Digiscoping with the Olympus E-420 DSLR (1 Viewer)

Neil · Jul 17, 2008

I wanted to test the light gathering differences between the 25 mm/2.8 Pancake lens and the OM 55/1.2 lens. Today we had good light and consistantly the 25 mm lens was 2 stops better than the 55 mm . All that and Auto Focusing too in LiveView Mode.
Here are some images from today taken with the 25 mm lens both on and off the scope.
Neil.

Olympus E420 plus Olympus 25/2.8 lens and Swarovski STS80HD scope and SW 20x eyepiece and DCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
July 2008

SteveClifton · Jul 17, 2008

I tested my Plossl eyepieces the other day and the P5100 and A640 did a creditable job when compared to the E420 , but the images suffered when compared to those with the Swaro eyepieces. The Swaro 30x is the best eyepiece I have , even better than the Televue Radian 12 mm (38 x ).
Neil.

Just out of interest Neil, can you get the Televue radian to reach infinity focus with the Swarovski scope? I have a 5mm Nagler, but it is too short on eye relief for me.

Steve

Jason Bugay Reyes · Jul 18, 2008

neil,

does the anti-shock works while digiscoping ?

Neil · Jul 20, 2008

horukuru said:
neil,

does the anti-shock works while digiscoping ?

I haven't tried the Anti-shock feature yet. I'll try it this week.
Neil.

Neil · Jul 20, 2008

I bought a Nikon 28/2.8 mm lens yesterday to use on the E420. Here is a photo taken with the 28 mm and the 25 mm Olympus. Neil.

Olympus E420 plus Nikon 28/2.8 mm and Olympus 25/2.8 mm and Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 20x eyepiece.

Hong Kong,
China.
July 2008

Derry · Jul 20, 2008

re the antishock,,

is a feature that allows a delay setting of time before the mirror raises and the photo taken,, when digascoping I usually have mine set for three seconds to assure everything is settled down,, (allowing for subjects that stay still long enough),, other wise it is always turned off as most birds remain still for a only a brief time,,

re the image stabilization,,

Olympus indicates in their manual that it should be turned off if the camera is mounted on a tripod,,

I have found no negatives while leaving IS 1 on when mounted on a tripod or mono pod and others on the 4/3 forum http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/ have reported the same,,

Derry

Neil · Jul 24, 2008

I had time to test the Canon A640 against the E-420 on the cooperative dove yesterday morning. Once again I was using the AF mode of the E420 in Liveview and the AF of the A640 in Macro mode. There was a lot of vignetting with the A640 as I had the low ER Sw 20x eyepiece on the scope but it added an interesting border to the image I think.
The E-420 images are from the RAW files.
Neil.

Olympus E-420 and Olympus 25/2.8 lens on Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw20x eyepiece (no adapter,support bracket )

Canon A640 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw20x eyepiece and DCA adapter

Lamma Island,
Hong Kong,
China.
July 2008

Neil · Jul 26, 2008

Back in the local park again to test the 25/2.8 lens. This time I had my biggest tripod so that I could be on the downside of the birds with the sun over my right shoulder. The distance was 7 - 9 metres on a bright ,sunny , hot summer day (humidity around 75% ).
Managed to get Auto Focus in both Liveview and Optical Viewfinder modes with the 25 mm lens. Neil.

Olympus E-420 plus Olympus 25/2.8 lens on SwarovskiSTS80HD scope and Sw 20x eyepiece.

Hong Kong,
China.
July 2008

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892550@N03/

theMusicMan · Jul 26, 2008

Neil - wonderful images, simply wonderful stuff. Can I please ask... though I don't have the superb quality scope you have, I do have an Opticron GS665 and an E-3. For my 1st attempt at digiscoping I am going to try the eyepiece route but how does one connect an Oly lens into the rig as well? I thought the rig comprised Camera > T mount > Shroud/Adapter > Eyepiece > Scope - so where and how do you attach a lens in this set up as I'd love to try.

I have several Oly lenses and would appreciate any advice and feedback. Cheers.

Neil · Jul 26, 2008

theMusicMan said:
Neil - wonderful images, simply wonderful stuff. Can I please ask... though I don't have the superb quality scope you have, I do have an Opticron GS665 and an E-3. For my 1st attempt at digiscoping I am going to try the eyepiece route but how does one connect an Oly lens into the rig as well? I thought the rig comprised Camera > T mount > Shroud/Adapter > Eyepiece > Scope - so where and how do you attach a lens in this set up as I'd love to try.

I have several Oly lenses and would appreciate any advice and feedback. Cheers.

On the setup I was using yesterday I had the Olympus 25/2.8 mm lens on the E420, but you can use any short Olympus prime and you can try one of their short zooms too (the 14 - 42 zoom has a little vignetting but will work ) . As I've mentioned I've used Nikon 28/2.8 , Nikon 18-55 zoom, Nikon 105/2.8 , Nikon 50/2.8 as well as the OM lenses. It does depend a lot on the specs of your eyepiece as the Swaro 20x eyepiece have Eye Relief of 17mm , exit Pupil diameter 4.0 and 68 degree FOV ).
For the older OM 55/2.8 mm lens I added an OM/4/3rds system converter to match it to the new mount on the camera. I have a Nikon lens to 4/3rds system adapter too.
For the 25/2.8 mm lens the screw thread is in the front of the lens and it's too fragile to hang off the eyepiece so I just slide up close on my balance bar (see photo ).
Use the eyepiece that gives you the widest field of view as eye relief is not so important , nor magnification, as the 4/3 rds system gives you a 2x mag factor to start with. The ideal range of camera lens for my 20x eyepiece would be in the 20 - 50 mm range.
I hope this helps, Neil.

erniehatt · Jul 26, 2008

Neil, all the E-420 images are excellent, but the A640 one shows quite a bit of noise reduction. What is the focal length of the scope. Ernie

Neil · Jul 26, 2008

erniehatt said:
Neil, all the E-420 images are excellent, but the A640 one shows quite a bit of noise reduction. What is the focal length of the scope. Ernie

Ernie,
The Swarovski is 460 mm and I was using a 20x eyepiece. I normally use the 30x with the A640 where I can get some unvignetted views with my short adapter. Neil.

Neil · Aug 3, 2008

I'm still having fun trying different lenses with the E420. I picked up a second-hand Nikon 35-70/3.3-4.5 mm zoom yesterday. A little vignetting at 35mm on the 20x eyepiece but it disappears at 40mm. None with the 30x and the 45x eyepieces. Not the sharpest of Nikon's lenses but nice to use just the same. Neil

Olympus E-420 plus Nikon 35-70zoom on Swarovsk STS80HD scope and Sw 20x eyepiece and DCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
August 2008

Neil · Aug 3, 2008

Also picked up some step-down rings to adapt the Nikon 20/2.8 (62 - 52 mm ) to the Swarovski DCA adapter. This is a sharp lens. Too much vignetting with the 20x eyepiece but none on the 30x and 45x eyepieces. Neil.

Olympus E420 and Nikon 20/2.8 mm on Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 30x eyepiece and DCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
August 2008

Derry · Aug 4, 2008

well done Neil, your driving me back to try out a couple more Oly lens through my various eyepieces,,|=)|

my first attempt did not offer decent resolution but it is achievable as you continue to demonstrate,,

Derry

Neil · Sep 8, 2008

Out and about doing some digiscoping this afternoon. This was taken with the E420 before the battery ran out ( I had forgotten to charge it ). Distance about 25 metres.
Neil

Olympus E420 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 30x eyepiece and DCA adapter

Hong Kong Wetland Park,
Hong Kong,
China.
September 2008

blue185jay · Sep 8, 2008

Niel,

What lens were you using? I have been reading your posting, because I may buy this camera to digiscope with.

Robert

Neil · Sep 8, 2008

blue185jay said:
Niel,

What lens were you using? I have been reading your posting, because I may buy this camera to digiscope with.

Robert

Robert,
Yesterday I was using the Olympus 25/2.8 (Pancake) lens which is the one I use most of the time. It's not the sharpest lens I have ( the Nikon 20/2.8 and 35/3.5 are a tad sharper ) but because of thin profile it let's in more light and you can use Auto Focus if you can support the camera separately to the scope. I also have an older Zuiko 55/2.8 lens too which I can use with an adapter. Older Zuiko lenses can be bought second hand for a good price.
Neil.

JGobeil · Sep 9, 2008

Wonderful picture Neil. Congrads !

arichard · Mar 1, 2009

Does anyone tried with no lens?

Hi,

Does anyone tried this camera without lens? I mean using the scope as lens.

The big issue in this scenario will be if using the eyepiece we may end up with vignetting.

What do you think?

Best Regards,

A.Silva

Digiscoping with the Olympus E-420 DSLR (1 Viewer)

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