What's Neeeded - Nikon D50 Camera to Nikon ED50 Scope (1 Viewer)

I'm new to scopes but own a D50 camera body with a Nikkor 28-80 1:3.3-5.6G and Nikkor 70-300 1:4-5.6G zoom lenses. My work to date has been with the longer lens; however I'd like to reach out with the ED50 scope based on reading a variety of threads in BirdForum. Can my camera be used with this scope, and if so, what am I looking at needing in addition to the scope (and tripod and eyepiece).

Obviously, I'm pretty clueless :-O.

Thanks,

John C

The ED50 is not compatible with the Nikon FSA-L1 SLR adapter. Really the only way to do this is with the Nikon UBK. You will need the 16x Wide DS eyepiece and probably a 28/35/50mm lens.

Rick

Thanks, Rick. My wife's camera is a Nikon Coolpix S550. Woulld this be more suitable for use with the ED50?

John C

Sorry, I feel the entire current Coolpix lineup sucks even as general cameras, moreover for digiscoping, while their dslrs are the world's best. That said, I suppose you might be able to make this camera work with the 16x Wide DS eyepiece and universal camera adapter.

FWIW, I think the 3 best pocket digicams currently for digiscopers are the Panasonic FX150, Canon SD990, and Sony W300. You will still need the 16x Wide DS and adapter like this.

cheers,
Rick

RJM said:

Sorry, I feel the entire current Coolpix lineup sucks even as general cameras, moreover for digiscoping, while their dslrs are the world's best. That said, I suppose you might be able to make this camera work with the 16x Wide DS eyepiece and universal camera adapter.

FWIW, I think the 3 best pocket digicams currently for digiscopers are the Panasonic FX150, Canon SD990, and Sony W300. You will still need the 16x Wide DS and adapter like this.

cheers,
Rick

Click to expand...

Regarding camera options ... "FWIW, I think the 3 best pocket digicams currently for digiscopers are the Panasonic FX150, Canon SD990, and Sony W300. You will still need the 16x Wide DS and adapter like this."

I use a Canon SD870 and have just compared it against the SD990 and found almost no difference in image sharpness whilst the colour on the SD990 is quite drawn out in comparison with the SD780. Tested both cameras on spotting scope outside camera shop to get same conditions. Smaller LCD screen is also a nuisance. Camera salesperson reckons the extra pixels on the SD990 is the problem (too many).
I am looking at options of the W300, Canon P6000 and perhaps Pana G1 (but its a bit pricey).

Finno

There is more to getting a good digiscoping camera than putting it up to an eyepiece and taking a pic. These are some of the things I feel are most important to have:

Lens that extends out no more than 20mm with a 35mm focal length between 28-120mm.

Live histogram to check pre-shot exposure when screen is difficult to see. Eliminates Fuji cams and most Canon's.

Preshot onscreen feedback of shutter speed/aperture and ISO. (most Canon P&S only display this info when the exposure/focus is off.)

Quick/easy control of ISO, Exposure Compensation, White balance. Full Manual control of shutter speed and aperture is best. Additional settings for ISO limits, Contrast, Sharpness, Color, and Noise reduction for in-camera JPEGs are very helpful. So is a processing engine that corrects for chromatic aberration and lens distortions. This eliminates most older P&S cameras.

Relatively fast shot to shot performance, 2fps+ as a mininmum. Eliminates ALL the Nikon Coolpix digicams.

RAW capability for those times when nailing the exposure in the field is difficult. Eliminates all but 4-5 cameras.

HD rez video.

The only P&S pocket camera that has all of these is the Panasonic FX150.

cheers,
Rick

Addionally a ideal camera would have a remote control to shutter without vibration. A flexible selftimer would also be nice.

RJM said:

There is more to getting a good digiscoping camera than putting it up to an eyepiece and taking a pic. These are some of the things I feel are most important to have:

Lens that extends out no more than 20mm with a 35mm focal length between 28-120mm.

Live histogram to check pre-shot exposure when screen is difficult to see. Eliminates Fuji cams and most Canon's.

Preshot onscreen feedback of shutter speed/aperture and ISO. (most Canon P&S only display this info when the exposure/focus is off.)

Quick/easy control of ISO, Exposure Compensation, White balance. Full Manual control of shutter speed and aperture is best. Additional settings for ISO limits, Contrast, Sharpness, Color, and Noise reduction for in-camera JPEGs are very helpful. So is a processing engine that corrects for chromatic aberration and lens distortions. This eliminates most older P&S cameras.

Relatively fast shot to shot performance, 2fps+ as a mininmum. Eliminates ALL the Nikon Coolpix digicams.

RAW capability for those times when nailing the exposure in the field is difficult. Eliminates all but 4-5 cameras.

HD rez video.

The only P&S pocket camera that has all of these is the Panasonic FX150.

cheers,
Rick

Click to expand...

Rick,
It's difficult to find one solution that suits most digiscoping situations. There's definitely not one that suits all. The FX150 has a nice feature set but only scores in the middle for performance http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408premiumgroup/page12.asp
Although the Fuji F100 scores highly here I don't rate it as a good digiscoping camera due to it's lack of some of the features that you mention, but more importantly it's fiddly button/menu system which makes it difficult to use . It does have the Last 3/Last12 frames feature though which is excellent in that you hold the shutter down until you see the action you want to record and it saves the last3/12 frames. Very nice. Also high iso is much better than others up to iso 800. Also the Canons have the programmable Self-timer that no one else has. Wonderful. Also will take continuously until card is full.
If the Nikon P6000 had the speed of the LX150, rotatable screen and Canons Self-timer it would be a great digiscoping camera.
Out in the sun even the big,bright screen of the P6000 is difficult to use and a rotatable screen is invaluable. I still dig out the Canon A640 for this reason and of course the trusty 8400.
Two of the reasons the Panasonic G1 is taking off for digiscoping is it's speed, even in RAW and bright/rotatable screen.
That's why it's so difficult to test cameras out in the store because the screens are always easy to see inside. Take them out in the sun and set them at chest height and try and find a bird in a tree with them.
To get the best of all this I would suggest that people take two cameras with them everywhere. It's always nice to have backup anyway. I prefer rotatable screen over speed and programmable self-timer over remote. Maybe that's why I have at least 3 cameras with me at all times.
I wish someone would send me an LX150 though as I would love one, although I'm lusting over the Olympus Pen EP1 at the moment although it doesn't have a rotatable screen unfortunately.
Neil.

ps photo taken with Canon A640 and Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw 25-50zoom and UCA adaptertr

Hong Kong,
China.
July 2009

RJM said:

Live histogram to check pre-shot exposure when screen is difficult to see. Eliminates Fuji cams and most Canon's.

Click to expand...

Hi Rick,
there is a workaround for this limitation! After bying a Canon A590IS I was looking around for a remote shutter and want to avoid a mechanical solution. So I found a firmware enhancement on SD (original firmware is untouched) for many Canon cams, see http://chdk.wikia.com/
The functionality is impressive, for example live histogram with individual colors in one histogram, battery display and remote shutter via USB - no computer needed, it just checks the USB voltage. First click focus, a second one takes the picture.
That's a great enhancement for digiscopers using Canon.
Regards
Frank
EDIT: Picture added

bughunter said:

Hi Rick,
there is a workaround for this limitation! After bying a Canon A590IS I was looking around for a remote shutter and want to avoid a mechanical solution. So I found a firmware enhancement on SD (original firmware is untouched) for many Canon cams, see http://chdk.wikia.com/

Click to expand...

Frank, are you using the Canon A590IS with a Nikon ED50 for digiscoping? If so, what adaptor do you use? And do you have any sample photographs, please? I am looking for a camera to use with my ED50. I have a Baader Microstage II adaptor, which I have used to fix my ancient 1 Mp Olympus digicam to my ED50, but the results were not great (due, I think, to the limitations of the camera).

Sorry, this thread was a bit offtopic on the end. A posting by RJM was generally about camera features, so my postings are answers to that.
I use the A590 on a Swarovski ATS80HD, mounted with DCB-A adapter.