Some digiscoping experiments with a dslr (1 Viewer)

[phaser]

thank's alot again. i agree with the iso. I don't no why it was iso 100 in that session but i should have that in mind next time i go out. The noise levels at iso 800 with the pentax is great so i will use that. The Gitzo video head is god for 5kg and the scope/camera/adapter is 3,6kg. But i guess with this magnification the 5kg could be over rated. When i shoot with 2sec delay/mirror lock up, i se no movment in the wievfinder. But then again it's not much movment needed to make the picture a little off focus. I try to aim for higher shutterspeed's and see where that brings me.

And for the overexposed picture. It's a nightmare to make good exposures on this white birds in direct sunlight :/ but i make it on day

 

[JGobeil]

thank's alot again. i agree with the iso. I don't no why it was iso 100 in that session but i should have that in mind next time i go out. The noise levels at iso 800 with the pentax is great so i will use that. The Gitzo video head is god for 5kg and the scope/camera/adapter is 3,6kg. But i guess with this magnification the 5kg could be over rated. When i shoot with 2sec delay/mirror lock up, i se no movment in the wievfinder. But then again it's not much movment needed to make the picture a little off focus. I try to aim for higher shutterspeed's and see where that brings me.

And for the overexposed picture. It's a nightmare to make good exposures on this white birds in direct sunlight :/ but i make it on day

Try it at high ISO, use remote shutter or mirror lockup and keep your tripod as low as possible. That should give you a sharp picture. Also, as Derry said, under expose a little to make sure you don't blow the whites.

Good luck with your setup and welcome to the club !

 

[Weath]

Thanks guys for a really interesting thread. It took me a while to read through all the posts last night but it was definitely worth it!

Although primarily a hobbyist photographer of all subject types, I'm really starting to enjoy the bird spotting/photography days out I've recently been doing with my Canon 30D, 400mm 5.6L, and Kenko Pro 1.4x converter.

Being new to “birding" as such, I hadn't even thought about scopes until seeing the magnification a friend was achieving with a Swaro (+Coolpix combo) when we were observing some ospreys - he had them clear in his sight ....I had 2 very small dots ||

Even if I had funds available to leap up to a 500 or 600mm lens (which is something I probably would have considered as a long-term progression), although they wouldn't have made much of a difference on the ability to capture those osprey's, it did pique my interest in how to get photos on those occasions where the focal length of the 400mm is coming in far too short.

So basically, until seeing this thread I was almost at the point of buying a scope to use in combo with my ixus 960 p&s and using it alongside the 30D setup - a sort of short-term solution whilst saving the pennies for the 500/600mm. However, it looks as though my priorities may now have changed, and saving for the 600mm may not be needed at all……

 

[JGobeil]

Welcome to the club Weath.

Digiscoping is fun and a nice alternative to taking a mortgage on your house to buy one of the Canon long guns.

However, it is not without its drawbacks - it is all manual and focus is sloooow compared to a DSLR lens. Having read this thread, you now know what can be achieved - quite amazing.

Regards
Jules

 

[Weath]

Welcome to the club Weath.

Digiscoping is fun and a nice alternative to taking a mortgage on your house to buy one of the Canon long guns.

Yes, unfortunately quality doesn't come cheap :-C

However, it is not without its drawbacks - it is all manual and focus is sloooow compared to a DSLR lens.

The manual focusing shouldn't be too much of a problem. I dabble quite a bit with macro as well, so am quite used to it.

Although the 400mm is ideal for close range shooting and BIF's, where obviously fast auto-focusing is crucial, it certainly looks like an astro-scope will give a further option for those more static subjects that are at the more realistic range that I’m finding myself at – and all for a fraction of the cost of the Canon glass

I just need to do some more research into specific astro-scopes prior to commiting the money

 

[JGobeil]

I just need to do some more research into specific astro-scopes prior to commiting the money

I have done quite a bit of research on these. IMO, the key points are:
Refractor
Doublet
ED glass
Around 600mm focal length
80mm diameter for reasonable f/ value around f/7
Dual speed micro focuser

You may want to look for these brands: Tele Vue, Williams Optics, Stellarvue, Syntra and all its makes (Skywatcher, celestron, etc...), Astro-Tech.

As Derry pointed out to me, you may also want to look here for interesting values in used scopes. Look under Refractors:
http://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/

Good luck in your shopping
Jules

 

[Paul Corfield]

Took this photo at the longest range I've tried for a bird so far. This was a long way off and I'd put it between 200m - 250m. The set up was Canon 450D with the Kenko Pro 300 1.4X converter mounted straight to the camera and mounted to that I had a 60mm ext tube and then the 2X GSO ED barlow mounted to that. Using calculations I've done in the past I worked this out to be in the region of 2400mm equivalent.

Also, Neil wanted to see some images from out on location so including the Buzzard here's a selection from today. Info on the photos.

Paul.

 

[Derry]

Weath, another great site to see pre owned astro gear is :

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/

CloudyNights and Astromart require you to join to see full info and PM the seller,, think Astromart cost $10 now days, was free years past,, CloudyNights is free,,

I have been a member for several years and never any problem in buying and selling,,

welcome aboard,,

Jules is soon to release a new test chart to work with,,

Jules & Paul, we do appreciate your efforts,,

Derry

 

[Paul Corfield]

Just went onto the google maps website and measured out the distance for my Buzzard photo that I posted above. Used the zoomed in satellite photo and with the measuring scale provided I measured it out to 195m.

Here's a couple more slightly better processed ones. These are uncropped, just resized to 800 wide for posting. Exif data was ISO400 1/125sec. Conditions were warm, sunny with a little haze.

Paul.

 

[Neil]

Just went onto the google maps website and measured out the distance for my Buzzard photo that I posted above. Used the zoomed in satellite photo and with the measuring scale provided I measured it out to 195m.

Here's a couple more slightly better processed ones. These are uncropped, just resized to 800 wide for posting. Exif data was ISO400 1/125sec. Conditions were warm, sunny with a little haze.

Paul.

Paul,
It looks like you had some fun out in the field with your gear. Love the buzzard. That's very good for that distance and probably as good as anyone could get.
It's hard to see detail on the swan and duck as it looks like their overexposed about 1 stop. I would manually expose for these type of birds and bracket. If you have RAW files can you bring them down a bit.
The goldfinch looks nice.
How did you find handling the gear in the field?
Neil.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Paul,
It looks like you had some fun out in the field with your gear. Love the buzzard. That's very good for that distance and probably as good as anyone could get.
It's hard to see detail on the swan and duck as it looks like their overexposed about 1 stop. I would manually expose for these type of birds and bracket. If you have RAW files can you bring them down a bit.
The goldfinch looks nice.
How did you find handling the gear in the field?
Neil.

Yeah, both the Swan and Duck were taken with my new Kenko converter. Not used it hardly at all yet so I need to practice some more with it to see how well it exposes based on camera readings.

I don't find taking the scope out in the field a problem at all and I've done it a lot in the past anyway. I was out for 2 hours yesterday and was walking all that time. I carry the scope in one hand and the tripod in the other. All my camera gear is in a back pack. Takes about 20 or 30 seconds to get set for a photo.

Had another play with the Swan and did a tighter crop to see more detail. Also a Long Tailed Tit from yesterday.

Paul.

 

[Neil]

Yeah, both the Swan and Duck were taken with my new Kenko converter. Not used it hardly at all yet so I need to practice some more with it to see how well it exposes based on camera readings.

I don't find taking the scope out in the field a problem at all and I've done it a lot in the past anyway. I was out for 2 hours yesterday and was walking all that time. I carry the scope in one hand and the tripod in the other. All my camera gear is in a back pack. Takes about 20 or 30 seconds to get set for a photo.

Had another play with the Swan and did a tighter crop to see more detail. Also a Long Tailed Tit from yesterday.

Paul.

Paul,
The swan scrubbed up nicely. I see lot's of detail there which is tough on a white bird. The tit must have been tough.
Neil.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Paul,
The swan scrubbed up nicely. I see lot's of detail there which is tough on a white bird. The tit must have been tough.
Neil.

The Tit was a lucky one. I was sat on a bench trying to catch Swallows skimming the river when the Tit landed in a small bush just a few metres in front of me. It was so interested in looking for food and didn't mind me sitting there at all. I got 21 photos of it in all.

Paul.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Took this photo of Jupiter tonight at roughly 5700mm equivalent. Jupiter is quite low in the sky at the moment and because of that there was a lot of shimmer in the earth's atmosphere at this magnification. Pretty pleased though and sure I can improve on this come the winter and better skies.

600mm Skywatcher Pro 80ED + Canon 450D + in this order - 60mm ext tube - Kenko Pro 1.4X converter - 60mm ext tube - 2X GSO Barlow

ISO800 - 1/20sec - 2 sec mirror lock up - cable release

Paul.

 

[wings]

Took this photo at the longest range I've tried for a bird so far. This was a long way off and I'd put it between 200m - 250m. The set up was Canon 450D with the Kenko Pro 300 1.4X converter mounted straight to the camera and mounted to that I had a 60mm ext tube and then the 2X GSO ED barlow mounted to that. Using calculations I've done in the past I worked this out to be in the region of 2400mm equivalent.

Also, Neil wanted to see some images from out on location so including the Buzzard here's a selection from today. Info on the photos.

Paul.

_____________

Can you give us a photo of this digiscoping setup (exploded view or assembled view), just like some of the others that are posted. One picture is worth a the proverbial thousand words.

 

[Paul Corfield]

_____________

Can you give us a photo of this digiscoping setup (exploded view or assembled view), just like some of the others that are posted. One picture is worth a the proverbial thousand words.

Here's a couple of photos for you. First photo shows the set up I used for the Buzzard photo, 2400mm (3840mm after crop factor).

Most of the time I have the scope set up as in photo 2. This covers all the ranges from 600mm up to 1680mm (2688mm after crop factor). The extra optics used to cover these ranges don't add anything to the overall length apart from the 1.4X teleconverter but that is very thin anyway at only about 2cm wide.

The photo here shows how the T-Ring is assembled with the 2X barlow.
http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=149046&d=1215699574

The tripod mount on the scope is where it is mounted at the factory. It's only screwed on with two holes so I'm going to drill two new holes and mount it further back where the focusing thumbwheels are and this would make it very well balanced. Even so you can see my old tripod supports it easily and on a tripod like a Manfrotto with a decent head it's very sturdy.

Paul.

 

[phaser]

looks a bit back heavy

 

[Paul Corfield]

looks a bit back heavy

No not really, the cameras these days are quite lightweight and the tubes are all hollow so it's certainly not excessive. I've been scoping like this for around a year now and if my old tripod can support it then any half decent tripod will do it no trouble. It's a simple enough job to relocate the tripod mount anyway to make it more balanced.

Paul.

 

[Weath]

As per my newly modified sig, you'll see I'm now in possession of a Skywatcher Evostarr-80 ED. :king:
(I opted for the version with the eyepieces and finderscope included as I quite fancy having a go at sky watching myself!)

I just have to wait for my t-mount to turn up now.......

Weath.

 

[phaser]

Congratulation I hope you post some pictures