro four thirds primes that might work for digiscoping. I have the swarovski 25-50 eyepiece on an AT80HD and am hoping to set everything up with a DCA adapter. I am excited by the possibility that the 30mm lens might work optimally a bit further away from the eyepiece - so maybe I can leave the eyecup attached to the eyepiece when I attach the DCA/camera/lens and still get good results???
If you could clarify a couple of things, I'd be most grateful:
1) In post #2, you say that on a 20x eyepiece the lens needs greater than 10mm distance. But in post #29, you say that the optimal distance is less than 0.5 mm with the same eyepiece. Have I misunderstood something?
2) Could you please tell us more about the 19mm lens. Was there any vignetting? I'd love to know how it would go on a 25-50 zoom with a DCA. From my limited understanding of optics, I'm hoping that the relatively small f/2.8 aperature might mean that the entrance pupil is a bit further out than with the panasonic 20mm f/1.7, so vignetting might be easier to control.
If it doesn't vignette, the 19mm lens would give me the focal length range I am after and would autofocus on a DCA without straining the autofocus motor. Sounds perfect!
Thanks for anything more you can tell us about these lenses.
distance beetween eyepiece and sigma-lens
I used the Sigma 2,8/30 with a 30x wide Kowa-eyepiece on a kowa tsn 664. I could change the distance beetween 5 mm and 10 mm - never having any vignetting. But the shuttertime seemed to change a bit. So I tried to get the best shuttertime and then allways worked with the same distance, which I can't exactly measure.
The 19 mm is mechanical a bit longer. I have heard, that short-build lenses are better for digiscoping. With my eyepiece, the kit-lens (14-45) can be used from 18 to 22 mm (or more with decreasing quality) and gives me the range from 1080 to 1320 mm. With the Sigma I have 1800 mm, compared to 24x36 of course.
The Panasonic 100-300-lens works like a 200-600 mm and is very sharp when used with f = 8. I would prefer this lens instead of digiscoping with less than 1100 mm.
Michael
I used the Sigma 2,8/30 with a 30x wide Kowa-eyepiece on a kowa tsn 664. I could change the distance beetween 5 mm and 10 mm - never having any vignetting. But the shuttertime seemed to change a bit. So I tried to get the best shuttertime and then allways worked with the same distance, which I can't exactly measure.
The 19 mm is mechanical a bit longer. I have heard, that short-build lenses are better for digiscoping. With my eyepiece, the kit-lens (14-45) can be used from 18 to 22 mm (or more with decreasing quality) and gives me the range from 1080 to 1320 mm. With the Sigma I have 1800 mm, compared to 24x36 of course.
The Panasonic 100-300-lens works like a 200-600 mm and is very sharp when used with f = 8. I would prefer this lens instead of digiscoping with less than 1100 mm.
Michael
Michael,
For low light you will be better off with a camera that gives good results at high iso. The V1 will give acceptable results up to iso 3200 and the Fuji X100 also. A bigger front objective lens on the scope will resolve more detail too and the new scopes have better coatings and therefore handle haze and backlight better. My 20 year old Leica M lenses are sharp enough but don't handle the haze/fringing very well.
One of the new 80/82/85/88 scopes would do a very good job.
Here are some test images with the Nikon V1 at iso 800/1600/3200. These are jpegs straight out of the camera.
Neil
ps I had Noise Reduction at High ISO switched on in the camera
Hong Kong,
China
June 2012
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vdaffyduck
Member
Sigma 30mm with Kowa 884 and 20-60x
Hi,
I just tried out my new combination , the Sigma 30mm on my new Kowa 884. absolutely no vignetting from 20-60x. BUT: the pictures are good, but far away from the combination with my Nikon P6000. I have a new Olympus E-M5. Is it possible, that the movement of the shutter blurrs my images???? :C Its a mft-camera, so there is no movement of a mirror, but the hole system shakes, when i press the remote shutter.... The preview on the screen looks absolutely sharp, even with 10x, but the picture is blurred. Has anyone the same problem??? What do you think, Neil, is the Nikon V1 with the electronic shutter a better choice for Digiscoping???
Volkmar.
Hi,
I just tried out my new combination , the Sigma 30mm on my new Kowa 884. absolutely no vignetting from 20-60x. BUT: the pictures are good, but far away from the combination with my Nikon P6000. I have a new Olympus E-M5. Is it possible, that the movement of the shutter blurrs my images???? :C Its a mft-camera, so there is no movement of a mirror, but the hole system shakes, when i press the remote shutter.... The preview on the screen looks absolutely sharp, even with 10x, but the picture is blurred. Has anyone the same problem??? What do you think, Neil, is the Nikon V1 with the electronic shutter a better choice for Digiscoping???
Volkmar.
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Sigma 19 & 30 mm lens for M 4/3
Hi Robert
Sorry about the confusion between the two posts. I was also trying to reduce vignetting & therrefore re-tested the lens & eyepiece combination, & was surpised to get good results with the closer distance.
The Sigma 19mm f2.8 is a great lens but best used with the 20X, 30X & 45X eyepieces. If you use a G1 camera then you will get vignetting with the 20-60 Zoom. Unfortunately it doesn't disappear until you get to 40/50X magnification. However if you have a GH2 camera or one with extended tele function vignetting disappears almost completely all the way from 20X but at the cost of picture size/quality
The 19mm Sigma lens is great value for money & if used with a 80mm scope & 30X eyepiece would give you a system f value of approx 7.0 & is equivalent to a 1140mm lens which is good for distances up to 30M
Hi Robert
Sorry about the confusion between the two posts. I was also trying to reduce vignetting & therrefore re-tested the lens & eyepiece combination, & was surpised to get good results with the closer distance.
The Sigma 19mm f2.8 is a great lens but best used with the 20X, 30X & 45X eyepieces. If you use a G1 camera then you will get vignetting with the 20-60 Zoom. Unfortunately it doesn't disappear until you get to 40/50X magnification. However if you have a GH2 camera or one with extended tele function vignetting disappears almost completely all the way from 20X but at the cost of picture size/quality
The 19mm Sigma lens is great value for money & if used with a 80mm scope & 30X eyepiece would give you a system f value of approx 7.0 & is equivalent to a 1140mm lens which is good for distances up to 30M
Absolutly the same experience with the Sigma 30 on my G1 and my Swaro ATS80HD and the 25-50x wide eyepiece. No vignetting, nice mounting with the DCA (in opposite to the 20 F1.7 the front of the lens is _not_ moving during AF), but the quality can't reach the P6000.
Finally I have sent it back and continue to use the P6000.
I think now, that the shutter is may be part of the problem. See the movement here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dK6Qa1Iy4Y
A smaller sensor seems also have some advantages behind a scope.
Really pitty, I like the digiscoping with the G1 due to viewfinder and electrical remote shutter - but I don't like the quality of the pictures in comparison to the P6000 setup.
Image with Sigma 2,8/30
I use the Panasonic G1 too, but I can't compare with a compact digicam, like the P6000.
The image was taken with a kowa tsn 664, the 30x wide eyepiece and the sigma 30 mm with a pana G1.
The first one is not sharpened, but a cutout of the central part, to get the Size of 1200 px (from original 3000 x 4000).
The second is the same, but sharpened.
Neil, thank you for the pictures from your nikon V1. I'm impressed.
I could not decide, which is the ISO 3200, except reading the image-name.
Michael
I use the Panasonic G1 too, but I can't compare with a compact digicam, like the P6000.
The image was taken with a kowa tsn 664, the 30x wide eyepiece and the sigma 30 mm with a pana G1.
The first one is not sharpened, but a cutout of the central part, to get the Size of 1200 px (from original 3000 x 4000).
The second is the same, but sharpened.
Neil, thank you for the pictures from your nikon V1. I'm impressed.
I could not decide, which is the ISO 3200, except reading the image-name.
Michael
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robert mckay
Member
Thanks for that information Grundy. I only have the 25-50 eyepiece, which I think is less prone to vignetting than the 20-60. I'm guessing from your post that I probably wouldn't be able to use the 19mm lens with it, though I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried this combination. I'd prefer to avoid the extended tele option if possible. Thanks again.
