Merlin has decent coverage of the UK, but very sparse elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps Swarovski will fund the missing bird packs. I’d be interested depending on the camera quality. I had tried a Sony DEV-3 a few years back and it was complete garbage.
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Swarovski dG (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter John A Roberts
- Start date
Totally useless anyway on those very common occasions when a bird flits quickly through undergrowth, or zooms past at speed, or pops up intermittently between distant waves on a seawatch. These are the occasions when you rely on the bird's 'jizz', your own experience, wild guesswork etc., and they're the pointy end of the thrill of birding.
Steve O4B
Optics4Birding.com
I'll be at the dealer training on March 18 and 19, and plan to give the dG a good workout. I'm also bringing my Panasonic G9 linked to my Android phone, so I hope to have comparisons. I'll be writing a full review on the Optics4Birding Blog. I'll post the link when that post is published.
To answer a previous question, the camera and the monocular are separate channels. You have full-time viewing when using the camera. The optical channel is 8x30 and the camera channel is 500mm equivalent, so more magnification than the optical channel.
The app software is open source, and Swarovski and Cornell are hoping that app developers will jump in and develop more ID apps.
To answer a previous question, the camera and the monocular are separate channels. You have full-time viewing when using the camera. The optical channel is 8x30 and the camera channel is 500mm equivalent, so more magnification than the optical channel.
The app software is open source, and Swarovski and Cornell are hoping that app developers will jump in and develop more ID apps.
RobMorane
Well-known member
As much as I welcome this device from Swaro, and the integration of a camera to a bino (not new though), we are only talking about camera integration here (and a communication port) so this is a device with "bad optics format" for birdwatching (who is using a 8x25 monocular for serious birdwatching these days?) and a bad camera (13MP is great, but only if you can hold the camera steady. The device being very light, and a monocular...)
At a time a French Swiss company making tactical gear for the military is producing a tactical observation device with daylight optics, thermal and low light imaging (with record and live streaming capabilities) and GPS in a 1.3 Kg device, no doubt the technology is there (and has been for some time).
Sure, an app is nice, but all things considered, this is a light device who is neither seriously replacing binos, nor a camera with a serious lens.
Would you use this device for a whole observation session? I wouldn't, and I wouldn't pay 2K for it, even if I won the lottery.
It's a bit like the BTX. It's good innovation but at that price, is there a real market for it?
I'd love to see a truly cheap innovation coming from the companies selling binos, that would change the life of bino users.
Let's face it:smoke:, the window cleaning device or the Finn stick to hold the binos steady came from really smart users:t:, not from smart or Alpha companies...
At a time a French Swiss company making tactical gear for the military is producing a tactical observation device with daylight optics, thermal and low light imaging (with record and live streaming capabilities) and GPS in a 1.3 Kg device, no doubt the technology is there (and has been for some time).
Sure, an app is nice, but all things considered, this is a light device who is neither seriously replacing binos, nor a camera with a serious lens.
Would you use this device for a whole observation session? I wouldn't, and I wouldn't pay 2K for it, even if I won the lottery.
It's a bit like the BTX. It's good innovation but at that price, is there a real market for it?
I'd love to see a truly cheap innovation coming from the companies selling binos, that would change the life of bino users.
Let's face it:smoke:, the window cleaning device or the Finn stick to hold the binos steady came from really smart users:t:, not from smart or Alpha companies...
If only our Finnish friends had patented their Stick, I would have welcomed our new Finnish Overlords. Meanwhile I see the whole concept of 'Ironman' races, now a multi-billion dollar global (but Chinese-owned) industry, was 'invented' by a few US ex-servicemen in Hawaii forty years ago. And they never thought of patenting it....:smoke:
I think it is a brilliant product, held back only by the high price.
Birding is pretty asocial as presently constituted, each individual sees what is in their FoV, but there is no sharing and no instant communication. This gizmo allows that, fairly smoothly if the video is any guide. For the under 30 set, social links such as this offers appear to be essential, so this opens the door to a new generation of birders.
I just can't wait for there to be much lower cost Chinese knockoffs.
Separately, I don't understand why this is not integrated into a binocular, which would be much more comfortable to use and whose frame is inherently more accommodating to the extra electronics required.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
I agree fully with what you say (except for that Chinese knockoff) and will ask them exact that same question next week. Why not use the same principle as with the BTX.
For 2.000,00 euro's one would expect that.
Jan
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wdc
Well-known member
Have you ever been birding with a group? Just because folks are looking through their own bincoculars, doesn't mean there isn't a lively dialogue at times, or that there isn't a collective experience to be had. Bird ID is a common
topic that draws on the knowledge of the observers. I've witnessed that numerous times.
Even in observational astronomy, I've experienced a similar situation when multiple observers all get on the same object and verbally compare notes.
I'm not against the tech. approach, but that has the capacity to isolate as well, especially if its supposed to provide the answer. Instead of observing nature and talking to each other, they'll be back to glancing at their iphones...
-Bill
I generally don't like the tech approach either, and think most of us spend quite enough time staring down at screens instead of looking at the real world. But one application occurs to me, that of 'remote birding', in real time, for the incapacitated. Supposing I go birding, view through the new tech and transmit it live to friends who are ill, infirm/elderly etc.? Then when my time comes (as it must:eek!
, someone can return the favour!
wdc
Well-known member
I generally don't like the tech approach either, and think most of us spend quite enough time staring down at screens instead of looking at the real world. But one application occurs to me, that of 'remote birding', in real time, for the incapacitated. Supposing I go birding, view through the new tech and transmit it live to friends who are ill, infirm/elderly etc.? Then when my time comes (as it must:eek!
I like that idea. If you had a phoneskope type setup, used facetime, and a scope, one could certainly bring nature to folks in real time who can't get out.
A good friend of mine who has gone on pack trips with me for 15 years, blew out his knee last summer, just before our trip, so could not come. On the hike in, we took what was called the High Trail, which ran above a river canyon, remaining in line of sight of a cell tower atop a mountain. I was able to send him photos and texts for several hours, while he sat recuperating from knee surgery. Visual therapy!
-Bill
Attachments
Exactly, this gizmo helps share the hobby and pull in new participants. For the younger set, a klatsch of elderly birders is not inviting, no matter how friendly they may be.
Helping people share their discoveries is just an excellent innovation and I hope Swaro profits mightily by it.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
OK, just got back from Austria and Mono's post 56 hits the nail, but.....
First of all, I am not a birder at all but became enthusiastic for it while using it.
Far away in the sky one sees a little dot. Just aim the DG on it, make a pic, use your Iphone app, enlarge the pic and you know what you see. In full color detail.
In a tree top you notice a bird but with the bright light it's hard to see what it is. Take a pic and within seconds you'll know what kind of a bird it is.
Every time one of the experienced birders confirmed the DG's result outcome.
The down side is, you can't seriously do birdwatching with a 25 mono. We (20 people, me included) carried also SV's and you start using these more and more and get confirmation within seconds with help from the DG.
This makes it a bit of an expensive piece of birding activity, 2 times 2.000,00 euro+, but it's absolutely satisfying to also be able to follow the DG pics on a big digital screen. Just don't forget to take your powerbank with you. Those hours fly like birds.
The reason why it's a mono and not a BTX style mono is the loss of light which comes with the 25mm configuration.
Jan
First of all, I am not a birder at all but became enthusiastic for it while using it.
Far away in the sky one sees a little dot. Just aim the DG on it, make a pic, use your Iphone app, enlarge the pic and you know what you see. In full color detail.
In a tree top you notice a bird but with the bright light it's hard to see what it is. Take a pic and within seconds you'll know what kind of a bird it is.
Every time one of the experienced birders confirmed the DG's result outcome.
The down side is, you can't seriously do birdwatching with a 25 mono. We (20 people, me included) carried also SV's and you start using these more and more and get confirmation within seconds with help from the DG.
This makes it a bit of an expensive piece of birding activity, 2 times 2.000,00 euro+, but it's absolutely satisfying to also be able to follow the DG pics on a big digital screen. Just don't forget to take your powerbank with you. Those hours fly like birds.
The reason why it's a mono and not a BTX style mono is the loss of light which comes with the 25mm configuration.
Jan
tenex
reality-based
Thanks, Jan. But I think the alternative people have been envisioning is a full binocular with a second 25mm barrel, not a BTX style mono. Would all that be prohibitively difficult to collimate? And for that matter, why couldn't it be 30mm? The new CL is highly regarded.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Hi Tenex,
You need room for the camera and lens, so a mono objective was the only option for a compact solution, which lead to the logic question why they didn't choose for the BTX solution. Their answer (lack of light) brought us to the 30CL option. The answer I got was a smile and the remark that the future was bright
Don't forget, once familiar in use of this concept and available in several configurations.....the, not so far, future is bright and digital.
Speaking from my own situation as a convinced non digital and analog observer, I've seen the light. Halleluja bro.
Jan
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Steve O4B
Optics4Birding.com
Hi Tenex,
You need room for the camera and lens, so a mono objective was the only option for a compact solution, which lead to the logic question why they didn't choose for the BTX solution. Their answer (lack of light) brought us to the 30CL option. The answer I got was a smile and the remark that the future was bright
Don't forget, once familiar in use of this concept and available in several configurations.....the, not so far, future is bright and digital.
Speaking from my own situation as a convinced non digital and analog observer, I've seen the light. Halleluja bro.
Jan
I'm planning to get my first look at a dG on Sunday at the San Diego Bird Festival. I'll report what I see.
I'm surprised that they didn't put the camera in an EL Range body so it would have a 10x42 binocular with enough room for the electronics.
That said, I was able to connect my Panasonic Lumix G-9 to my Samsung S8+ via WiFi, transfer a photo of a Thick-billed Kingbird, open it with Merlin and get the correct ID. With a camera better than the one in the dG that allows direct connection to the phone, I still wonder who will buy the dG.
The benefit of integrating the camera into the binoculars is that there is one less item to carry. By the evidence of the declining sales trends, the discrete camera market is getting eroded so much from below by smart phones that multiple forcible mergers will be needed for the survival of the industry.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Hi Steve,
You are right and this was discussed during the meeting, but try to see this initiative in a wider perspective.
It is not developed as a binocular with built in camera. It is a binocular which makes it possible to identify birds, other animals, insects and vegetation and share this with other people in pics or motion. It will come in more configurations. No doubt about that. Other (Chinese) mnfrs will follow and that is good because the acceptance of this new concept will be much bigger and makes room for more initiatives. Create demand!!
This must be seen as just a first step in a different use of binoculars/telescopes.
Jan
PYRTLE
Old Berkshire Boy
Might have to be a new word conjured up for this type of instrument, as in this structural design it seems to fall under the description of mono rather than bino. Remember the camcorder/handycam that were developed from the bulkier commercial video cameras?
Thanks for all your updates.
P
John A Roberts
Well-known member
Well here’s an ‘in-depth review’ of a production unit at: https://www.leanderkhil.com/2020/02/17/in-depth-review-swarovski-optik-dg-digital-guide/
While it's dated 17th February, it was seemingly uploaded in the last day or so
It makes the point that the 8x25 optics are from the CL (though obviously the Pocket version - not the Compact as the author indicates)
Most of the text is about the electronic features (I didn’t watch the video)
Also there are some clear photos of the unit
And more usefully there are some images taken with the camera . . . hmm?
John
While it's dated 17th February, it was seemingly uploaded in the last day or so
It makes the point that the 8x25 optics are from the CL (though obviously the Pocket version - not the Compact as the author indicates)
Most of the text is about the electronic features (I didn’t watch the video)
Also there are some clear photos of the unit
And more usefully there are some images taken with the camera . . . hmm?
John
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