Sony W300 (1 Viewer)

Cheers Josef.

I am experimenting with both techniques, but unfortunately, the adapter that came with the camera was the wrong one so I have had to try hand holding it at the moment, which is hardly guaranteed to give the best results. Is the infinity setting you use the one you select through the menu that I mentioned above?

Willie

Willie,
Most of my pics so far were in progam mode (P) with focus set way to the right on infinity. Since it has been cloudy all week end I experimented with the spot in program and I think both have their own merits. The test I did with pin heads might have been a quirk even though the pics I took last week end of birds impressed me. The problem with infinity is how precise the scope setting has to be. The problem with spot is keeping it on the moving bird, however today I did get some sharper pics with spot. I plan on using spot more to become more familiar with it.

Joe

Josef said:

Willie,
Most of my pics so far were in progam mode (P) with focus set way to the right on infinity. Since it has been cloudy all week end I experimented with the spot in program and I think both have their own merits. The test I did with pin heads might have been a quirk even though the pics I took last week end of birds impressed me. The problem with infinity is how precise the scope setting has to be. The problem with spot is keeping it on the moving bird, however today I did get some sharper pics with spot. I plan on using spot more to become more familiar with it.

Joe

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Joe,
For digiscoping we normally shoot with the lens wide open in Aperture Priority Mode. This maximises the amount of light hitting the sensor so maximises Shutter Speeds. Also with many eyepiece camera combos , stopping down the camera lens introduces shadowing around the edges. Probably not with the W300 though. To test it , point the scope at a white wall or the sky and stop down the lens to f5.6 then f8 and see what happens.
Neil.

Hi Neil

The W300 doesn't have an Aperture Priority mode and proram is the only option other than manual. I was a bit put off by this when I first looked but apparently program does work quite well with this camera. In terms of my shutter speeds, they are high enough to avoid movement in most cases. I have also found that the W300, allows you to bump the ISO higher, while still keeping good quality, than most compact cameras will allow. This smakes for faster shutter speeds. Although I am a moderately experienced photographer, I am a complete novice when it comes to digiscoping, and am just finding my way around.

Willie

willie45 said:

Hi Neil

The W300 doesn't have an Aperture Priority mode and proram is the only option other than manual. I was a bit put off by this when I first looked but apparently program does work quite well with this camera. In terms of my shutter speeds, they are high enough to avoid movement in most cases. I have also found that the W300, allows you to bump the ISO higher, while still keeping good quality, than most compact cameras will allow. This smakes for faster shutter speeds. Although I am a moderately experienced photographer, I am a complete novice when it comes to digiscoping, and am just finding my way around.

Willie

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Willie,
Nice to know. That would put me off as I like to have a lot of control over these things.
Thanks, Neil.

Neil & Willie,

Thanks for your info and since I am relatively new to this set up I too want to have the best settings to get the best results. I looked for f stop in manual mode and found when the monitor is set to show the settings you can set both shutter and f stop very easy by pushing the settings button. Shutter speeds can be set from 1/4 to a highest of 1/1000 sec. Fstop has a range of from 2.8 to 8.0. All the other settings are very similar to P mode. Thus far my better pics have had f readings from 4.0 to 8.0 and shutter speeds from as low as 1/20 to 1/160. To increase shutter speeds I've used iso at either 200 or 400.

I guess I'll have to explore the M mode also to become adept.

Joe

Had a quick play in P mode the other day, the shots are not great, but bear in mind I was 300+ yds away from the bird. First impressions are good and I am only holding the camera to the eyepiece with no adapter.

Hi again folks.

I take your point Neil but have found, as Josef mentions, the manual mode gives lots of control if required and as I said it is quite easy to check the shutter speed is adequate and to bump up the ISO if needed. I am completely amazed at the quality of images this camera produces at higher ISOs.

The people at the camera shop ( LCE Plymouth.... they deserve a plug ) were very, very helpful indeed and were some of the few people in shops who seemed to have experience of digiscoping. They reckoned the best results were obtained with the camera on program and focus set to " from macro to infinity" mode.


My adapter arrived today and I had only a short time to try it out in the back garden on inanimate objects. Results were fairly good given my lack of experience and the conditions at the time. It showed me the quality this camera is capable of producing. I intend giving it a proper trial at the weekend. I will probably simply start by using program mode and then try manually selecting aperture and shutter speed without being too fussy about adjusting exposure all the time.

From 300yds away and holding the camera these shots are surely as good as can be expected, Chrysophylax. I have noted most of the good quality shots in sites are taken at a good deal less than 100yds even with an adapter.

If I get some shots I will post a couple here for your perusal.

Thanks for sharing the advice

By the way a big shout of thanks to the London Camera Exhange, Plymouth branch. They have been incredibly helpful and knowledgeable about this business. I cannot recommend them highly enough. I could have saved myself £30 of an order totalling £310 by going with Dixons online but the service they have given easilty was worth the extra. Also i changed my mind about what eyepiece adapter I wanted today, ( 2 weeks after receiving the order ) and they said no problem about changing it. If I had done this elsewhere it would have cost me an extra £60 so I reckon I'm £30 up on the deal by going with LCE. They told me to carry on using the one I have until the new one arrived which will be about 4-6 weeks and to keep both until I was sure I was happy with the replacment. They are one of the best retail experiences I have had for a while. I have no connection with them, just a happy customer.

Willie

Some correction needed on my last comment since I have now worked a little with Manual and actually read the manual. The F goes from 2.8 to 16 depending on the WA to Telephoto. Another neat thing is the EV shows what the camera reads as best setting with EV as 0.

Some more photo's at range.

Just to ressurect the thread a little, I have now got the SRB Gritturn MK2 swing out adapter for my Kowa. These shots were taken at a distance of 300yds+. P mode, focus set to infinity and metering on centre weighted and ISO400. I found the bird with the spotting scope using the 20-60 zoom eyepiece (not the best one I know, I have got the 21xWA and the 32xWA, but the bird is very far away) set at around 50x, I then mounted the camera and selected a 2second timer delay once the shutter button is pressed to cut out movement on my part. The results are very satisfying for me as record shots of this majestic Female Peregrine. What do you guys think? would you be happy with these shots? or would you try another setting. Neil.

I think you had to be a lot closer than 300yds (maybe 150 tops?), but still way too far away. But if true, no camera settings will overcome this distance. You really need to get with 100m and don't be afraid of cranking the zoom all the way to 60x. Actually better to use more eyepiece zoom over more camera zoom. The 88mm objective gives lots of light and for small-sized shots/prints you could probably even go ISO800 to keep the shutter speed up.

Rick

Chrysophylax said:

Just to ressurect the thread a little, I have now got the SRB Gritturn MK2 swing out adapter for my Kowa. These shots were taken at a distance of 300yds+. P mode, focus set to infinity and metering on centre weighted and ISO400. I found the bird with the spotting scope using the 20-60 zoom eyepiece (not the best one I know, I have got the 21xWA and the 32xWA, but the bird is very far away) set at around 50x, I then mounted the camera and selected a 2second timer delay once the shutter button is pressed to cut out movement on my part. The results are very satisfying for me as record shots of this majestic Female Peregrine. What do you guys think? would you be happy with these shots? or would you try another setting. Neil.

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This looks good at the distance. The Centre Weighted Exposure has blown the highlights a bit but then it becomes hard to hold detail in the shadows. For distance Spot Metering would probably have been better. From the Exif I see you had -0.3 dialed. I would have gone for -1 with Centre Weighted or -0.7 with Spot and maybe bracketted. If you have the option of Aperture Priority that would maximise your shutter speed over Program Mode.
I agree with Rick to bump the zoom eyepiece to 60x and drop the camera zoom a bit would be better. If you can adjust Contrast/Sharpening in-camera then I would bump it up for long distance.
I've had a play with it and taken the liberty to clone out the distracting white bits in the background. This is just a rough go at it. I bumped up the contrast a bit too.
For accurate distance info you can go into Google Earth and use their measure tool.
You should be happy with the sharpness of this. The AF has done a good job despite the distance.
Neil.

RJM said:

I think you had to be a lot closer than 300yds (maybe 150 tops?), but still way too far away. But if true, no camera settings will overcome this distance. You really need to get with 100m and don't be afraid of cranking the zoom all the way to 60x. Actually better to use more eyepiece zoom over more camera zoom. The 88mm objective gives lots of light and for small-sized shots/prints you could probably even go ISO800 to keep the shutter speed up.

Rick

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I have looked on google maps and the distance is 305metres.

Neil said:

This looks good at the distance. The Centre Weighted Exposure has blown the highlights a bit but then it becomes hard to hold detail in the shadows. For distance Spot Metering would probably have been better. From the Exif I see you had -0.3 dialed. I would have gone for -1 with Centre Weighted or -0.7 with Spot and maybe bracketted. If you have the option of Aperture Priority that would maximise your shutter speed over Program Mode.
I agree with Rick to bump the zoom eyepiece to 60x and drop the camera zoom a bit would be better. If you can adjust Contrast/Sharpening in-camera then I would bump it up for long distance.
I've had a play with it and taken the liberty to clone out the distracting white bits in the background. This is just a rough go at it. I bumped up the contrast a bit too.
For accurate distance info you can go into Google Earth and use their measure tool.
You should be happy with the sharpness of this. The AF has done a good job despite the distance.
Neil.

Click to expand...

Thanks Neil, that looks considerably better, I will try other settings, particularly the ones you mention for long range digiscoping. Thanks again. Neil.

W300 pics

Just thought I would attach a couple of holiday snaps, taken with the W300, ATS80HD and the 25-50x lens. First pic lens was at about 30x, the second at 50x. At 25x very little vignetting, 1 tap on the zoom clears it. I'm getting used to this combination and I'm really quite happy with it.

Gary

Gary, superb photos!
How far were you from the bird?
I also got W300 couple of weeks ago and took some handheld pics so far. Not so easy thru Nikon zoom though

Maciek

Maciek, thank-you for your kind words. The first pic was taken at about 12 meters and the second about 60, however I'm not a very good judge of distance. The second shot was taken about 9-930pm at ISO200 1/80sec so I was lucky the bird or wind didn't ruin the shot. Not wishing to spend your money in these times but I recommend you get some sort of adapter and cable release as shot quality could and probably would increase dramatically.

Using WA to T

Thought I'd update where I'm at with my w300. I'm now using it with a Kowa 883, 21x EP and custom adapter. When I first made the adapter I set it up with the lens almost touching the EP at full extension and was happy to see it worked but results were sporatic and to focus I'd go to full T and then withdraw to WA and shoot. seemed as though I always had a hard time focusing at WA. I've concluded at WA it is beyond the limits of the camera to compensate with this set up so decided to modify the adapter. Wearing trifocals I always focus through the monitor and my adapters always have a cable release and extend-a-view as part of the adapter. Last week end I went in the field and used only T, the attached Killdeer I submitted last Saturday was the result. It was taken in program mode with spot focus at about 30'. I'm now running tests to find the optimum distance between EP and camera lens using the cameras WA to T.

I've also learned more about the M mode and agree great results can be achieved in this mode with open aperture. One test I ran comparing M to P was interesting. I took 2 pics in each mode (WA and T) and compared results which were identical. Except for the mode the EXIF data was the same. In P the camera matched the max open aperture I had set in M. I'm not saying it will always do this but interesting. Both T pics were in focus better than the WA pics, guess I better get back to my adapterising.

Joe

Had a chat with a Sony rep here in the UK earlier this week and he told me that the W300 is to be discontinued "soon". No indication of what soon is of course...

Shame as it seems to get favourable reports here :-(

It's great for digiscoping and general use, the macro is ok too. So get one while they are still available. Cheap at Dixons online.