Panasonic Lumix G1 at last - what a gem for digiscoping (5 Viewers)

Good morning Neil, do you use remote release? and been searching thru old threads but cant see if the G1 with 14-45mm lens will work with the swaro 20-60 zoom using the DCA adapter? Hope so 'cos I've just ordered it! Thanking you in advance and also compliment your photo's!

Dave

DMKSlater said:

Good morning Neil, do you use remote release? and been searching thru old threads but cant see if the G1 with 14-45mm lens will work with the swaro 20-60 zoom using the DCA adapter? Hope so 'cos I've just ordered it! Thanking you in advance and also compliment your photo's!

Dave

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Dave,
The rule of thumb is "you can't use a zoom with a zoom" due to lot's of vignetting. Best with the 30x eyepiece. Try it out though as you will get Auto Focus on the DCA at 60x. The other alternative is use a 24/28/35 mm lens with the zoom eyepiece. I use second hand Nikon lenses but Pentax have some good ones too and the adapters are cheap.
Neil

Thanks for that Neil, I've been out trying the set up today, and find if I use the 3:2 ratio, ex opt zm on and dig zoom x2 I get rid of the vignetting.
Its dull here in Scotland today but it is still giving excellent results on birds in garden and so much better then the coolpix 4500 I have been using!! Plus the speed is amazing and no shutter lag either, cant wait to ry it ut on a sunny day!!
Very impressed, but may splash out and get a fixed focal length, what would be your choice with use of the Swaro 80 SHD scope?
Thanks once again.

Hi Neil thanks for the info. Had a look at pentax lenses, fixed focal, and got lost!! what sort of fit am I looking for? I take it the "K" and "M" fits lenses are for the old slr cameras, sorry for asking even more questions!!

Thanks again.

Dave

DMKSlater said:

Hi Neil thanks for the info. Had a look at pentax lenses, fixed focal, and got lost!! what sort of fit am I looking for? I take it the "K" and "M" fits lenses are for the old slr cameras, sorry for asking even more questions!!

Thanks again.

Dave

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Pentax lenses are often written in various formats but and they can be K, PK, P/K, PK A and PK M where the A has the contacts for auto focus etc and the M is the manual focus version. Pentax lenses only have one type of bayonet fitting and it's the same for the old slr and new dslr and will either be A or M. Generally good sharp lenses.

Paul.

DMKSlater said:

Thanks for that Neil, I've been out trying the set up today, and find if I use the 3:2 ratio, ex opt zm on and dig zoom x2 I get rid of the vignetting.
Its dull here in Scotland today but it is still giving excellent results on birds in garden and so much better then the coolpix 4500 I have been using!! Plus the speed is amazing and no shutter lag either, cant wait to ry it ut on a sunny day!!
Very impressed, but may splash out and get a fixed focal length, what would be your choice with use of the Swaro 80 SHD scope?
Thanks once again.

Click to expand...

To answer several questions - I don't use a remote with the G1 but I do use the Self-timer sometimes. With it's speed (frames per second ) it's not necessary.
My preferred lens is the Zeiss 28/2.0 but it's a bit heavy for the G1 without support, so on the DCA I use the Nikon 24/2.8D which I bought second hand from B and H. The Nikons have a 52 mm filter thread which mates perfectly with the DCA.
Neil.

Excellent info, thanks Paul and Neil.

Hello Neil.
1st off.Thanks very much for your fantastic contribution to this thread.
Please forgive me but i am going "cross-eyed" at all the technical detail.
My question is this:
I have the Kowa 883+TZN -PZ 680-1000mm SLR Adapter.
If i buy the G1 (and i'm very tempted !!) Could i use my existing 30x fixed eyepiece from Kowa.?
If the answer is yes,what additional equipment would i need.Do i need simply the 52mm adapter ring ?
I'm using the P6000 at the moment with the Kowa DA 10 which fits beautifully over the 30x eyepiece.
If you could reply as simply as possible !!!!.as i'm not very technically minded (apologies in advance).
PS.If anybody else is using the Kowa/GI system,i would love to here from you as to how the system performs for you and your likes and dislikes.Many thanks.
"Cross-eyed" Brian.

Neil said:

Jojomau,
...Maybe I'll see you out in Mai Po soon.
Neil.

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Hi Neil,

I would join the HKBWS again and would be able to drop in Mai Po from Feb 2011. Should I come across you, please accept my hospitality to take you for a drink.

Have briefly tried out my gear this afternoon. Will post up after I find out how.

jojomau

My second try out of digiscoping.

Gear: STS80 HD, 25-50x, UCA, GH1, Canon 50mm f1.2 (LTM)

For the first two, distance is about 50m; last, 25m. All were taken at 25x, f2.8. No post shot manipulation except resizing to meet the forum requirements.

Not sharp. Poor colour quality. Due to lens widely opened?


Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong

Taken this afternoon with GH1 and Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH, via Swar scope.

Capture with GH1 and Leica 28mm Elmarit-M ASPH via Swar scope.

Only Gh1 and 35mm cron. This is a very large web and the insect is enormous.

3rd test drive

Swar STS80 HD, 25-50x; Pana GH1; Leica 35 Summicron ASPH

Oct 15 2010, f5.6 ISO320, 25x

Inner cove of Tiu Keung Bay, Hong Kong

at 50x

having just bought another G1 (I had one before and sold it) and also having finally made it back to a Swaro scope I thought it was time for another crack at digiscoping. My first attempts to day were just birds in the garden, but the results seemed promising, I'm looking forward to taking it out into the real world soon.

G1 image problems.

Hi Postcard cv
Nice images.As you say great potential.
I'm having noise problems with my G1(i've posted a thread yesterday.)
May i ask you if you are using the supplied kit lens as i do and if so, do you open the zoom of the kit lens out to maximum when attaching it to your scope ?
I am using the Kowa 883 with the eyepiece detached.I have simply opened my kit lens zoom 1/2 inch to get rid of vignetting.Yet i'm not happy with the results i'm getting.I am certain somethings wrong,yet can't figure out what.
I'm starting to think that maybe the two main optics are too close together as i'm also getting strange distorted light on some of my images.I will try tomorrow to extend the zoom.
See attached thumbnail.:-C.The image is straight out of G1,no enchancement.iso 400.Aperture priority,spot focus.
Ps if anyone can help,i would be very happy !!!.Tearing my hair out !!!!

Neil said:

Dave,
Yes. You either need a fixed eyepiece on the scope or a fixed lens on the camera to get the best out of the G1. Neil.

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I have the G1 with the 14-45 kit lens and a Swaro STS 80 HD with the 20-60x eyepiece. I get significant vignetting as you'd expect. I really like the 20-60x for mudflats and the long shots I'm always seeming to need. Given the above, I can eliminate the vignette with the digital zoom at 2x which is kind of like an automatic cropping, but it only works in jpg and the RAW format is so much better. I've just gotten started, but so far, I'm just cropping in post processing, but I'm really wishing for a wider field of view and less vignette.

With this in mind, would I get significantly better performance out of the lumix pancake lens? Does it autofocus internally too? Is the 30x eyepiece the only way to go to get this right?

Here's my first shot taken - a long-billed curlew. I'm happy to get something so easily, but it is heavily cropped, but probably 200 meters away!

Hi from Scotland Bobobirder, I have the exact same set up as you, and founfd the vignetting a problem until I sorted out the aspect ratio etc.

I use the G1 on the following settings so give it a try:

Aspect ratio - 16:9
Picture size - L
Ex.Opt Zoom - On
Digital zoom - either 2x or 4x (2x is better i find)

Keep zoom on telescope low and the camera zoom up to about 35mm. I also use the swaro DCA adapter

With these settings I get very little vignetting and dont do a lot of cropping for that reason.

Check out my blog and web page gallery.

If you need anymore info please feel free to ask, but if you have the cash the pancake lens is the way to go.

Regards

Dave

DMKSlater said:

Hi from Scotland Bobobirder, I have the exact same set up as you, and founfd the vignetting a problem until I sorted out the aspect ratio etc.

I use the G1 on the following settings so give it a try:

Aspect ratio - 16:9
Picture size - L
Ex.Opt Zoom - On
Digital zoom - either 2x or 4x (2x is better i find)

Keep zoom on telescope low and the camera zoom up to about 35mm. I also use the swaro DCA adapter

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, Dave. I can't get the digital zoom or extended digital zoom to work with RAW format without vignettes. It works fine for JPEGs, but JPEGs on the G1 aren't great.These digital zoom techniques simply reduce the effective resolution. RAW just delivers what the sensor picks up. This allows a lot more flexibility as JPEG is a compressed lossy format. Compare an original RAW with a JPEG without modification and you'll see what I mean. Perhaps the JPEG algorithm on the G1 isn't great, I don't know.

I realized today that the issue is that DCA Zoom keeps the G1 kit lens a bit too far from the 20-60x eyepiece for the G1. If you hold teh G1 with kit lens up close by hand, you can eliminate the vignette even in RAW. Next I'm going to measure how much closer it needs to be and see if I can eliminate the vignette at all zooms and find to what the lens zoom needs to be set to achieve that and if it varies.

It looks like the DCA could be modified by trimming the length of the outer female section and cutting away a similar amount from the step on the male piece.

Before I go to that trouble, I'm wondering if anyone has tried the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7 ASPH "pancake" lens. My thinking is that the short but wide lens would not only reduce vignetting, and let in more light, but also lower the weight and the lever arm on the scope. The kit lens and G1 plus the DCA all hanging off the scope makes it quite floppy. Having a balance rail seems mandatory, but I've already dropped a wad of cash and trying to make progress without more expensive toys. I could sell the kit lens and buy the pancake if that would be all I need, but I fear it won't be so easy. The alternative is to cut down the DCA and buy (or build) a balance rail and stick with the 12-45 kit lens. In that case, I'm committed. My goal is to not lose resolution or view. Better said, I want to use the full RAW image capture and retain the maximum field of view of the scope and eyepiece. Any suggestions appreciated.

Bob

PS: The attached shows a JPEG made from the original RAW file taken in relatively low light and maybe 150 meters at 60x zoom on the eye piece and max focal length of 45mm on the lens with 800 ISO, 1/500 and f 5.6. The second image is only cropped and zoomed. This was a long shot with extreme zoom and low light late in the day (and rig balanced only on my car window). Nonetheless, I was happy to get the belted kingfisher shot, even though of such poor quality. I'm wondering what the pancake and or the 30x eyepiece could have done to improve this tough image? I don't expect miracles and at a point it's really about getting closer to the birds in better light and getting the shot you really want. My goal is to get descent tools first then spend plenty of time to learn to use them. That's the lasting fun!