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Digiscoping: DSLR or Smartphone? (1 Viewer)

thrush

Craig Brelsford (大山雀)
I want to get into digiscoping with my new Swarovski ATX-95. I have a DSLR (Nikon D3s) and a smartphone (iPhone 6). Do you favor digiscoping with DSLR or smartphone? Why? What equipment do you use? Are you using the Swarovski TLS APO for ATX/STX with your DSLR, and are you pleased with the results?
 
Craig,
The D3s is a fine camera, but you must already realize it is a poor choice for digiscoping. I have not yet tried digiscoping with a phone, but I would definitely try that first. Your iPhone 6 with the right adapter and a remote release will take great shots for study/documentation/web presentation and also high speed/slow motion movies as well. If you work with the iPhone 6 for a while and you want something better, I would suggest a lightweight mirrorless camera with an electronic shutter and some way to remotely trigger the shutter. I have an older Swarovski scope and I use the TLS-APO in conjunction with a micro-4/3 mirrorless camera. The TLS-APO is definitely one of your best options if you get serious. Good luck!
Dave

PS. If you haven't already joined the Yahoo group on digiscoping, I recommend doing that. You'll find a lot of interesting discussion there (although I must say, Yahoo Groups absolutely sucks as a platform for a discussion forum).
 
Craig,
The D3s is a fine camera, but you must already realize it is a poor choice for digiscoping. I have not yet tried digiscoping with a phone, but I would definitely try that first. Your iPhone 6 with the right adapter and a remote release will take great shots for study/documentation/web presentation and also high speed/slow motion movies as well. ...

Thanks, opticoholic! Let me address some of your points:

1. "The D3s is a fine camera, but you must already realize it is a poor choice for digiscoping." Swarovski is saying that I do have a good camera for digiscoping, because of their new TLS APO Digiscoping Adapter. The problem is, I haven't had a chance to try it, and I'm probably not going to pay $600 just for the opportunity to try it.

2. "Your iPhone 6 with the right adapter and a remote release will take great shots ... " It's amazing to me that months after the iPhone 6 came out, I still can't find an adapter for the new model. Apparently Swarovski hasn't made one. Out of curiosity more out of annoyance, I ask, How can this be?

My wife and I made an adapter last night. Here are some results.

First, exhibit1 and exhibit2 show the troubles I was having using the iPhone 6 + Swarovski ATX-95 without an adapter.

Exhibit3 and 3a show the outstanding detail on our door hinge. Photos taken from 7 m at 70x zoom without a shutter cable. 3a is a cropped version of 3 and was not subject to further processing. Very good.

Exhibit4 and 4a show a Eurasian Tree Sparrow taken from a distance of 29 m with the Swarovski ATX-95 + iPhone 6. The spotting scope was at 70x zoom. 4a is cropped but not resized.

Exhibit5 shows our homemade adapter. Psst . . . Swarovski? We're in the market for your adapter! Pass it on . . .
 

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Here are the rest of the exhibits.
 

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Thrush,

When using full frame cameras with TLS APO, there is a vignetting throughout the zoom range from 30-70x. The adapter is made mainly for DX format including mirrorless.

Below is the Whitehead's Trogon taken with TLS APO using D3s, ISO 3200, 1/80s

JAY_1385 Whitehead's Trogon.JPG JAY_1385.JPG
 
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Thanks, Horukuru. Your setup produced an outstanding result here; the vermiculations on the trogon are real and true. When you use your D3s with the TLS APO, do you switch to cropped mode or shoot full-frame?

I didn't switch to DX because of the low light that time. You need to get balance rail when you used the D3s because of the weight like in this thread http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=270559
 
Hi Craig,
I'm sure it is possible to make the big D3s camera work with your scope, and get nice results. The main reason I said it was a poor choice is the bulky size and weight, making it very challenging and awkward to balance. If you use the D3s, you absolutely would need to get some sort of balance rail in addition to the TLS-APO. And even with the camera/scope well balanced, you might find the tiny vibrations from the shutter and mirror flapping will impact your results.

The TLS-APO is pretty expensive, the Swarovski balance rail too. Frankly most of the Swarovski accessories are overpriced, in my opinion. But the TLS-APO does work very well, and once you have it, you can use it with all sorts of cameras. I don't use mine very much, preferring to use a traditional telephoto lens with autofocus (also I tend to do more birding in forest/hiking where I don't want to carry the spotting scope). But here are a couple example images I got with my TLS-APO last year, using an Olympus mirrorless camera (OM-D E-M1). I think these images could be matched using a much less expensive camera. In fact, you might even almost match these with your iPhone, once you have a better adapter (and don't forget to use a remote release). I would encourage you to keep working with the iPhone. With practice you may be surprised at how nice the iPhone photos and movies are.

Dave

Image details: Swarovski ATS-80 HD scope, TLS-APO, Olympus OM-D E-M1, balance rail. Both images at 1/1600 sec. ISO 400 & 640.
 

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... I would encourage you to keep working with the iPhone. With practice you may be surprised at how nice the iPhone photos and movies are.

... You need to get balance rail when you used the D3s because of the weight ...

Thanks, opticoholic and horukuru.

For now I'm going to follow opticoholic's advice and digiscope with the iPhone 6. Because I'm in China and need to leave Friday for Inner Mongolia, I'm going to delay ordering the adapter from Phoneskope, because it wouldn't arrive here in time. But eventually I'll have to buy Phoneskope's adapter. Thanks, Hobbes2!

As I carry a 600 mm lens along with my D3S, I'm always going to reach for that combination when a photo opportunity arises.

But when circumstances limit me to a record shot, particularly of birds far off, then I'll go for the iPhone + Swarovski combination.
 
Thanks, opticoholic and horukuru.

For now I'm going to follow opticoholic's advice and digiscope with the iPhone 6. Because I'm in China and need to leave Friday for Inner Mongolia, I'm going to delay ordering the adapter from Phoneskope, because it wouldn't arrive here in time. But eventually I'll have to buy Phoneskope's adapter. Thanks, Hobbes2!

As I carry a 600 mm lens along with my D3S, I'm always going to reach for that combination when a photo opportunity arises.

But when circumstances limit me to a record shot, particularly of birds far off, then I'll go for the iPhone + Swarovski combination.

That sounds like the perfect approach, Craig. It's also worth noting that the video capabilities of the iPhone6 do produce superb digiscoped records when dealing with big distances to the subject.
Good luck in Inner Mongolia :t:
 
... I trigger the shutter with the voice command ...

Nice work with your Samsung + Swarovski combo, Bref!

I'm curious: What's the word you have to say to get your Samsung to shoot?

I was trying to get "Siri" to take the photo for me using my voice command, but apparently Samsung's voice control is more advanced in this regard. If I'm wrong here and can get the iPhone 6 to take photos by voice command, then someone please enlighten me. Otherwise, I'm going to use the up-volume button on my earphones.
 
That sounds like the perfect approach, Craig. It's also worth noting that the video capabilities of the iPhone6 do produce superb digiscoped records when dealing with big distances to the subject.
Good luck in Inner Mongolia :t:

Thanks Hobbes2. I prefer obvious, simple solutions. Smartphone makers are packing in excellent little cameras. Why not use them?
 
Craig,

We have an ATX-85 & have tried some iPhone 6 digiscoping with it. Sounds like you did well coming up with a home-made iPhone adapter!

We used the "Carson HookUpz Universal Smart Phone Optics Digiscoping Adapter For Binoculars Spotting Scopes Monoculars Telescopes Microscopes and More (IS-100)" [available on Amazon.com] The iPhone 6 with a slim case is at the outer size limit for this universal adapter: quite difficult to attach successfully, and the results weren't too good.

fyi: Last month Swarovski finally released an adapter for the iphone 6: see the recent press release/blog post:
http://www.swarovskioptik.com/natur/blog/Digiscoping_adapter_now_available_for_iPhone_6_PA_i6_nature

I haven't seen any yet for sale, but they should become available soon. Hopefully we'll see some user experience reviews before long.

My wife uses the scope & I stick to DSLRs & bigger lenses when we're out looking at birds & other wildlife. I held off getting the SLR adapter for the reasons others have stated. It looks like it will work nicely and is a beautifully designed system, but the camera and adapter and slide balancing head is a lot of extra gear to carry and manage successfully.

Good luck!
 
Hi,

Im Peter from the Monterey area and a moderator suggested I post to a Digiscoping Thread. I have a Zeiss Diascope Straight Victory 85 and am looking for a reasonably priced zeiss vario eyepiece or something I can use to match the quality of the scope. I dont really want to convert to astro eyepieces as I prefer the 2 in eyepiece.

Any help is appreciated.

Peter (Thor)
 
For the original poster, just wanted to share that a birding and Phonescoping friend recently acquired the Swarovski IPhone 6 adapter and has been using it with the ATX 85 over the last week and a half. Here is one of his sample pics.....

https://flic.kr/p/xvhL8g
 

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FrankD,

Thanks for the image from your friend with the iPhone 6 adapter. Nice image for that combo I think.

Let us know if your friend has/posts any review comments on using the adapter.
 
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