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What camera and adapter for Kowa 883? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter carapace
- Start date
If you have the 25x LER eyepiece then you have a lot more choices of camera due to it's long Eye Relief. With the DA adapter and the 20 - 60 zoom you are more limited to small 35 - 105 or similar digicams using the Vortex PS 100 type universal adapter.
If you like to walk around and digiscope in the sun , an Electronic Viewfinder camera would be a good choice , eg Nikon V1 and Micro Four Thirds cameras.
Neil
If you like to walk around and digiscope in the sun , an Electronic Viewfinder camera would be a good choice , eg Nikon V1 and Micro Four Thirds cameras.
Neil
Thanks Neil. Ideally what I would like is an easy transition from scope to digiscope meaning I anticipate using the scope more for pure birding and ID. That said it's nice to be able to photograph a questionable ID to examine more thoroughly later. Would the Nikon V1 and the Vortex PS 100 adapter allow that? Is there something different given this new information you'd suggest? I bird with a photographer but her main complaint is distance on a lot of birds we're trying to capture on film. I have the 20 x 60 zoom and find I need that at times for ID so I don't think I'll convert to the 25x LER eyepiece unless I get caught up in pic taking. I understand I'll get vignetting but again I won't be entering photo contests... Really appreciate your advice in this area.
wimvdam
Well-known member
Like you I use my 883 + 20-60x primarily for birding. I digiscope to settle ID questions and I like to be able to switch between scoping and digiscoping as quickly as possible. After quite a bit of reading about my options, I settled on Nikon's P300 P&S camera. I have been pleasantly surprised how well this works, especially after I found a piece of plastic tubing at my local ACE store that fits perfectly between the eyepiece and the P300 and which functions as my $2.49 adapter.
-Wim
-Wim
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So do you use the Kowa DA10 adapter or is your plastic tubing serving that function? I'm really uneducated about this so please forgive my ignorance. Do you leave the eyecup on the eyepiece? Do you have to hold the camera still precisely if you use this method? I don't want to risk damaging my eyepiece at all so I'm not opposed to buying the adapter if necessary. I was told I'd need the vortex ps100 if I go with a point and shoot camera. If I choose that route I'll definitely check out the Nikon P300. I'm thinking I may want to use the camera to shoot wildlife without the scope if I'm hiking without it in which case I'll need a DLSR with some zoom choices.
RJM
Don't Worry, Be Happy!
Really your best bet is to bite the bullet and cough up the $$$ for the Kowa DA4 universal swing out adapter. Much less fiddle factor once it is hooked up. Then you can use just about any 3x-5x optical zoom camera and still use the scope visually without rebalancing everytime you want to take a pic.
wimvdam
Well-known member
I do not need a DA10 adapter for my set up. Hopefully these two photos explain how it works. The treated part fits nicely over the 20-60x eye piece of 883, so there is no need to detach anything when you want to use it in the field. It's this piece of plastic:
http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&itemNumber=44030
Somehow, by magic, it fits tightly on the P300 and over the 883 eyepiece.
- Wim
http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&itemNumber=44030
Somehow, by magic, it fits tightly on the P300 and over the 883 eyepiece.
- Wim
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wimvdam
Well-known member
What an excellent solution. I wish I had one. I'll go look around the plumbers supply stores here.
Neil
That does look like a clever solution, BUT after reading Neil's posts on the V1 and numerous reviews, I think I'm stuck on that camera. I really want a camera I can take in the field without the scope at times and shoot pics if something extraordinary is encountered. The V1 seems nice and small, user friendly and I'm also interested in shooting video, so unless someone changes my mind today, I'm getting it tonight.
That said, I'm totally confused about how to best attach it to the scope (Kowa 883), PLEASE help. Again, I'm most interested in quick on and off so the scope can primarily be used for scoping. I'm assuming it's not a rewarding experience to keep the camera attached and spot through the camera's LCD screen but correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks for all the help and I'm glad I seem to be making some progress in selecting equipment. Now if I can find the right DCA I think I'm set:t:
The Kowa DA adapter will do the trick but it's better on the 30x eyepiece as you need to zoom a lot with this adapter on the zoom eyepiece. The Electronic Viewfinder is high resolution so you can leave the camera on the scope for viewing and focusing but you will need to take it off for observing.
Neil
I didn't get the V1 yet, the sale I thought I was tracking was for the J1 so I remain camera-less at present. My conflict is this: my current feeling is I will digiscope mainly to get confirmation of sightings and not for the art of photography, so I really want the 20-60x zoom to be readily available to find subjects. Other important considerations for me are: really have wanted a nice, simple zoom camera I can take on nature hikes when I don't have my scope. This camera will need to be able to shoot HD video as well. With that consideration the V1 seemed like a no-brainer choice, BUT is it easy to remove and use the scope as a scope? The P300, plumbers pipe solution looks pretty easy but what about hand holding and shake pushing the shutter? I have to confess we don't currently own a pocketable, decent point and shoot so maybe as a beginning digiscoper the P300 is a more sensible solution. I'm not opposed to eventually owning both these cameras just would like to not make a silly, redundant purchase if it can be avoided.
Appreciate all opinions and advice.
wimvdam
Well-known member
When I faced the same conundrum that you do, I could not find one camera to do both jobs the way I wanted it (affordable, flexible, not too heavy, et cetera). As a result I decided to buy two: one 'no zoom' P300 camera for digiscoping, and another 'superzoom' for hiking (I went with the Panasonic FZ150).
The plumbers pipe adapter is of course far from perfect: it requires some fiddling and you have to be careful not to move when pressing the button (here the 7fps of the P300 really helps). But, it will be impossible to have any financial regrets when trying it. When you don't like it, you can always go for a more professional adapter.
- Wim
The plumbers pipe adapter is of course far from perfect: it requires some fiddling and you have to be careful not to move when pressing the button (here the 7fps of the P300 really helps). But, it will be impossible to have any financial regrets when trying it. When you don't like it, you can always go for a more professional adapter.
- Wim
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Thanks, that was the conclusion I seemed to be coming to. I'll check out the FZ150 as well. How do you like that camera for hiking? Appreciate you're help and link to the plumbers fitting.
wimvdam
Well-known member
I like it and it definitely helped me settle some Sapsucker ID questions earlier this winter. It weighs 1.16 lb (526 g), which works fine for me when hiking. When deciding on which P&S superzoom to go for, I did a lot of reading about them here at birdforum. You probably want to do the same thing.
- Wim
Brian J Small
Well-known member
I use the Kowa 883 with zoom eypiece for all my digiscoping.
I have a Panasonic Lumix Lx-3 - no longer available new, you can get it on ebay, but better than the Lx-5 due to the 3x only zoom. I can attach this to a Leica adaptor D-Lux 4 (not the D-Lux 5!), which was made for this camera.
Images come out well.
Brian S
I have a Panasonic Lumix Lx-3 - no longer available new, you can get it on ebay, but better than the Lx-5 due to the 3x only zoom. I can attach this to a Leica adaptor D-Lux 4 (not the D-Lux 5!), which was made for this camera.
Images come out well.
Brian S
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Hi carapace, I have the 883 and the V1 and so far have been out twice with the combo for digiscoping.
The set up I went with uses the FT-1 Nikon adapter for the V1, and the Kowa TSN-PZ adapter on the scope instead of a regular eyepiece. This set up has plusses and minuses, the most obvious of which is that you can't use the scope without the camera attached to the end of it.
The V1 camera provides incredible flexibility to anyone in the Nikon system, especially with the FT-1, which allows almost all Nikon F mount lenses to be attached to the camera. So, the 70-200 f/2.8 zoom becomes a 190-540mm f/2.8 zoom which makes it a great walking around wildlife camera because, in good light you can shoot at 60 frames/second at full resolution, with VR at f/2.8.
On the scope, the V1 plus TSN-PZ gives a range of 1,836 to 2,700mm f/8 to f/11. If that isn't sufficient, add a 1.4 teleconverter for 2,570mm f/11 to 3,780 f/16, you can even go to a 2X TC, although I have yet to try that combination. I even ran across one dude who had filed the tabs off two TCs and put a total of 3.7X TC onto the scope, let's see, that would be 1000x2.7x3.7=9,990mm at f/1,000,000 or so !!! The downside of that is that you have to have a cement truck tag along to poor a footing to make it stable enough to look through. But the camera does have a delayed timer function, and remote operation, so set it to five seconds, and fire away.
In conclusion I am discovering new things to like with the camera and the scope on a daily basis. If the weather here in BC would cooperate and give us sime sunshine, I am sure I would be able to scope some neat shots, in the mean time, I have some shots posted here in this forum, and you can also check me out at
https://picasaweb.google.com/ckuklbac
Good luck!
The screen of the camera has a magnify focus function that enables pin point focus at arms length, although the usual caveats apply re strong sunlight (bring a black umbrella)
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