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Canon G5 (1 Viewer)

I have had a G5 now for about 3 months.

I am new to birding however an have no experience of, but would like to learn about, digiscoping.

As a stand alone digital camera - this is the best I have used - Optical lens quality is first class and fast and the handling is great.

The G5 is the kind of digi camara that SLR uses will like (who can't afford a Canon Digi SLR!)

Its small enough to go out with you but big enough to handle like a proper camera.

Needless to say exposure's are spot on with loads of auto modes and full manual capability and being a 5 MP model, A4 prints are excellent.

You won't be disappointed.......hm now how can I connect it to my opticron 66 scope???

Cheers
 
Roger,

Have you looked on www.dpreview.com for their review of it? Also, if you go to www.pro90.info/forum and register as a member, then do a search for the Canon G5, you will see what several people have said about it compared to the Canon Pro90IS. As I remember, nice all around camera, but the main critique was its lack of reach, which you definitively want with birds.
 
Firstly, welcome to Birdforum Timf, you will find a lot of info. here!

Thankyou Timf and bcurrie for your responses. I like to hear of personal experiences, in addition to professional reviews, and the concensus seems to be very good. Digibirder has a G3 camera that she uses with a Opticron ES80 'scope. The G3 is very similar to the G5, and the ES80 'scope is roughly similar to the HR66 'scope, but I do not know what eyepiece Digibirder uses with her home-made adaptor. I have used the 40929 digital eyepiece with my HR66/Fuji S304 camera combination and own-design adaptor.
 
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Roger

Thanks for the info - now that I have time to browse the forum in a bit more detail I have picked up on "digi-birders" experience with the G3.

Diane has been most helpful in PM ing me with details of how to make the link between scope and Camera and from the look of some of her picks the results are excellent!

Cheers


Tim
 
rogerscoth said:
but I do not know what eyepiece Digibirder uses with her home-made adaptor.

23xWW HDF - 40810, I think. I haven't gone back to trying the 32xWW that came with the scope. I only used that eyepiece with the Coolpix 995 but bought the smaller eyepiece because the original gave too much magnification and I had a lot of camera shake (so I thought - it may have been the fact that the 995 would not focus correctly). I will have to try the higher magnification eyepiece with the Canon and see what the results are.
 
TimF said:
I have had a G5 now for about 3 months.
//
You won't be disappointed.......hm now how can I connect it to my opticron 66 scope???

Hi Tim,

I'm about to buy a digital camera, but I'm shy of the ubiquitous recommendations to buy the Coolpix 4500. Apart from anything else, I'd hate to support a company that sells a cable-release for £100 - that's just stupid! And I believe the Canon comes with a free cordless remote control...

I've been reading (lots of) reviews about the Canon G5, and they don't seem very good (lots of noise and blue fringing) compared to the G3, so if I can still get one I reckon I'll buy the G3.

Anyway - I had a look at the G5 with the accessory-adapter fitted, and the adapter I saw looked different to the one Diane has illustrated - hers appears to be a barrel with parallel sides; the one I saw flared from 48mm out to 58mm. Stick with me - I'm getting to the point...

The diameter of your new Leica eyepiece is 52mm - just right for jamming into that flared Canon adapter, without the need for any fancy plumbing! (Note that the camera lens would have to be pulled back to allow the eyepiece far enough in) And all for £15! If it works it'll be fantastic - couldn't be easier to attach/remove; no fiddling with screws or permanently attached gadgets preventing you from using the scope for observation...

Have you tried this yet? If yours is one of the flared-type adapters I'd be very keen to hear how you get on.

Cheers,

Al
 
Al

Got to confess - I had no idea about the size of the Leica eyepiece matching the canon lens adapter when I bought the scope!

Just decided to get the scope as it seemed to fit my criteria from a viewing perspective.

Thought that I would spend some time improving my birding skills before trying digiscoping (My first hand held attempts were laughable compared to the quality of some of the images on the gallery pages!)

Where did you see the lens adapter you refer to - Not the Canon part surely?

I know the reviews of the G5 that you refer to - I too was initially put off by them but as a Canon fan for many years (T70, T90 Eos etc) thought I would give it a try and took my CF card to Jessops to take a few shots.

I personally could not see any faults and the images were superb.

The handling is first class and the amount of manual control almost equal to my SLR.

- just didnt like the layout of Nikon Coolpix cameras and how it felt in the hand (but this is down to personal preferences only

G3 would give you all this but 5mp G5 allows for even more detail to be captured- (noticable with A4 prints)

In the end I probably would have been happy with a G3 - If you can find one at a bargain price go for it - I got a good deal on the G5 and have to say that I am very pleased with this.

(and the slate grey colouring is more like a professional camera!!)


All the best
 
My adapter is not an official Canon one - it's from a company in America called Lensmate, as indicated in my thread explaining the set up. Their address is http://www.lensmateonline.com/ There is also a photo of the remote shutter release in that thread. I find this very handy.

I bought the Lensmate thread adapter so that the step down distance to my scope eyepiece would not be as much as from the Canon adapter with its 58mm thread. I had also heard that it was better quality.

My setup feels very secure with the piece of plumbing tubing slipped over my eyepiece, as there is a rubber ring just inside that grips nicely - no screws needed. It is very quick to get on and off and allows for the lens to zoom fully out and not hit the scope eyepiece.

The suggestion to slip the eyepiece into the thread adapter would be very risky, in my opinion. For one thing there would be a lot of vignetting - I get a little at full zoom, which is easily cropped out. If you had to pull back the zoom to get the eyepiece inside the adapter, the vignetting would be unacceptable.

Also, if you were to zoom without thinking, the camera lens would end up hitting the eyepiece glass, which could cause scratches.

The whole setup would also be very insecure and you would have to hold it in place, thereby introducing camera shake.
 
Tim - yes, it's Canon's own part; it said on the box that it was fofr the G3, but it fits the G5 perfectly.

Diane - sorry - I didn't mean to disparage your plumbing attachments in any way; it's a piece of creative genius! But doesn't the white material cause diffuse extraneous light inside and maybe affect contrast?

Regarding your concerns about security and zooming:

1) security - Leica's pull-out eyecups have a soft(ish) rubber ring around them which would lock well in the flared barrel of the adapter

2) zooming - this might be the fly in the ointment after all. Although the lens is actually shorter when 'fully zoomed' than when it's set to wide-angle, it might still be long enough that it comes into contact with the eyepiece of the scope. Maybe the eyecup in 'pulled-out' mode will help that; I'll let you know if/when I find a G3.

Whatever happens, I think it's close enough that a very small amount of fine-tuning (and maybe some plumbing) will make it work. Watch this space...

Al
 
Al,

I didn't think you were being critical of my plumbing adapter - after all, it took me minutes of fine crafting to produce it!

I haven't noticed any contrast problems at all - but if there were any I would be able to adjust it in Photoshop. Maybe I'll paint it black sometime or wrap some black tape around it.

Re your numbered points:

1) I have to take my eyepiece rubber eyeguard off, otherwise the lens and eyepiece are not close enough. They need to be as close as possible but without touching. If the scope eyepiece, as in your scenario, was wedged halfway up the barrel of the thread adapter using the eyeguard, I can't imagine that this would be a very secure fitting at all, especially the amount of possible play with the adapter end being flared out at the end. The end of my plumbing adapter goes all the way down the scope eyepiece to the scope body and the camera lens is almost touching the eyepiece. There is no play whatsoever so it is impossible for the camera to fall off.

2) As you zoom, the lens goes in and out and then stops at the chosen zoom length, but I agree that full zoom is not much different to wide zoom in the extension of the lens. This makes it even more critical that you do not have the eyepiece too close to the lens to start with. I always take mine off to change zoom length as I am well aware of the lens going out before it goes in. In my setup, the end of the camera lens comes almost to the end of the Lensmate adapter. The plumbing extension merely encases the eyepiece.

I hope you get round to finding the right solution for you.
 
For anyone interested...

Since all the magazine advertisers now appear to be sold out of the remaining G3's (by all accounts superior to the G5!), I went on a tour of the shops in Cambridge at lunchtime, without success... UNTIL... I walked past Jessops just as someone was stacking G3 boxes in the window!

I got a 'refurbished' G3 and the adapter for £365, with a year's warranty. Don't know what was refurbished about it; it was in brand new condition with all new, sealed accessories in the box. They have another three of them (lunchtime 20/10/03), and I'm sure they'll do mail order.

I'll try to get some shots with it this weekend.

Al.
 
Al

re G3

Thats exactly the bargain I was referring to in my last post!
£200 cheaper than I paid for G5! - well done!

Cheers
 
I tried the G3 and the £15 adapter on my scope last night, and I'm afraid it might not be the best solution after all. Bummer.

Diane - you were right, the flared tube just isn't secure enough on the eyepiece; it kinda works, but I'd have to tape it in place or something.

Tim - the vignetting is a problem at all but 16x on the Leica eyepieces. It works well (I won't bore you with the photos of my toothbrush) at 16x, but I'd hoped it would be a more versatile system than that.

So. I went back to Jessops today, and they've agreed to let me take the Coolpix 4500 home tonight to experiment with, and see if it does the job I want, and then tomorrow I'll take one of the cameras back for a refund.

Shame - I reckon the G3 is a better all-round camera, and it's about half the price of the Nikon plus all the bits required for digiscoping.

Great big elephants pants.
 
Al Downie said:
Diane - you were right, the flared tube just isn't secure enough on the eyepiece

Hate to say I told you so, but..... I told you so! 8-P

Sorry, didn't mean that!

Still, it's good that they let you take the Nikon home to try. Before you decide to go down the 4500 route, I suggest a trip to B&Q or similar to get a piece of plastic plumbing joint (mine's 40mm) and stick the G3 lens inside it and slip the whole thing over your eyepiece. Should only cost you about £1.50. That is what I did to try it before sawing the other end off the piping and fixing the step ring onto it. See this thread for the adapter before cannibalisation. The photo of the Wood Pigeon in my gallery was taken with this setup.

Of course, this depends on the diameter of your eyepiece. I was extremely lucky that the piping fits perfectly over mine. You may still be able to fashion something for the 4500 instead of paying for the commercial adapters. Lots of people have home-made adapters from things like pill bottles.

Hope you work it out.
 
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