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Sony RX100 for Digiscoping (2 Viewers)

You will need the 30x eyepiece for the RX100 so as no vignetting. If you have the 20-60 zoom then the Nikon P310 is a better choice or Nikon V1.
Either adapter will do a good job.
Neil

Hi Neil,

Your initial post in this thread said the RX100 worked ok at 50mm plus with Kowa zoom with no vignetting. So could you explain why you are now recommending the Nikon only for the zoom? (I'm asking because I have the Kowa zoom on the 883).

Also, as you know, the Nikon P330 should be available soon, and should have better image quality than the P310 given the larger sensor. Memogofe may want to wait to see digiscoping reviews for it before going for the P310.

Jim
 
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Hi Neil,

Your initial post in this thread said the RX100 worked ok at 50mm plus with Kowa zoom with no vignetting. So could you explain why you are now recommending the Nikon only for the zoom? (I'm asking because I have the Kowa zoom on the 883).

Also, as you know, the Nikon P330 should be available soon, and should have better image quality than the P310 given the larger sensor. Memogofe may want to wait to see digiscoping reviews for it before going for the P310.

Jim

Jim
I did say "ok" at 50x using a universal adapter。i use the swarovski UCA。
It takes some time to set it up and when you switch to video mode the camera lens defaults to f11 and shadowing creeps in. You don't notice this with busy backgrounds but against sky/water its distracting. I have the Same problem with the new Swarovski zoom. I have to reset the camera again
I'm taking the Kowa out again on Monday to test the Panasonic LX5 on the 30x eyepiece ( it doesn't like zooms much ) as well as the RX100.
Even the Nikon V1 lenses have problems with shadowing at f11 plus and have to readjusted.
The Nikon P310 is easy to set up in comparison so I'm hoping for good things from the P330 which should be out soon.
Neil
 
Ian Reid............ LCD in low light video.

Hi Ian,

Re your query with the RX100 "going dark" in low light when pressing the red video record button, perhaps the following may or may not be useful.

With top selector dial set at any of the Photo settings eg Intelligent Auto, P, M etc and pressing the video record button in LOW LIGHT, the LCD display and resulting video will darken to varying degrees. I am not sure why this happens, maybe something to do with 50fps when set to photo mode.

One way to solve this is to set the top selector dial to "video" mode ie the video symbol. With this you can select P, A, S or M (fully manual) in video mode.

If using P (in VIDEO mode), for example, you can set the ISO to say 1600 in low light, to bring up the LCD display to a desired level of brightness. Now if you press the red record button in this mode, the LCD display will NOT change and grow dark, the LCD display will remain at the same level of brightness. The resulting video and grabs will be as displayed on the camera's LCD.

Furthermore, if you set the large adjusting ring to exposure compensation, you can fine tune the brighness to your liking. You can actually adjust exposure compensation real time when taking a video !

I find it better to be slightly underexposed, since grabs can be tweaked in Sony's image grabbing software.

The down side is that you have to return the top dial when taking stills. Since I mostly take video this isn't a problem for me.

The above is a LOW LIGHT fix. The camera will take acceptable video in the photo settings in GOOD LIGHT.

Hope this helps.
 
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I tried the RX100 for video for the first time last week, but have not worked out how to get the best from it. I was in a rainforest and though the exposure looked fine on the LCD monitor, but when I pressed record, the LCD and resulting video picture went quite dark.

My short-term solution was to switch back to the Nikon P300 and got some nice HD video of a Red-collared Trogon. I was really surprised by the Sony's behaviour because one of the attractions of video in both of my previous cameras (Fuji F31fd and Nikon P300) has been the possibility to get decent video, and even framegrabs, when the light is too poor for still photograhy.

I have not yet RTFM, so maybe there's an easy fix. Anyone here know?

Ian

Ian,
Scot gave you a good reply on this and I missed it. It happens to me sometimes. I don't have the RX100 in front of me at the moment but generally this happens when the iso is set too low for the light. I normally set to the fixed lowest iso as I don't like Auto floating iso. But this means if I forget and go into shade or sun goes away that lcd goes dark. If you always have Auto iso set this shouldn't happen.
Neil.
 
Use of Shutter Speed in video mode to reduce blur in grabbed jpeg images

One of my main uses for the RX100 is to grab jpegs from video footage, attempting to get the best of both worlds. So far I have been pleased with results.

I am still learning what the RX100 can do and continue to be surprised at it's capabilities.

One interesting function (which I intend to test in the field) is the ability to set the Shutter Speed when capturing video (Shutter Priority with the selector dial set to VIDEO). Increasing shutter speed gives cleaner video and should ensure less blurring of grabbed jpegs for action shots, such as birds in take-off or landing.

In good light, it would be interesting to see just how far you can push the shutter speed versus degradation of image quality and video choppiness. The video shutter speed can go to 1/2000.

I hope to test out this functionality but would be interested in having feedback from anyone who has gone down this route.

There is a very good explanation of Shutter Speed versus Video Frame Rate in the link below. The second video in this link is particularly valuable for those interested in grabbing jpeg images from digiscoped footage.
http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/56/frame-rate-vs-shutter-speed-setting-the-record-straight

Also worth a look is the link below which shows the capabilities of the RX100 in full manual VIDEO mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9zbUSORFYg

Regards Scotview
 
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Will I be able to use a Swarovski DCA adapter with the Swarovski 25-50 WA lens? I want a slide on/off system that isn't going to cost too much money (I'm spending all of that on the camera!).
If I can, will I also need anything else to put it all together?
Many thanks.
 
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I'm in Sydney for Easter and mainly digiscoping with the Sony RX 100 and Nikon P330 ( I have more batteries for the P330).
Weather great the first few days but turned nasty this morning and may remain like this for the rest of my stay.
Here are a few of the local bush birds at the local waterhole.
Neil

Sony RX 100 and Swarovski STX 95 and SW DCB 11 Adapter
Sydney, Australia
April 2013
 

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Lovely shots Neil. Were these taken on AF or were they manual. If the latter, did you use focus peaking with success?

Thanks
 
Lovely shots Neil. Were these taken on AF or were they manual. If the latter, did you use focus peaking with success?

Thanks

I have Focus Peaking on all the time (DMF) and AF so I am confident that the focus will be ok. It's also nice to know which other parts of the image are in focus. If I have time I do zoom in to check focus as well.
Neil.
 
Three good shots there, Neil. I particularly like the Yellow Robin.

Mike

Thanks Mike. One of my favorite local birds. Another is our kestrels but I haven't seen them lately.
I'm holding one photo of the robin back to enter in the Swarovski digiscoping comp this year.
Neil.
 
I have still been using the RX100 as my main digiscoping camera recently, well supported by the Nikon P330. Here are a few recent ones from out on the mudflats.
Although the AF is not as accurate as the P330 , with a success rate of around 60% , it's HD video mode of 1080/60p makes up for it.
Neil
Sony RX 100 and Swarovski STX 95 mm Scope and DCB 11 Adapter

Mai Po Nature Reserve,
Hong Kong,China
May 2013
 

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Will I be able to use a Swarovski DCA adapter with the Swarovski 25-50 WA lens? I want a slide on/off system that isn't going to cost too much money (I'm spending all of that on the camera!).
If I can, will I also need anything else to put it all together?
Many thanks.

We're also considering getting the Sony RX100. We have a Swarovski 65 scope with the 20-60x zoom eyepiece. We've been using an old Nikon Coolpix for years but want to upgrade.

Is this 20-60 zoom eyepiece compatible with the Sony RX100?

Please can anyone advise on what adaptor we would need.

Our Coolpix has a thread on the lens (a fixed lens - no external zoom) and we attach an adaptor to that and can quickly place over the eyepiece.

Many thanks
Dawn
 
We're also considering getting the Sony RX100. We have a Swarovski 65 scope with the 20-60x zoom eyepiece. We've been using an old Nikon Coolpix for years but want to upgrade.

Is this 20-60 zoom eyepiece compatible with the Sony RX100?

Please can anyone advise on what adaptor we would need.

Our Coolpix has a thread on the lens (a fixed lens - no external zoom) and we attach an adaptor to that and can quickly place over the eyepiece.

Many thanks
Dawn

Dawn,
The Sony RX 100 works ok with all the zoom eyepieces I've tested but it does not have a filter thread so requires a universal adapter. You can get a Vortex PS 100 adapter from the internet with a 52 mm plate which will screw onto the Swarovski (DCA 52 mm). Problem solved.
Neil
 
Dawn,
The Sony RX 100 works ok with all the zoom eyepieces I've tested but it does not have a filter thread so requires a universal adapter. You can get a Vortex PS 100 adapter from the internet with a 52 mm plate which will screw onto the Swarovski (DCA 52 mm). Problem solved.
Neil

Thanks Neil. So you would need a Swarovski DCA and a Vortex adapter?

Cheers
Dawn
 
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