Hi John,
I think we need to clarify a few things. With a dslr connected to a scope, you will not be digiscoping as such and nor will you get the magnification that traditional digiscoping allows. You are basically using the scope as a manual focus prime lens (often 800-1000mm @ f10+ or so), with this method (which was used for many years with 35mm slr) you replace the scope's eyepiece with an slr adapter made by the scope manufacturer, this terminates in a T2 mount for the approriate camera lens mount.
There are problems with this arrangement, notably lack of metering (as mentioned above) and the small aperture that makes things very dim in the viewfinder, as well as the obvious lack of light in the image in general (high iso needed).
Traditional digiscoping involves using a compact digital camera (invariably the Nikon coolpix range 990/995/4500) attached to the actual eyepiece of the scope, therefore getting the huge magnification from these (20-60x) together with the cameras own internal 3 or 4x zoom (handy for composition as well). Surprisingly, the f# of this set-up is often less than f6 @ a total focal length of 2,000mm (though it's dependant on the objective lens size of the scope, 80mm+ being the best).
As far as scopes, you get what you pay for in terms of optical quality....think Zeiss, Leica, Swarovski, Kowa or Nikon if you're into larger prints.
Some guys are starting to use dslr's in a similar manner, using appropriate lenses and then held up to the scope's eyepiece.
Regards,
Andy
johncoxon said:
Well, co-incidence. I have a Nikon D100 and have only just found out about digiscoping and dying to know what i have to get to be able to have the advantage of field scope magnification. Do you buy the scope first and then look for an adapter, or what do you do. i want the best stuff I can afford. Neat , by the way, using the camera to meter for you ! Great idea. What products should I be considering, may i ask. there seems to be a wide range of scopes available but the prices vary wildy . Thanks, John