Digiscoping with the Fujifilm X100 (1 Viewer)

Neil · Sep 19, 2011

I've wanted one of these since they were first announced but I didn't want to be first off the block.
I've had mine for about two weeks now and am very happy with it. The hybrid viewfinder is excellent and works very well when outside in bright sun as it switches to Electronic when you put your eye to it. Also the fast frame rate and Raw give good results.
For digiscoping it is best with a fixed eyepiece , like a 30x, but will work well with 25-50x zoom . With a 20-60x zoom vignettes until 60x.
Here are a few images from my usual test subjects.
Neil

Hong Kong,
China.

Fujifilm X100

barnetbirds · Sep 19, 2011

Smashing pics, nice detail. I like number 3.
Out of curiosity, have you got a favourite digi camera???
TC

Neil · Sep 19, 2011

barnetbirds said:
Smashing pics, nice detail. I like number 3.
Out of curiosity, have you got a favourite digi camera???
TC

It's still early days on the X100 but it is looking like a possible No.1 although I would like it to have a rotatable screen and a remote. At the moment I've been impressed with the Canon G12 and have been using that more. I don't like it's Hd video implementation though. The new Nikon P7100 should have most of the features of a great digiscoping camera but needs lot's of ER, as does the G12.
I find I need at least 3 cameras if I want stills and HD video, and both short and long range. If I only needed short range then the Nikon P300 does a good job.
What about Micro Four Thirds - I would love a G3, and the new Fujifilm X10 should be good.
I can't make up my mind but for Kowa users I would say the G12 with the 25x LER eyepiece.
Neil

RJM · Sep 19, 2011

I am keeping my fingers crossed the upcoming X10 will be digisco friendly. However, at almost 2" thick I suspect it will only work withe the 25x LER eyepiece.

Neil · Sep 21, 2011

Out again with the X100 for a heavy duty session. The hybrid electronic viewfinder is great out in the bright light. The AF missed a few times but that might have been the fast movement of the feeding birds.
The last photo was taken at iso 3200 before sunrise. I was quite impressed.
Neil

Fujifilm X100 and Kowa lens scope and Kowa 30x eyepiece and Swarovski UCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
Sept 2011

Smithhill · Sep 28, 2011

Just do not know why anyone would want the X10 for digiscoping?? The major, and perhaps only, attraction for the X100 is supposed to be the great electronic viewfinder. What am I not seeing?? Thanks, Gene

ColinSev · Oct 1, 2011

P5100 Nikon replacement

I am still using my old faithful Nikon p5100 and it has served me well. However I am aware that it will not last forever. I use a Swarovski HS 80 angle scope and I am wondering if anyone has found a good camera to use with this scope.

Have a look at my blog to see the results that I am getting with the P5100

http://colsdigiscope.blogspot.com/

punta · Oct 1, 2011

Nice photos

Neil · Oct 3, 2011

Smithhill said:
Just do not know why anyone would want the X10 for digiscoping?? The major, and perhaps only, attraction for the X100 is supposed to be the great electronic viewfinder. What am I not seeing?? Thanks, Gene

We'll just have to wait and see Gene but I'm hoping that Fuji will have some unique functions/features that could make it attractive for digiscoping. It is nice to have a zoom.
The high iso handling of the X100 is the best I've seen out of a digicam so far. My winter thrush digiscoping requires iso 1600/3200 on a regular basis so I'm hoping the Fuji will solve this problem.

Neil · Oct 5, 2011

ColinSev said:
I am still using my old faithful Nikon p5100 and it has served me well. However I am aware that it will not last forever. I use a Swarovski HS 80 angle scope and I am wondering if anyone has found a good camera to use with this scope.

You've been getting good results with the P5100. If you're happy stick to it.
It was one of the better digiscoping cameras and will work with most eyepieces. A lot of the newer cameras are more limiting with range and use of adapters.
You can get rotatable screens , faster frames per second, higher rez screens, electronic viewfinders, HD video with the new cameras now though. Most of the cameras mentioned in this forum over the last year or so can produce better than the P5100 if you have the right setup.
Neil.

RJM · Oct 19, 2011

Neil said:
We'll just have to wait and see Gene but I'm hoping that Fuji will have some unique functions/features that could make it attractive for digiscoping. It is nice to have a zoom.
The high iso handling of the X100 is the best I've seen out of a digicam so far. My winter thrush digiscoping requires iso 1600/3200 on a regular basis so I'm hoping the Fuji will solve this problem.

I spent ~1hr in Fuji showroom today playing with the X10 which will hit stores this weekend. Unfortunately, I did not bring a memory card with me so no samples to post. I was also annoyed by the camera's internal 26mb memory which would fill with only 5 hi rez jpegs or 1 RAW shot.

Bottom line this will be a nice camera in general but useless for digiscoping without an LER eyepiece. The manual zoom lens appears to be excellent, very sharp with virtually no CA or distortions. FYI, zooming the lens also functions as the sole power on/off switch so it is somewhat amusing to watch everyone playing with the camera for the first time punch every button trying to turn it on! Other than this, the user interface is very intuative with good feedback on exposure via the LCD and the camera feels good in the hand. The optical viewfinder also zooms with the lens too which is nice but AF status is only apparent with an audible beep

The main drawback I found is the extremely slow write speed. Even 1 jpeg takes a good 4-5sec to write to the internal memory, RAW even longer, during which time the camera is locked up and unusable. Maybe write speed will be faster with a memory card but I remember this issue with the Fuji HS20 too.

The Nikon V1/J1 should be in the Nikon showroom now so will take a look at it on Friday.

paperweight · Apr 7, 2012

Neil said:
Out again with the X100 for a heavy duty session. The hybrid electronic viewfinder is great out in the bright light. The AF missed a few times but that might have been the fast movement of the feeding birds.
The last photo was taken at iso 3200 before sunrise. I was quite impressed.
Neil

Fujifilm X100 and Kowa lens scope and Kowa 30x eyepiece and Swarovski UCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
Sept 2011

Hi Neil, your PM-inbox is full, so I'll make my question an answer to your post here:

You were very friendly and recommended the Pana GF 1 plus 20mm Pancake for my Kowa 883 plus DA-10 plus DA-4 (eyepieces 30x and 22-60x) about 18 months ago.
Well, had other projects about a year ago and followed those, but now I have come back to this question.
Since I do like the DA-4 that can be tilted away from the eyepiece of the Kowa.
There are two cameras that are actually on my mind: the new Canon GX-1 and the Fuji X-100. I really do not feel like buying a couple of lenses but would like to keep it simple.
Do you think both cameras are good for digiscoping, and which one would you prefer (I know you have got the Fuji).
When I filmed a Little Owl (Athene Noctua) recently with my old and battered Canon Ixus, I realized it's not bad to be able to take films and pics, after all. How do you feel about that?
Thanks for your help.

Heiner

Neil · Apr 9, 2012

paperweight said:
Hi Neil, your PM-inbox is full, so I'll make my question an answer to your post here:

You were very friendly and recommended the Pana GF 1 plus 20mm Pancake for my Kowa 883 plus DA-10 plus DA-4 (eyepieces 30x and 22-60x) about 18 months ago.
Well, had other projects about a year ago and followed those, but now I have come back to this question.
Since I do like the DA-4 that can be tilted away from the eyepiece of the Kowa.
There are two cameras that are actually on my mind: the new Canon GX-1 and the Fuji X-100. I really do not feel like buying a couple of lenses but would like to keep it simple.
Do you think both cameras are good for digiscoping, and which one would you prefer (I know you have got the Fuji).
When I filmed a Little Owl (Athene Noctua) recently with my old and battered Canon Ixus, I realized it's not bad to be able to take films and pics, after all. How do you feel about that?
Thanks for your help.

Heiner

Heiner
Both are good cameras but not good digiscoping cameras.
For my Kowa I use the 25x LER eyepiece mostly so you could use the canon G12, Nikon P7000 with 52 mm adapters. The G12 has a rotatable screen which I like. Or look at the powerful Nikon V 1 with 10-30 mm zoom
Neil

portia · Jun 5, 2012

Red shouldered hawks using Fujifilm x100

Here are my attempts at digiscoping, using the X100, Swarovski 80mm, 25-50mm eyepiece. The bird on the right is the best I got out of all the ones I took at this nest on the tall tree. I think the nest is about 200 feet away from the scope. I don't know if that is too far, and what I get is as expected, or I am still not setting things up right!

I have some video of the young bird learning to fly and mom feeding here if you are interested, using the same set up but the video capability of the x100.
http://youtu.be/sAk4jH3i590
http://youtu.be/NOIPKOam-Os

portia · Jun 5, 2012

oops, and here is the uncropped version of the photo so you can tell how big the bird is within it. The smaller cropped one in the previous post is just cropped, but not resampled.

Digiscoping with the Fujifilm X100 (1 Viewer)

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