Zoom vs fixed mag eyepiece? (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone,
Does anybody have a preference for a fixed or zoom eyepiece for digiscoping?I use a CP4500 with an Opticron 80mm scope. I currently use the 20 -60x zoom eyepiece. I have only had success at the bottom end of the zoom. Would a WA fixed mag reduce the need for the camera zoom to reduce vignetting? Would I get better (= greater mag with clarity) results with a x30 WA eyepiece?
Thanks,
John

John

I use the ES 80ED With the SDL zoom and like you use it mainly at 20x to get the best shots. I find the zoom much more versitile for viewing and digiscoping opposed to a fixed mag.

out of interest what set-up do you have.

John,
For digiscoping normally a fixed eyepiece is better but it does depend on the Eye Relief . Normally 20 mm of ER is preferred and zooms can be less than this. With the Swarovski 30x (20 mm of ER ) I'm able to use the 60% of the Olympus 7070wz zoom with little or no vignetting ( due to the design of the lens I can't use the mid-zoom or at full wide ). Less camera zoom usually means sharper photos . Neil.

Hi. I realise there is a lot of personal preference in this issue. I will give you mine. I have a zoom eyepiece and fixed X25 and X40 eyepieces. I used to do general birding wih the zoom eyepiece 20X-60X all the time. One day, using the pentax 20-60X eyepiece, I was watching a pacific pigmy owl from my parents balcony in Ecuador. My father ask me how different the fixed eyepiece was. So I put it in and to my surprisse there was another owl sitting close to the first one. I had missed it beacuse of the narrower field of view of the zoom eyepiece compared witht the fixed eyepiece. Since then I have noticed how easier is to track birds in movement with the fixed eyepiece and have not gone back to the zoom. The picture captures the moment. Jose.

fixed???

J dear said:

Hi everyone,
Does anybody have a preference for a fixed or zoom eyepiece for digiscoping?I use a CP4500 with an Opticron 80mm scope. I currently use the 20 -60x zoom eyepiece. I have only had success at the bottom end of the zoom. Would a WA fixed mag reduce the need for the camera zoom to reduce vignetting? Would I get better (= greater mag with clarity) results with a x30 WA eyepiece?
Thanks,
John

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Hi.....Well..Now i am reading this post and im making myself the same question,....See,the problem is that i can afford ANYTHING right now...if i had ANY extra money ,i would probably look for a nice fixed eyepiece for digiscoping.I have the angled pentax 65mm coupled with a VERY nice Swarovski astro style zoom,quite nice eyepiece,i feel lucky that i was able to find it used in new condition,since it is the only one i have ever seen for sale in the secondary market.It was a big investment for me to spend +a couple hundred $ in an eyepiece(especially having the option of using decent inexpensive ones with the pentax scope)but i had the money at the time and wanted something nice.so far im very happy...BUT...i think for digiscoping,MAYBE ,a nice pentax eyepiece would have been a better option.I am now thinking to sell or trade the swaro Zoom and try to get the pentax XW 14....Anybody would give an opinion on that: SWAROVSKI ASTRO ZOOM VS PENTAX XW 14????????????

mayoayo said:

Anybody would give an opinion on that: SWAROVSKI ASTRO ZOOM VS PENTAX XW 14????????????

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mayoayo,

How much do you do digiscoping? If you ever use your scope just for birdwatching, please don't give away your Swaro zoom - you would regret losing its versatility. Just keep saving until you can afford a good fixed eyepiece and I would even recommend an XW20 (or some other 20+mm ep) rather than the XW14 on your little Pentax 65.

In digiscoping:
Low power + long eye-relief + wide angle rules! :t:

Ilkka

iporali said:

mayoayo,

How much do you do digiscoping? If you ever use your scope just for birdwatching, please don't give away your Swaro zoom - you would regret losing its versatility. Just keep saving until you can afford a good fixed eyepiece and I would even recommend an XW20 (or some other 20+mm ep) rather than the XW14 on your little Pentax 65.

In digiscoping:
Low power + long eye-relief + wide angle rules! :t:

Ilkka

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HI.....you are right ...i would miss the swaro zoom..i have not looked through the big pentax zoom,but compared with the pentax XF the swarovski has an optical quality edge.....I do carry my kyocera sl400 and adapters with me when birding,and i would like to really get to explore the possibilities of the technique...although using the scope for birding and sketching is becoming my first tendency!!! the swaro zoom has good eye relief all over its magnification range,getting slitghtly on the short side at 7.7mm,but perfectly usable(probably around 13mm of eye relief at that power) and a very comfortable 17mm? all the way from 23.1mm to 15mm....the camera doesnt vignette over half its range,but having some experience with other scopes/cameras, i think that it would work without vignetitng, all of its zoom range, coupled with an eyepiece with just a bit more eyerelief and extra field of view.That would probably mean better pictures!! The other thing to review is the adapter.In my case i made my own ,and works great.Allows me to securely attach my camera and ZOOM the eyepiece without restrictions(thanks to the design of the eyepiece)...but i think it sets the camera lens about 3/16 of an inch(roughly 5mm)from the ocular lens.I am sure something gets lost in that little distance!....I think im going to revise my design and post some comparative review .......

Paul Jarvis said:

John

I use the ES 80ED With the SDL zoom and like you use it mainly at 20x to get the best shots. I find the zoom much more versitile for viewing and digiscoping opposed to a fixed mag.

out of interest what set-up do you have.

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Paul,
I have an Opticron ES80GA 45 angle with 20 -60 zoom, using an Eagle eye adaptor on a coolpix 4500. I bought a discounted tripod with the scope.If the bird is relatively stationary I will use a Jessops cable release adapter as well. However I have a large collection of empty perch photographs using this technique! The major improvemnt to the number of 'keepers' came when I bought a manfrotto tripod with a decent head. The set up is much more stable and image blur is much reduced. I try a few quick exposures for the record, then a hands free short timer shutter release if I have time. If the light is good and I can afford to use a fast shutter speed I use the continuous shutter setting. With luck the bird will be in a reasonable pose in one of the images.
John
John