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Digiscoping vs Superzom - Panasonic TZ70 (1 Viewer)

Vespobuteo

Well-known member
The Panasonic DMC-TZ70 have an impressive 30x "super-zoom" and a 12MP image sensor in a very compact body.
I did a test comparing
1) Bare lens of the TZ70 at 30x zoom (approx 840 mm/17x magnification)
2) Digiscoping with TZ70 + ATS65+25-50x
3) Digiscoping with a Sony Xperia Smartphone (20 MP sensor) + ATS65+25-50x

All images are unedited and 100% crop. Distance to target about 10 meters, indoors. A simple LED lamp as main light source (but mixed light, sorry for the bad auto white balance).

Top left: TZ70 (@28 mm focal length*) + ATS65 @ 25x (ISO200)

Top right: TZ70 @ 840 mm focal length. (ISO200)

Bottom: Sony Xperia 20 MP + ATX65 @ 35x (approx.) (ISO400)

I'm a bit impressed by the tiny TZ70 with it's 30x zoom. Quite sharp and not much CA at all.
I hope it can be useful for simple documentation of birds when not carrying any other photo equipment.
It's only 250 gram, fits in a shirt pocket and have image stabilization, can be remote controlled by Wi-fi from my smart phone, have full hd video, 6 fps with continuous AF, and most functions of a standard DSLR. Control layout is very good (though buttons are small) and all functions are quick to access. And it actually feels like a real camera. The grip is also good for such a small camera. EVF is small but usable even with glasses.

*When digiscoping with the TZ70 and 25-50x eye piece there was some vignetting, and zooming in more than to about 33-35mm did not help. So you will lose some of the pixels.
Setting the camera to macro zoom, digital zoom is possible to get rid of vignetting, but the image quality will not improve.
 

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just a correction to the above,
max zoom on the TZ70 does not correspond to 840mm, it's 720mm

Do I get it right, that the conclusion from this comparison is that the naked camera is better or at least equal to digiscoping?

How was digiscoping done, all handheld?

I'll have to make such a test with my own gear. makes me wonder....
 
Do I get it right, that the conclusion from this comparison is that the naked camera is better or at least equal to digiscoping?

How was digiscoping done, all handheld?

I'll have to make such a test with my own gear. makes me wonder....

digiscoping is the best, larger lens diameter and the camera can operate on larger aperture (i.e. wide angle) -> lower ISO.

in good light and low ISO (80-400) the bare lens resolution is quite good on the TZ70.

(home made digi-adapters were used)
 
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