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Hello from Surrey,UK (1 Viewer)

dylan

dylan

Well-known member
United Kingdom
Hello everyone, my name is Dylan, I'm 33, and I've been digiscoping since July of this year and get a real buzz from it.

I had a bad motorcycle accident in '98 and was off my feet for a very long time, which has lead to a change of pace for me. I'm back on my feet, and I have a greater appreciation for the world and wildlife around me. Lugging my gear round the park looking for woodpeckers is my idea of a good time these days.

I'll probably be quite a regular in the bird identification forum as I have a knack for misidentification, I am improving though.

Dylan.
 
Welcome to the Forum Dylan, it's good to have you here.

Great to hear that you're back on your feet now. Look forward to reading your posts. I'm sure everyone here in the Forum will make you very welcome.
 
Welcome to Birdforum

Hi Dylan

Welcome to the Forum good to see you have a good choice of equipment I have the same scope that I use with the 995. I have been playing around with my son's new 4500 this afternoon and I was quite impressed how it compares with the 995 its a shame he's using this with the Kowa TS611 that I gave him after buying the Swarovski, thought it was a good idea to keep it in the family.
We have daily visits from Great Spotted Woodpeckers in our garden.

I wonder if you use a cable release on that 4500, do you know if the release from Jessops will fit the 4500 ?. I have loaned my Nikon remote cord MC-EU1 to my son until he can buy a cable release attachment suitable.

I will look forwards seeing some of your images.

Roy.
 
Welcome Dylan!!

Hi Dylan, really good to have you on board - a soul mate I'm pretty much a novice at ID as well, always asking questions!!! We can compare notes - lol.

Also into biking and sorry to hear you took a tumble :( Glad your recovered and as awful as it must have been at least it gave you the opportunity to get into the wonderful world of birds!!
You'll have to have a look in chat sometime - it gets pretty lively in there :)

Enjoy
El Annie :t:
 
Thanks Ralph, I've mooched through the boards today and it looks friendly and helpful. I notice you're from Wales, top place - had my first birding trip there a few weeks back (pembrokeshire), & visited Gigrin Farm to see the Red Kites.

Roy, I've only recently seen (& photographed) Great Spotted Woodpeckers , not lucky enough to have them in my garden.
Regarding the remote release, I'm using the Jessops setup on my Cp4500, Andy Bright has info & order code on his website : http://digiscopingukbirds.homestead.com . My good choice of equipment is mostly down to his information:)

El Annie, you're right, fast bikes aren't the best way to soak up the countryside! I get to see and appreciate a lot more these days. I'll be sure to pop in the chat thing (probably to ask stupid questions:)

Thanks all

Dylan.
 
Hi Dylan,
I'm in the same position as you regarding digiscoping. I started in July to boost my website. I run a 995 with a Kowa 224 scope but I have been experimenting with digibinning - see a post from me in the forum. Look forward to comparing notes. Welcome to the forums.




Colin
:t:
 
Cheers Colin, I have heard a couple of things about using binolculars on the [digiscopingbirds] yahoo list. I'll have a mooch at your posts.

Dylan.
 
Hi Dylan and welcome to the forum.

You'll find us a friendly bunch so feel free to post often and ask as many stupid questions as you like.;)
Look forward to reading your posts.

paj

:t:
 
Thanks Pav, friendly it is.

"..feel free to post often and ask as many stupid questions as you like."

You may regret saying that ;)

Dylan.
 
Welcome to the site Dylan. I applogise for not replying sooner, but we've just returned from a couple of weeks holiday. It sounds like you're findng your way around okay and already met some of the members.
I think everyonne struggles with ID sometime or other so I wouldn't worry about it. It's always good to have a second opinion in any case.
I hope we'll see you around on the site.
All the best
 
Hya Dylan

Good to see your posts. I am also new into the forum and there is one thing I do want to learn, digiscoping. I can't afford one just yet but I do want to buy one some time. The thing is don't know whether to buy a Digital Camera or a digicamcorder. I own a Kowa 823 telescope and I reckon some good photos could be taken with it. I have been told that with certain digicamcorders still shots can be taken but what would the quality be like.

Feel free for anyone to comment on this but what system would you recommend and what prices are they? Can you buy them 2nd hand and if so what prices would you expect to pay and where can you buy them?

This is what these forums are meant for. Information readily available from those who know to those that are not sure.

Great to have you on board. I look forward to your posts.

Regards
John J
 
I wouldn't mind having a crack at digiscoping as well John. I'd be interested to see how much it's gonna cost. I do already have a cheap digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 775) which I don't think is any good for digiscoping (unless anyone can tell me otherwise). Is there some sort of adaptor available that can connect this camera to a new scope.

Any info would be much appreciated.

:t:
 
Yes it is Andy's site. He has also being writing a series of articles on digiscoping in Birdwatch magazine.
 
digiscoping

If anyone has a question on digiscoping, I'll do my best to answer them in the new 'Digiscoping' section. But I'll answer John J and Ralph's on this thread.
John J.
The Kowa 823 is a very good scope for digiscoping. You will have to decide on what you require as an end result, quality prints will only be available from a digital still camera.
A miniDV camcorder will provide still images suitable for web and monitor viewing (maybe very small prints), and obviously moving footage that allows you to view the bird's behaviour and i.d. help from more angles.

The benefits of a still camera is their small size and low weight, the Nikon cp4500 will easily fit in a pocket and weighs about 350gm. A digital still camera suitable for digiscoping will cost about £500 for a Nikon cp4500, secondhand Nikon cp990 or cp995 will be £300'ish. If you wish to see the quality available from digiscoping, send me your address via e-mail and I'll post a couple of prints off to you.

Ralph. You're a bit unlucky in that you've one of the very few coolpix cameras that aren't digiscoping-friendly. Having said that, I'm not totally familiar with it and I'm sure you would be able to get some good photos from it with a bit of perserverence. Does the 775 have a thread for attaching the Nikon ur-?? accessory adapter? Otherwise you may have to hand-hold the camera up to the scope, or possibly see about one of the digiscoping adapters that hold the camera up to the scope via a bracket attached to the camera's tripod socket (SRB? Opticron?).
Hope that helps,
Andy B
 
Last edited:
Hello John, looks like you've got some input from Andy already
:t:

I'd be careful looking at Andys website, i spent some time browsing through it and it's ended up costing me an awful lot of money;)

My interest in birding consisted of feeding/observing the birds in my garden until I looked at digiscoped pictures on the web, at which point I thought I'd have a go. I've only been at it since July
and feel I have a hobby for life!

As well as the Coolpix 4500 I also have a Canon DV camera which I have tried with my scope, the results are interesting but very very poor quality compared to the Coolpix, I'd concentrate on the still camera.

Good luck to you and Ralph getting sorted,
Dylan.
 
Thanks for the input Dylan.

I will have to think long and hard regarding what to do next. I think that I will opt for the camera instead of the camcorder first and Andy has suggested which ones to go for on the 2nd hand market. I will get the next couple of weeks out the way then start putting some real time into studying the subject.

Regards
John J
 
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