Need Information what to buy for discoping (1 Viewer)

I have the Canon SD500/Ixus700 and I read that Leica has a new adaptor which looks to me in the photo of it that it will hold other cameras beside leica as it is a clamp type affaire. My ixus has no filter threads.
My grandson is coming from Australia and I would like him to bring me what I need and would welcome suggestions as I know nothing about this. Till now I have been chasing birds with a DO70-300 and 20D and not long enough.
Question: Is this camera okay and what adaptor and scope do I buy and do I buy a scope with a tripod as my tripod won't take more than 2kg.
I would appreciate any help in this matter.
Is the IS on the new Leica worth getting as I am quite happy with my SD500 for everyday snap shooting as it is so small and light.
fredyr

fredyr said:

I have the Canon SD500/Ixus700 and I read that Leica has a new adaptor which looks to me in the photo of it that it will hold other cameras beside leica as it is a clamp type affaire. My ixus has no filter threads.
My grandson is coming from Australia and I would like him to bring me what I need and would welcome suggestions as I know nothing about this. Till now I have been chasing birds with a DO70-300 and 20D and not long enough.
Question: Is this camera okay and what adaptor and scope do I buy and do I buy a scope with a tripod as my tripod won't take more than 2kg.
I would appreciate any help in this matter.
Is the IS on the new Leica worth getting as I am quite happy with my SD500 for everyday snap shooting as it is so small and light.
fredyr

Click to expand...

I have just started digiscoping and currently using one of my existing digital cameras which is a Canon Ixus 400. I use a Baader stage in order to attach it to my scope and I am very pleased with the results I am getting therefore I don't see any problems with your Ixus 700. As there is no filter threads on the Canon camera the Baader stages works very well and I know a lot of people us it on this forum and is well discussed else where on the forum. If you are interested in seeing my test results with my Ixus 400 let know and I can upload them or email them.

Leica told me I could use my Ixus 700 with their adaptor but the adaptor won't be on the market till mid-January. As I am a small woman I am looking for light eg the APO62 by Leica with the 20-60 eye piece. This is my first foray into the digiscoping field so know nothing about it other than what I read on this forum. Would be please to see your photos and if you have a photo of your setup that would be great.
Thanks fredyr

fredyr said:

Leica told me I could use my Ixus 700 with their adaptor but the adaptor won't be on the market till mid-January. As I am a small woman I am looking for light eg the APO62 by Leica with the 20-60 eye piece. This is my first foray into the digiscoping field so know nothing about it other than what I read on this forum. Would be please to see your photos and if you have a photo of your setup that would be great.
Thanks fredyr

Click to expand...

I am the same as yourself just starting out in the digiscoping world. As most people I find what works best for me. Please find photos of my setup and first results obtained (in my garden) as requested. I have taken it to the hide to use on the reserve but there was not much on the reserve that day. With you using a Leica scope and newer design camera you should get better results. These photos were taken on my Nikon scope with a standard 30x WA eyepiece and Canon Ixus 400.

It's probably best to decide which scope you want to use and then worry about getting adapters sorted, you should have no problems using universal adapters with the camera you have.

As I'm sure you are aware it is very useful to have a flourite/ED/HD/APO scope for digiscoping, and there are a number that are excellent. The top four small scopes in the UK are normally considered to be - Leica APO62, Swarovski 65HD, Zeiss FL65 and Nikon Fieldscope III ED. Any of these four would be suitable for digiscoping and woudl all deliver good results. It's worth considering the focussing system used, the Leica and Zeiss have finger focussing with two wheels (coarse and fine focus), where as the Swarovski and Nikon use barrel focusing. You need to think about which system you prefer, as a camera user you might find the barrel focus easier as it is much the same as on camera lenses.

Although a lot of people favour a zoom for general birding it is not always the best eyepeice choice for digiscoping. You'd probably be better off with a good fixed eyepeice, around 20x to 30x. It tends to be easier to avoid vingetting with a wide angle fixed eyepeice, and when you want a bit more magnification you can use the optical zoom on your camera.

Price is another consideration, in the UK there is a significant price difference between these four scopes over £200 between the cheapest and most expensive. All four manufacturers make universam digiscoping adapters - Swarovski's and Zeiss' are both excellent, I've not seen the new Leica yet and the Nikon is fairly poor. A cheap universal adapter (such as the Baader at £30) is probably as good a way to go. You mention that you already have a tripod that will hold upto 2kg, none of these four small scopes should weigh in at more than that (even with camera and adapter attached). That said balance is often an issue with digiscoping, the camera makes the set up back heavy, so a good tripod head can be essential.

One thing you need to be aware of with digiscoping is that it is a slower process than using a dslr and you get far fewer 'keepers'. So when you do get your scope and start digiscoping, don't worry if you only keep ~5% of the photos you take.

Your information is really worthwhile for which I thank you. Leice suggested the APO62 and their 20-60 eyepiece and the adaptor which will come out in mid January will suit my SD500/Ixus 700.
Your comment that there are few keeps is interesting as I have a 20D+DO70-300IS and I get a lot of keepers if I sit in the car and just wait. I live one hour from a stopover for birds on their way in and back from Europe and Africa. I can't get close though to one bird with my setup though so thought the answer would be discoping. I am wondering whether I would do better with the 100-400IS plus 1.4 converter and maybe cheaper than a good scope, eyepiece and adaptor.. All very confusing and a lot to think about.
Just one question, if it is so hard to get keepers and the discoping setup is also expensive, why not get a Canon 350xl+ this lens as then one can use it for straight photography. Mind you I understand with the discoping setup I can see much further than that. Thanks a lot though as I have a lot to think about.
fredyr

For a lot of people digiscoping is an extenssion of birding rather than of photography. A lot of birders who already have scopes have found that digiscoping is a good way to take bird photos without spending a fortune on kit (if you already have a scope then a camera and adapter can easily be got for under £300).

There are a few reasns why the percentage of keepers is so low with digiscoping. Firstly light gathering, unless the light is really good a digiscoping set up will not allow the sort of shutter speeds you can get with your dslr, slower shutter speeds mean it's far harder to 'stop' any movement that the bird is making. Generally the compact camera used for digiscoping are not able to get good results at high ISO (unlike your 20D). The higher magnifications involved in digiscoping also make the whole process more prone to camera shake and atmospheric issues, such as heat haze. A good digiscoped shot can compare to dslr shots, however they're not as easy to take and I've never managed to get as many.

A longer lens for your 20D might be a better option, though you will not be able to get the sort of reach that is possible with digiscoping. I use a 500mm lens and find that most of the time this is enough, though I can't wait to try it out with the 1.4x tc I'm getting for Christmas. I do carry digiscoping kit with me too, but take less than 20% of my shots with the digiscoping set up.

The Canon 100-400IS is a very popular lens and with a 1.4x tc will give you a lot more reach, though you lose autofocus with the tc. If you do go down the long lens route, I'd recommend looking at the Canon 400mm f5.6 prime lens. It's a bit cheaper than the 100-400IS, it does not have IS, but does deliver sharper images. As you already have a good Canon zoom you don't really need a lens with the range so might be better of getting the prime lens for the extra sharpness.

Need info for discoping

Thanks for your informative answer. I am afraid without IS I would have a problem even though I know about the 400mm prime. My tripod will only take 2kg too. All birders here in Israel I gather use up to 600mm. I think I will have to think about it now as I have a feeling at the PMA there will be new lenses as birding tours are the largest growing industry in the world so maybe an updated long lens with IS will come out.
The reason I became interested was because I met a French woman with a scope and the clarity of the flamingos she saw from afar were incredible and I thought with a small camera attached I could take fabulous photos of not just birds but animals too. I have an Orly17 converter 1.7 from an older camera and bought a step down ring and I get mixed results. I don't need a tripod as the lens has IS but maybe I have to work out the right setting to get better results. That gives me 300x1.6+x1.7 so a pretty good reach without being heavy. On the other hand I live opposite a park and too far for even both lenses so the scope appeals to me. Israel has too much light so that doesn't bother me but glad you told me as I was unaware of that factor. A new site called israbirding just started so I have been in touch with them and will consider everything I now have learned on this forum + find out what they use. I know I need IS if the lens is long, I also know I need a zoom lens or I will miss out on birds like kingfisher to which I can get close with my car.
Most interesting and thanks. Fredy
Just noticed your photos JCraig. Thanks. You are so lucky to have a birdfeeder. I tried last year and no bird stopped as I live opposite a park I guess and my building is in a street with no garden. However I live 10 minutes away from a river and often walk there with my dog and see tons of birds, just not gorgeous ones like you see as you have the cold weather. Thanks again.

If IS and a zoom are important then the 100-400IS is the only lens that would be any good for you, Canon's longer lenses are all primes.

It does sound like the extra reach that digiscoping offers would be a big plus to you. If nothing else a scope would allow you to see the distant birds and give you the chance to take photos of them. That said generally the best digiscoped shots are taken of birds that fill the frame. As you have to manually focus (using the scopes foucs) while viewing on the cameras screen, the larger the bird on the screen the easier it is to get it in focus. If you know someone with a scope I'd recommend trying using your camera handheld through the scope. This might give you an idea as to the sort of distances that you can digiscope at.

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1717288&a=30967519&f=
http://www.pbase.com/fredyr/fauna_in_israel
http://www.pbase.com/fredyr/maayan_tzvi
Most interesting but I don't know anyone with a scope. So far I have only met strong men with long lenses. Just this one French woman who showed me her view in the scope and I got a shock at how large and clear the flamingo was but she didn't have a camera and I didn't think to put my camera to her scope.
Brian Curry on this forum who actually introduced me to this forum and lives in Utah uses the same camera as mine and I think he uses a 400mm with 1.4 teleconverter and a tripod. Due to the fish ponds being passable with a 4x4 which I have I can get around so don't know if the birds will be 10 metres or 100 metres. However as I am dying to have a scope and my daughter wants to buy it for me for my birthday I think I will go the way of Leica APO62 and their adaptor and see as I already have the camera. I don't want to buy the 100-400IS yet as I mentioned about PMA which I think is in February and surprises I am sure will be in store for everyone or Canon will be surpassed by Nikon.
by the way I have a neat viewfinder for the LCD of my camera which I bought years ago from www.photosolve.com so the sun is kept out. I didn't attach it to the camera but wear it as a necklace for any camera. Something all birders should have I think.
Thanks again for your help and just hope I see a bird I haven't seen before once I get the length.
Fredy