Getting Started. (1 Viewer)

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thesilverloon

Member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #1

Hello to all on this forum,a great resource. I'd like to start Digiscoping using a Astro scope and a DSLR at prime focus. At the moment I have a F 5.9 Williams optics Zenithstar SD 66 Doublet APO which I use as a spotting scope.I do not think that the WO66 has the ED glass.My wife has a Canon EOS 300D which has sat unused in a draw for a few years. Question: Can I pair these two up, or should I look into selling the WO66 and picking up a second hand ED 80 scope. I understand that 80mm of aperture is far better than the 66mm I now have.
My interest is in Australian owls and Birds of Prey.
I have tried using the WO66 with a point and shoot compact, but have not been happy with the results.
Any advice would be most welcome.

 

mooreorless

Well-known member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #2

Hi Silver, Welcome to Birdforum. A quick check, hope this helps some. TeleVue but will give you some help maybe. There is a link in this link as well.;-)

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=130457

 

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Paul Corfield

Well-known member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #3

Can never understand why manufacturers call a doublet an apo when an apo is a triplet. had the bigger Zenithstar 80mm as my first scope and then upgraded to the Skywatcher 80ED. Main problems I had with the Zenithstar 80mm were blue/purple chromatic aberration and not enough reach, I think my old ZS80 was 480mm focal length. Main drawback with your 388mm focal length scope is going to be the lack of reach and if the birds you want to photograph are more than about 20m away then I'd definitely look at something bigger.

Paul.

 

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thesilverloon

Member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #4

What do you think of the Canon 300D as a camera to couple with the 80ED?

 

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Ultra Lite

Well-known member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #5

thesilverloon said:

Question: Can I pair these two up, or should I look into selling the WO66 and picking up a second hand ED 80 scope.

Click to expand...

Yes it would work.

What you would end up with is a about a f/6 12x scope at prime focus.

It would be cheap to do. All you would need is an 1.25" diameter extension tube and a T adapter.

If it would be enough for your purposes is for you to decide.

Give it a try.

 

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thesilverloon

Member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #6

I have been using a Televue 12mm Radian with the WO66 which gives me 32x
Mag. Add the 3x optical zoom of the point and shoot, and I am starting to get the reach that I want. What would that translate into, using a 80ED f.7.5 scope?
What Iam after is a simple point and shoot rig, in other words a long telephoto lens without the huge outlay of a telephoto lens.

 

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Paul Corfield

Well-known member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #7

Your 12mm eyepiece would give 50X on the 80ED. I presume you already have an erecting prism?

Paul.

 

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thesilverloon

Member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #8

Hello Paul. Sorry if I have not made myself clear. I want to do away with eyepieces, and 45 degree erecting prisms. Also move away from angled viewing. Happy to add teleconverters to boost the focal length. What would you need on your setup to equal the 50x using an eyepiece? Any thoughts on the 300D.

 

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Paul Corfield

Well-known member

• Jul 13, 2010

• #9

With a 2X teleconverter on the 80ED I guess you would be at around 38X equivalent which is generally enough for say 50m to 80m range and a small amount of cropping would give 50X equivalent and more. A dslr sensor can withstand a fair bit of cropping while retaining detail which is why you don't need to go to such high magnifications like you do with a small point and shoot camera. The 300D would do ok to start with but obviously a more modern camera would give better results.

Paul.