Hesitant Digiscoper: m4/3 vs 1" compact (1 Viewer)

Having recently shelled out a small fortune to buy a Kowa 88 scope with 20-60x zoom lens, I find myself wondering about doing a little digiscoping. I already have a Panasonic M4/3 camera with a 14-42 lens but looking at the price of adapters and a 20mm lens (which I'm told I ought to use) I find I could get a smaller, lighter camera with a 1" sensor (v. handy for other uses) for less. Which way should I go given I'm looking at good record shots rather than fine photography? If I stick with M4/3 what do I need? If I opt for a smaller 1" sensor camera which is best & what else should I think about?

Wot nobody?

John,

Wish I could help but I only do phonescoping. Haven't looked at small cameras in quite some time.

The digiscoping forum doesn't get near as much traffic as the binocular and spotting scope forums. The main forum here in particular doesn't get as much as the camera subforum above from what I have seen.

John Cantelo said:

Having recently shelled out a small fortune to buy a Kowa 88 scope with 20-60x zoom lens, I find myself wondering about doing a little digiscoping. I already have a Panasonic M4/3 camera with a 14-42 lens but looking at the price of adapters and a 20mm lens (which I'm told I ought to use) I find I could get a smaller, lighter camera with a 1" sensor (v. handy for other uses) for less. Which way should I go given I'm looking at good record shots rather than fine photography? If I stick with M4/3 what do I need? If I opt for a smaller 1" sensor camera which is best & what else should I think about?

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John, you might want to consider the Kowa DA10 adapter which is about £120:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB6X6uq4c0M

Paul Hackett (in the linked video) is the Kowa Digiscoping expert so perhaps you can contact him either directly through Kowa or via social media? Think he's also on Birdforum too?

I know that the received wisdom is to use a short prime lens of around 20-30mm, but I seem to remember that some of the older m4/3 short zooms worked well for digiscoping, so perhaps yours is worth a try too until you decide whether to invest more £££ later?

I don't use Kowa (Swaro myself) but the principal is the same: Connect camera and camera lens via lens' filter threads (might need a step-up/down ring to get them to fit) to the outer ring of the adapter. The inner ring stays on the eyepiece permanently. Just slide it on/off to take a photo and secure with one locking screw.

I don't know whether you're a photographer at all, but a basic understanding of long-lens technique applies: Use shutter release to trip the shutter, and magnified live view to focus manually via the scope (camera lens set to MF) though you could also do this via the EVF on a m4/3 camera if it has a view-finder.

Kowa do make other adapters for use with e.g. compact cameras, and many have YouTube videos too. I seem to recall that Sigma make a decent cheapish (c.£120) 30mm prime for m4/3 with internal focus so it doesn't need to be too costly. As with any digiscoping, finding the optimum lens to use with your scope is key, so explore as many options as you can. As I said, Paul H will be able to answer many of your questions I would guess...

Thanks, both. I shall look into it further. A 1" sensor camera should make the whole thing more portable which is part of the attraction.

John Cantelo said:

Thanks, both. I shall look into it further. A 1" sensor camera should make the whole thing more portable which is part of the attraction.

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John, I'm not sure which 1" sensor camera you have in mind, but either way you will need a suitable adapter to connect the camera to the scope. Perhaps something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_d7Wwkb7W8

The DA10 adapter seems to be a constant here, whether you use m4/3 or a compact camera. If portability is a priority, the other contraption that takes the compact camera/release cable adds a lot of bulk as far as I can see, and presumably extra expense.

For the price of the DA10 alone it looks like you could be ready for action with the camera you already have, but of course it's up to you which way you go...

A good (the best?) 1" compact is the Sony RX100, which is not exactly cheap either. Also, the adapters required are more complicated than the ones for m4/3m as they cannot be directly screwed on the filter thread of the lens (if I understand correctly).

As you say you look for portability and "good record shots rather than fine photography" I'd suggest that you try phonescoping first. Kowa has some good and simple adapters for smartphones, and phonescoping is surprisingly simple and gives good results in my experience.

dalat said:

As you say you look for portability and "good record shots rather than fine photography" I'd suggest that you try phonescoping first. Kowa has some good and simple adapters for smartphones, and phonescoping is surprisingly simple and gives good results in my experience.

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I fully agree. Provided you have a modern mobile phone, you should try phonescoping first. The results are surprisingly good.

Hermann

John,

I can certainly verify the capability of using an phone with the Kowa. A good friend of mine, Robert Wilson, now dabbles with his Iphone and the Kowa 883 in addition to traditional digiscoping.

Here is a pic he posted a month or so ago on the Facebook phonescoping group.....

Unfortunately, my mobile phone is an antique. I've thought about upgrading to a better one but buying one outright seems as much as a new camera/lens whilst buying one as part of a package incurs ongoing costs. My Panasonic 14-42 lens does not seem to give nearly such a good view as the older model Sony RX100 I briefly tried.

John Cantelo said:

......whilst buying one as part of a package incurs ongoing costs.

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Not sure what the pricing/package deals are on your side of the pond John. Here, an extra $21 a month gets you a 2 year ATT "Next" program where you can upgrade your Iphone every 2 years for a new one.


Plus you can tinker with your pics via a variety of phone apps like Photoshop Express, etc....


...and upload your photos directly to social media and photo sharing/storage sites like Flickr, Photobucket, etc...

Just saying.....|:$|

You could pick up an older model Sony RX 100 , version 1,2 or 3 which is a very good little camera and you could get an inexpensive adapter for it e.g. Vortex PS 100.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/852137-REG/Vortex_PS_100_PS_100_ATT_FOR_RAZOR.html
Your current setup should work ok. I used the 14 - 45 mm on my old G1 ( have a look on the G1 thread) with good results. You should be able to get cheap Kowa DA adapters somewhere on the internet.
Neil