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DigiScope or Camera/Lens? (1 Viewer)

Troubador

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Visiting nature reserves in the UK and Germany I notice a big increase in folks carrying DSLR cameras and long lenses rather than digiscoping.

Looking forward over the next couple of years or so, which option will you be using and why?

Hopefully your answers will explain whether this trend is real or whether I am mistaken and if it is real, what the reasons behind it are.

Lee
 
Used to own Canon DSLR and 100-400. A nice combination, not too big and certainly nothing like as expensive as canons big telephotos but i found 400 just isn't long enough. Scope + camera i feel is just too cumbersome.

Unless bird photograph is your thing i think scope + phone is the best all round combo. With the 100-400 i found i just couldn't get close enough to get a decent shot. I recently found out about a local osprey nest which is a good example, 400 just isn't enough. Scope allows me to see so much more detail. If you can get close enough how ever and its pictures you want then you can't beat camera/lens.
 
Visiting nature reserves in the UK and Germany I notice a big increase in folks carrying DSLR cameras and long lenses rather than digiscoping.

Looking forward over the next couple of years or so, which option will you be using and why?

Hopefully your answers will explain whether this trend is real or whether I am mistaken and if it is real, what the reasons behind it are.

Lee

Probably because you can't shoot moving birds very easy with a digiscoping setup and it's fiddly.
Also there are more options these days in both cameras and "longish" (zoom) lenses that are cheaper than 10-20 years ago. Sigma/Tamron etc.
 
I think that popularity of bird photography is on the rise in general, maybe linked to the improved gear that is available now. So you see more and more people focussing on photography, rather than observation. Those people won't carry a scope, but rather a big camera and lens.

Birders who still focus on observation and are more interested in documentation, rather than beautiful pics, still use digiscopy (mostly with phones now) as they carry a scope anyway. Perhaps they also use a camera in addition.

Digiscopy is still better than long lenses for documenting far away birds (e.g. waders or gulls), but cameras (e.g. superzooms) are getting closer here. Cameras are better for documenting birds in flight and small warbling birds in vegetation.

Cameras are also better for beautiful pictures and action.

I think that phone digiscopy will stay around for scope users. But anyone with serious interest in photography will not consider digiscopy any more as an alternative to a long lens.
 
Used to digiscope on a budget, compromise by using a superzoom these days. DSLR (or even MFT) + Long Lens is too heavy and too far out of budget to ever be an option for me.

Digiscoping still got me closer than my superzoom does now, but the superzoom is far more mobile and can catch birds in flight, yet still get me enough of the distance reach I need.

The photography is the primary of the hobby for me, with observation being a secondary (though enjoyed) part of the fun.
 
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Perhaps Nikon have "seen the future" with their superzooms? I used to attach a video camera to my scope but sold both when I purchased my P900. Mind you though, big scope + 20X zoom on the camera reaches out a long way :)
With the fold out screen on the video camera I found it very comfortable viewing on a tripod, simple adaptor which slid on to the scope eyepiece and me in a seated position.............very pleasant bird watching.

Looking forward to the P1000,

Den
 
Very interesting test in real conditions, thanks.
The Kowa looks impressive for static subjects.

Yes, I'm really surprised by the quality of the kowa, it's indeed better than the other systems for statics subjects as you say or maybe with a good tripod head its also good for slow moving subjects like deers...
 
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