Minolta dimage Z1 (1 Viewer)

As a beginner to bird photography I bought the minolta dimage Z1. Having since bought it I have read that maybe, because of its large lens size it is not the best camera to use for digiscoping. I would like to have a go at DS but do not want to really buy a new camera. Do you think it is worth going to the expense of buying the adaptors etc for this camera?

Hi Psilo,

Adpaters are rather expensive only to find out the camera isn't suitable.

I'd say there were two options. First and easiest is to simply hand hold the camera to the scope eye piece being careful not to make contact with the camera lens. You should get an idea from viewing the LCD as to the sort of photo you can achieve.

Secondly and probably better in these circumstances would be to make your own adapter to use at least until you can weigh up the pros and cons of the camera. I made a simple one from a step-ring and some empty filter holders costing just a couple of quid - which in fact was better than the proprietry brands. Others have used plastic piping of the appropriate diameter.

Fom experience of my 10x Olympus camera I doubt the Z1 would be suitable for digiscoping not just for the lens diameter but also for the way the zoom operates. I should think you will need to use at least 7-8x optical zoom to remove vignetting which is way too powerful leading at best to very soft images. That was my experience, but obviously with a different camera.

Hi Psilo,

I am presently using a Minolta A2 (similar to your camera) with an Opticron scope and though it isn't ideal I have had some success using a 49mm to 43mm step down ring which has an internal diameter which exactly matches the diameter of my scope eyepiece. This helps me centre the camera on the scope.

The large lens vignettes at all focal lengths but I can crop the images to get half decent shots or have sometimes used the 2X digital zoom with the lens at the wide angle setting to only grab the centre of the image.

On the plus side, the anti shake on this camera is really helpful at slower shutter speeds.

The camera is excellent for other types of photgraphs I take so the digiscoping is a bit of a compromise.

Hope this helps

David

I have a Dimage Z2 and I have taken some (non-digiscoped) pictures with it and am quite pleased with the results - the digital zoom, giving a combined zoom range of 40x equivalent to 1520 mm in 35mm isn't too bad either. I have yet to attempt to see what I can get in conjunction with my scope (not a lot I should think!).

If a camera has 10X zoom on it's own, is it not better to use a tele-converter and use the camera on it's own, than to get an adapter for digiscoping ?

Flandrien said:

If a camera has 10X zoom on it's own, is it not better to use a tele-converter and use the camera on it's own, than to get an adapter for digiscoping ?

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That's what I think, too. I use the digital zoom on mine (40x including optical zoom giving a total of 1520mm focal length as equivalent to 35mm) and the results are not too bad.

I tried out the Z1 against my scope in a shop over a year ago ( there is a thread on it somewhere on BF ), its useless for digiscoping!.