Hello all
I hope this is the right place for this post.
Since I don't see many Sony's 717 and brandon digiscopes maybe some of you might be interested in this set up.
Sony 717 pros:
-It has an internal zoom mechanism
-the body swivels to accommodate a large number of viewing angles.
-Optical zoom is 5X (which can help out with identification although the picture quality is compromised a little)
-Can take good quality movies (up to 45 at the highest quality with a 1 gig memory stick)
-Battery last almost 4 hours.
-it has manual everything if required.
Cons
-Body doesn't swivel 180 deg
-Bulky (large body)
-large lens that most likely requires 2"eyepieces (not commonly found in birder scopes)
-Kind of heavy so a good tripod is a must
The setup is really good. It is very rugged. The focuser is solid. No danger of damaging the focusing mechanism (I am sure it could take 2x the current weight load without any problem.) The connection to the camera with the Spectronics II (2") eyepiece is also very solid.
Because the eyepiece is a 40 mm, the scope works at 11X (450mm/40mm) at lowest power, which means a very large field of view making detection of birds easier.
Scope can focus extremely close (about 4 feet)
The scope is light (at least compared to astronomical scopes with the option to use 2" eyepiece)
The picture quality if good. I read some reviews about this scope and it is supposed to be an apo but it is optimized for low power observing. I can confirm that at low power false color is none existent but at medium power (60X)color is more evident.
Ill hope to write a more comprenhensive review of this setup in the future
Bruno
I hope this is the right place for this post.
Since I don't see many Sony's 717 and brandon digiscopes maybe some of you might be interested in this set up.
Sony 717 pros:
-It has an internal zoom mechanism
-the body swivels to accommodate a large number of viewing angles.
-Optical zoom is 5X (which can help out with identification although the picture quality is compromised a little)
-Can take good quality movies (up to 45 at the highest quality with a 1 gig memory stick)
-Battery last almost 4 hours.
-it has manual everything if required.
Cons
-Body doesn't swivel 180 deg
-Bulky (large body)
-large lens that most likely requires 2"eyepieces (not commonly found in birder scopes)
-Kind of heavy so a good tripod is a must
The setup is really good. It is very rugged. The focuser is solid. No danger of damaging the focusing mechanism (I am sure it could take 2x the current weight load without any problem.) The connection to the camera with the Spectronics II (2") eyepiece is also very solid.
Because the eyepiece is a 40 mm, the scope works at 11X (450mm/40mm) at lowest power, which means a very large field of view making detection of birds easier.
Scope can focus extremely close (about 4 feet)
The scope is light (at least compared to astronomical scopes with the option to use 2" eyepiece)
The picture quality if good. I read some reviews about this scope and it is supposed to be an apo but it is optimized for low power observing. I can confirm that at low power false color is none existent but at medium power (60X)color is more evident.
Ill hope to write a more comprenhensive review of this setup in the future
Bruno