Merlin has decent coverage of the UK, but very sparse elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps Swarovski will fund the missing bird packs. I’d be interested depending on the camera quality. I had tried a Sony DEV-3 a few years back and it was complete garbage.
If only our Finnish friends had patented their Stick, I would have welcomed our new Finnish Overlords. Meanwhile I see the whole concept of 'Ironman' races, now a multi-billion dollar global (but Chinese-owned) industry, was 'invented' by a few US ex-servicemen in Hawaii forty years ago. And they never thought of patenting it....:smoke:Let's face it:smoke:, the window cleaning device or the Finn stick to hold the binos steady came from really smart users:t:, not from smart or Alpha companies...
This is old tech combined, nothing new here.
I'd like to see bird names directly in binocular's field of view like the built-in compass, rather than on a smart phone. Is that something so difficult that Swarovski has to employ this route?
I think it is a brilliant product, held back only by the high price.
Birding is pretty asocial as presently constituted, each individual sees what is in their FoV, but there is no sharing and no instant communication. This gizmo allows that, fairly smoothly if the video is any guide. For the under 30 set, social links such as this offers appear to be essential, so this opens the door to a new generation of birders.
I just can't wait for there to be much lower cost Chinese knockoffs.
Separately, I don't understand why this is not integrated into a binocular, which would be much more comfortable to use and whose frame is inherently more accommodating to the extra electronics required.
Birding is pretty asocial as presently constituted, each individual sees what is in their FoV, but there is no sharing and no instant communication.
I generally don't like the tech approach either, and think most of us spend quite enough time staring down at screens instead of looking at the real world. But one application occurs to me, that of 'remote birding', in real time, for the incapacitated. Supposing I go birding, view through the new tech and transmit it live to friends who are ill, infirm/elderly etc.? Then when my time comes (as it must:eek!, someone can return the favour!I'm not against the tech. approach, but that has the capacity to isolate as well, especially if its supposed to provide the answer. Instead of observing nature and talking to each other, they'll be back to glancing at their iphones...
-Bill
I generally don't like the tech approach either, and think most of us spend quite enough time staring down at screens instead of looking at the real world. But one application occurs to me, that of 'remote birding', in real time, for the incapacitated. Supposing I go birding, view through the new tech and transmit it live to friends who are ill, infirm/elderly etc.? Then when my time comes (as it must:eek!, someone can return the favour!
I like that idea. If you had a phoneskope type setup, used facetime, and a scope, one could certainly bring nature to folks in real time who can't get out.
A good friend of mine who has gone on pack trips with me for 15 years, blew out his knee last summer, just before our trip, so could not come. On the hike in, we took what was called the High Trail, which ran above a river canyon, remaining in line of sight of a cell tower atop a mountain. I was able to send him photos and texts for several hours, while he sat recuperating from knee surgery. Visual therapy!
-Bill
Thanks, Jan. But I think the alternative people have been envisioning is a full binocular with a second 25mm barrel, not a BTX style mono. Would all that be prohibitively difficult to collimate? And for that matter, why couldn't it be 30mm? The new CL is highly regarded.The reason why it's a mono and not a BTX style mono is the loss of light which comes with the 25mm configuration.
Hi Tenex,Thanks, Jan. But I think the alternative people have been envisioning is a full binocular with a second 25mm barrel, not a BTX style mono. Would all that be prohibitively difficult to collimate? And for that matter, why couldn't it be 30mm? The new CL is highly regarded.
Hi Tenex,
You need room for the camera and lens, so a mono objective was the only option for a compact solution, which lead to the logic question why they didn't choose for the BTX solution. Their answer (lack of light) brought us to the 30CL option. The answer I got was a smile and the remark that the future was bright
Don't forget, once familiar in use of this concept and available in several configurations.....the, not so far, future is bright and digital.
Speaking from my own situation as a convinced non digital and analog observer, I've seen the light. Halleluja bro.
Jan
I'm planning to get my first look at a dG on Sunday at the San Diego Bird Festival. I'll report what I see.
I'm surprised that they didn't put the camera in an EL Range body so it would have a 10x42 binocular with enough room for the electronics.
That said, I was able to connect my Panasonic Lumix G-9 to my Samsung S8+ via WiFi, transfer a photo of a Thick-billed Kingbird, open it with Merlin and get the correct ID. With a camera better than the one in the dG that allows direct connection to the phone, I still wonder who will buy the dG.
I'm planning to get my first look at a dG on Sunday at the San Diego Bird Festival. I'll report what I see.
I'm surprised that they didn't put the camera in an EL Range body so it would have a 10x42 binocular with enough room for the electronics.
That said, I was able to connect my Panasonic Lumix G-9 to my Samsung S8+ via WiFi, transfer a photo of a Thick-billed Kingbird, open it with Merlin and get the correct ID. With a camera better than the one in the dG that allows direct connection to the phone, I still wonder who will buy the dG.
It is not developed as a binocular with built in camera. It is a binocular which makes it possible to identify birds, other animals, insects and vegetation and share this with other people in pics or motion. It will come in more configurations.
Jan