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Red dot Sight (1 Viewer)

Mugil

Mugil

Well-known member
After more than 1 year of digiscoping I finalized my top digiscope. Finding a small bird or even flying bird can be difficult enough at any time. This is especially true with angled scopes or when DigiBirding, particularly at greater magnifications. So I bought a Red dot Sight (used for rifles, paintball...) and put it together with home made SightMount to my Swarovski digiscope machine... and it makes finding birds much easier. It is simple, quick and easy to fit and use. Once you have used it you will never know how you managed without one for so long. It is much better choice than normal Image Locating Sight and can be bought for something about 30 US$. On it there are 11 different red dot levels and the calibration with two knobs is easy and takes less than a minute.
digiskop1.jpg


reddot.jpg
 
Last edited:
it is not a pointer

mickporter, I am using a Red dot Sight not a Red dot pointer, so the dot is visible only in lenses.

LOL B :)

mickporter said:
Do the birds and other birders not complain when they receive a red dot between the eyes??? LOL
Click to expand...
 
Red Dot Scope

David, thank you for your interest about this device. This device it is also so called Red Dot Scope, so with it you can easy target the object (bird) with a small red dot visible inside this device (on lense), not on bird.


Specifications

MAGNIFICATION: 1x
FIELD-OF-VIEW: 40' @ 100 yards
OBJECTIVE LENS DIAMETER: 25mm
EYE RELIEF: Unlimited
RETICLE TYPE: Illuminated 5 M.O.A Red Dot, 11-position Rheostat
WINDAGE/ELEVATION: .5 @ 50 yards
LENS COATING: Rubicon® multi-layered, fully coated
FOCUS TYPE: Fixed
PARALLAX SETTING: 50 yards
TUBE DIA: 30mm
WEIGHT: 5.5 oz.
LENGTH: 5"
FINISH: Black Matte,

ADD'L FEATURES: Ringsets for dovetail-styled base, ocular and objective mirage hoods, haze filter caps, one lithium "coin-style" battery and allen wrench




davidfree said:
Mugil, I just don't know what this thing does. Can you please explain the technique.
Thanks in advance.
David
Click to expand...
 
Mugil said:
<snip>Once you have used it you will never know how you managed without one for so long. It is much better choice than normal Image Locating Sight and can be bought for something about 30 US$.
Click to expand...

First of all, I wholeheartedly agree that a red dot type sight is a huge benefit to digiscoping. I've been using one for about a year on two different scopes. I turned the Swaro tube sight into a mount for an inexpensive Daisy airgun sight and it works quite well. But I find the idea of using a better quality sight to be appealing. It looks like your sight mount uses the tripod's handle clamp. Could you post another image showing your attachment scheme more clearly.

This is my current rig:
http://www.jayandwanda.com/swaro/DaisySight.jpg

This picture gives some idea of what the sight picture is like with the Daisy.
http://www.jayandwanda.com/digiscope/sight.jpg

I captured this image of a gnatchatcher earlier this month using the red dot sight and autofocus. I never viewed the bird through the camera or scope.
http://www.jayandwanda.com/birds/gnatcatcher/black-tailed_gnatcatcher_9132_MMPKAZ.jpg

Its still not easy, but you can follow small birds at close range if you have a fair bit of patience and a red dot sight. And if you have it sighted in well, you can save precious seconds getting your scope on larger birds.
 
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Jay Turberville said:
First of all, I wholeheartedly agree that a red dot type sight is a huge benefit to digiscoping. I've been using one for about a year on two different scopes. I turned the Swaro tube sight into a mount for an inexpensive Daisy airgun sight and it works quite well. But I find the idea of using a better quality sight to be appealing. It looks like your sight mount uses the tripod's handle clamp. Could you post another image showing your attachment scheme more clearly.
Click to expand...

Jay thanks for your comments. Here is the photo of my home made Mount. It is correct, it uses the tripod's handle clamp.
clamp.jpg


yours Iztok
 
Thanks Mugil and Jay for the additional information. However, if these devices do not shine a spot on the bird, how do they help? From the specs of your equipment Mugil, I understand there is no magnification. So wouldn't a short length of tube with no optics also provide a sighting aid?
Please excuse my inability to understand.
Regards
David
 
davidfree said:
Thanks Mugil and Jay for the additional information. However, if these devices do not shine a spot on the bird, how do they help? From the specs of your equipment Mugil, I understand there is no magnification. So wouldn't a short length of tube with no optics also provide a sighting aid?
Please excuse my inability to understand.
Regards
David
Click to expand...

David please look at this Jay´s photo, It works as is shown on it!
http://www.jayandwanda.com/digiscope/sight.jpg

best Iztok
 
Mugil said:
David please look at this Jay´s photo, It works as is shown on it!
http://www.jayandwanda.com/digiscope/sight.jpg

best Iztok
Click to expand...

The sight is essentially a clear window that reflects the image of a very small led back to the digiscoper. This is why these are also called reflex sights. The red dot provides high contrast in almost all situations and seems to work quite well even in the bright sun of Arizona.

The sight does not require critical placement of your eye for good results. Peep type sights usually require that your head and eye be very much inline with the sighting line. These sights allow a much wider range of eye location. The red dot will "float" and change location on the sight window as your head and eye move and will only drift slightly off target. Note in the picture that the dot is not centered. It is most accurate when the dot is centered, but that such accuracy is not critical for digiscoping.

You can also easily use it with both eyes open.
 
Mugil said:
Here is the photo of my home made Mount. It is correct, it uses the tripod's handle clamp.
clamp.jpg


yours Iztok
Click to expand...

Hi Mugil.

Clever idea to use the handle mount. Any problems with the scope coming out of alignment by slight twist on the head? I would think an attachment to the scope would be more stable? I just bought a red dot sight (like the one Jay has) for my digiscope setup but I can't find any dovetail bar like the one you have. Where did you find that?

Cheers, Jens.
 
jebir said:
Hi Mugil.

Clever idea to use the handle mount. Any problems with the scope coming out of alignment by slight twist on the head? I would think an attachment to the scope would be more stable? I just bought a red dot sight (like the one Jay has) for my digiscope setup but I can't find any dovetail bar like the one you have. Where did you find that?

Cheers, Jens.
Click to expand...
jebir, I did not noticed any missalignment or twist of the head. The only problem is that you should calibrate the Red Dot Scope befor digiscoping... it is not necesary but if you want more correct sight it is useful.. but anyway I noticed that cheap Red Dot Scopes (sights) have more paralax problems than those more expensive. Dovtail bar is a home made device of my friend..

best Iztok :frog:
 
Jay Turberville said:
First of all, I wholeheartedly agree that a red dot type sight is a huge benefit to digiscoping. I've been using one for about a year on two different scopes. I turned the Swaro tube sight into a mount for an inexpensive Daisy airgun sight and it works quite well. But I find the idea of using a better quality sight to be appealing. It looks like your sight mount uses the tripod's handle clamp. Could you post another image showing your attachment scheme more clearly.

This is my current rig:
http://www.jayandwanda.com/swaro/DaisySight.jpg

This picture gives some idea of what the sight picture is like with the Daisy.
http://www.jayandwanda.com/digiscope/sight.jpg

I captured this image of a gnatchatcher earlier this month using the red dot sight and autofocus. I never viewed the bird through the camera or scope.
http://www.jayandwanda.com/birds/gnatcatcher/black-tailed_gnatcatcher_9132_MMPKAZ.jpg

Its still not easy, but you can follow small birds at close range if you have a fair bit of patience and a red dot sight. And if you have it sighted in well, you can save precious seconds getting your scope on larger birds.
Click to expand...


Jay, you certianly produce wonderful results. Surely the telescope must be focusssed on the bird first though. The camera's autofocus will not turn a fuzzy telescope image into a clear photo.
Cheers
David
 
davidfree said:
Jay, you certianly produce wonderful results. Surely the telescope must be focusssed on the bird first though. The camera's autofocus will not turn a fuzzy telescope image into a clear photo.
Cheers
David
Click to expand...

Thanks.

When I took the gnatcatcher image, I had prefocused on a branch in the area I had hoped to catch the gnatcatcher. So the scope was roughly focused and the camera's autofocus did the rest.

But consider that a scope is an afocal device and is dependant on your eye or a camera to actually form an image (OK, there's eyepiece projection, but that another issue). There really isn't a true correct scope focus for a particular subject. It all depends on the eye or camera that is placed at the eyepiece. This is why we may have to touch up scope or binocular focus that when viewing a subject that was perfectly in focus for someone else. This is also why a scope focused by eye usually needs to be touched up by the camera's autofocus when digiscoping.

When an autofocus camera can focus from a few centimeters to past infinity, there can be a fairly broad range of scope focus settings that will still allow the camera to bring the subject into focus. So depending on the subject distance, there can be a range of many feet over which the camera can find good focus without the need to touch the scope focus controls. I often prefocus for an approximate distance when I'm waiting for a bird to arrive.
 
Jay Turberville said:
Thanks.

When I took the gnatcatcher image, I had prefocused on a branch in the area I had hoped to catch the gnatcatcher. So the scope was roughly focused and the camera's autofocus did the rest.

But consider that a scope is an afocal device and is dependant on your eye or a camera to actually form an image (OK, there's eyepiece projection, but that another issue). There really isn't a true correct scope focus for a particular subject. It all depends on the eye or camera that is placed at the eyepiece. This is why we may have to touch up scope or binocular focus that when viewing a subject that was perfectly in focus for someone else. This is also why a scope focused by eye usually needs to be touched up by the camera's autofocus when digiscoping.

When an autofocus camera can focus from a few centimeters to past infinity, there can be a fairly broad range of scope focus settings that will still allow the camera to bring the subject into focus. So depending on the subject distance, there can be a range of many feet over which the camera can find good focus without the need to touch the scope focus controls. I often prefocus for an approximate distance when I'm waiting for a bird to arrive.
Click to expand...

OK Jay.
I'm heading north for a couple of weeks intensive bird surveying in a remote area. I'll take my camera and hope to find time to collect some postable shots.
Regards
David
 
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