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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Why can't I take a sharp photo? (1 Viewer)

Baron Birder said:
Thats a beauty Godwits are my favorite and you have a good one there. How far away was it?

For the balance issue you might look at the Swarovski balance rail I use it succesfully.

Keep up the good work and lets see some more lovely waders
Click to expand...

I'm not too good at judging distances but I think it was about 25 metres away. I like photographing waders as they are normally quite big and don't move as fast as smaller birds!

I've had a look at details of the Swarovski balance rail and it sounds quite promising. When I've got a spare £35 I will probably get one. I have just bought a fixed length 20x lens to try instead of the zoom. It's a lot lighter and shorter, which means the camera can be moved nearer to the balance point of the scope, so a balance rail should get rid of the problem completely.

Ron
 
wally170 said:
I understand that you may not want to place the camera really close to the eye-peice (stratching etc), but the closer you get the better. The more light you let in between the camera and the eye-peice the 'foggier' the pictures are.
Click to expand...

I will have a go at moving the camera a bit closer to the eyepiece tomorrow night to see what happens. I think I have tried it before and the vignette wasn't as sharp but perhaps that doesn't matter anyway. It's a bit nerve-racking when you turn the camera on after attaching it and watch the lens hurtling towards the eyepiece.

Ron
 
NoSpringChicken said:
I will have a go at moving the camera a bit closer to the eyepiece tomorrow night to see what happens. I think I have tried it before and the vignette wasn't as sharp but perhaps that doesn't matter anyway. It's a bit nerve-racking when you turn the camera on after attaching it and watch the lens hurtling towards the eyepiece.

Ron
Click to expand...
Great thread that you have started here, it rethinks my present dilemma. At present I’m using the 2 second timer method that you are using and have a marked decline in focus quality since you can’t AF then refocus the scope like you can with a mechanical release. At present I’m getting approx. 5 to 10% usable photos as noted in this thread but with a shutter release I would get closer to 20% +.
Prior I had a generic shutter release but this item has flaws in that the threads strip very quickly (in < 1 month). I will be purchasing the SRB Griturn shutter release since it is the best system as noted through Birdforum.
Back to my personal dilemma I still need to purchase Photoshop. Which one—Photoshop or the shutter release? Only the next non-bill laden paycheck can answer that question.
Your purchase of the fixed lens will make a huge difference and you will enjoy the change. I have the Pentax PF-80ED with Xl 21mm E.P. haven’t touched the zoom since.
JB
P.S. I like your Photo of the Bonaparte Gull. As has been mentioned before it is difficult to focus on a white bird—Great shot.
 
NoSpringChicken said:
I've had a look at details of the Swarovski balance rail and it sounds quite promising. When I've got a spare £35 I will probably get one. I have just bought a fixed length 20x lens to try instead of the zoom. It's a lot lighter and shorter, which means the camera can be moved nearer to the balance point of the scope, so a balance rail should get rid of the problem completely.

Ron
Click to expand...

Hi Ron

The Swarovski balance rail will only work with Swarovski and some Manfrotto tripod heads, so you'd need to check if it would work with your set up (from what I can remember it won't). That said there are other similar devices (from Manfrotto and Kowa) that will work with any tripod.
 
NoSpringChicken said:
I will have a go at moving the camera a bit closer to the eyepiece tomorrow night to see what happens. I think I have tried it before and the vignette wasn't as sharp but perhaps that doesn't matter anyway.
Click to expand...

Ron & Wally,

You shouldn't move the camera closer than where the vignette has sharp edges, because that is when you again start to lose light - and you may confuse the focusing and exposure measurements. If you get reflections from the eye lens, you should cover the gap between the eyepiece/camera, but in principle the camera's diaphragm should be where the eye iris is. With long-ER eyepieces this can be quite far from the eye lens.

Best regards,

Ilkka
 
postcardcv said:
Hi Ron

The Swarovski balance rail will only work with Swarovski and some Manfrotto tripod heads, so you'd need to check if it would work with your set up (from what I can remember it won't). That said there are other similar devices (from Manfrotto and Kowa) that will work with any tripod.
Click to expand...
Thanks Pete. I was getting a bit mixed up there. It was the Manfrotto MN357 (mentioned earlier on this thread) that I had been looking at. I think that would work all right with the 42700 head on my Opticron 42704 tripod, wouldn't it?
 
NoSpringChicken said:
Thanks Pete. I was getting a bit mixed up there. It was the Manfrotto MN357 (mentioned earlier on this thread) that I had been looking at. I think that would work all right with the 42700 head on my Opticron 42704 tripod, wouldn't it?
Click to expand...

That should work very well - I'm sure if you take your gear along to your local optics shop they'd let you try one out and check that it works for you.
 
iporali said:
Ron & Wally,

You shouldn't move the camera closer than where the vignette has sharp edges, because that is when you again start to lose light - and you may confuse the focusing and exposure measurements. If you get reflections from the eye lens, you should cover the gap between the eyepiece/camera, but in principle the camera's diaphragm should be where the eye iris is. With long-ER eyepieces this can be quite far from the eye lens.

Best regards,

Ilkka
Click to expand...

Ilkka,

thanks for the info.

I have always had a 'fuzzy' Vignetting, but I digi-scope without the aid of a 'sleeve' or simliar to stop light from 'escaping'. I will see if I can conjure something up and give this a try.

Wally
 
Ron be carefull you don't wash out the detail in the background While post processing, as with the Godwit. Ernie
 

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Here's one of my latest efforts. The goslings were about 30 metres away and not moving a lot, which helps. I feel a bit more optimistic now.

One of the best tips I have seen mentioned is to zoom the camera right in, then readjust the scope focus and, when happy, zoom out again to frame the subject as desired. It seems to work well.

Ron
 

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NoSpringChicken said:
I've been having a little play with Photoshop. I had a bit of purple fringing to sort out on this one as it was quite strongly backlit and there was a lot of bright water about.

At least I'm getting a bit of definition and texture in the feathers now.

It is a Black-tailed Godwit, isn't it? I'm still very much a beginner at this birding game.
Click to expand...

Try using saturation and hue to get rid of the purple haze. Play with it until you find the setting that suits you.
 
Great digiscoping forum stream

I have been searching everywhere for good info on camera/telescope/tripod setup and this asks all the same questions I have been considering on all my, still unsuccessful, attempts at digiscoping.
Tried a few different digicams, (Sony V3 and T9 handheld)with my cheap Aldi 60mm zoom scope.
Getting an old Canon G2 in the next few days, so I will attempt it all over again, with this new knowledge. Hadn't tried macro. Perhaps I will have to spend money on an adaptor, when I can find out which one will fit.
Thanks
 
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