Digiscoping with android phone vs with mirrorless DLSR- advice please? (1 Viewer)

[kylie-bird]

I'm a bird about to buy my first scope - trying to decide between Nikon Monarch Fieldscope, Celestron Regal M2 and Vortex Diamondback - all 20-60x, 80 to 85mm objective, angled.
I plan to use it when visiting wetlands and beaches to identify birds in the distance.
I'm not a pro photographer by any means but I like to take photos for ID and for my records and memories. I have a Canon EOS RS mirrorless camera and I got excited by the idea of being able to use this with a scope, and thought this may influence my choice of scope.

But before I spend hours trying to find compatible adaptors available in Australia (we have a much smaller market), is it even worth it? I got the impression from a couple of threads that digiscoping with a smart phone camera gives as good an image, or better than connecting a DSLR to the scope, or that I might get a better shot with one of my old point-and-shoot cameras.
Certainly using my phone would be quicker and more convenient, and cheaper (I already have a thing for digiscoping with binoculars that might fit scope) but I would use my DLSR on the scope at least some of the time if the resulting image would be significantly better than with mobile. Is it a big enough difference in image quality to justify the extra cost of adaptor and possibly more expensive tripod?
How does digiscoping with point & shoot camera compare in terms of image quality and ease of set-up? Is it like with phone where you just pop it on? or like DSLR where you have to remove eyepiece of scope?

Thanks in advance

 

[kylie-bird]

I will just add that my phone is Pixel 3A in case that makes a difference

 

[Mike Crawley]

Hello and welcome

I can’t answer all your questions I have done "phonescoping" but never owned a camera that could do the job. However, I can tell you is that some great results are possible using your phone.
Granted, it will take some practice but it won’t take long for you to achieve decent results.
You will need a phone holder which will align your phone’s camera and your eyepiece and hold it steady (it is possible to produce decent images hand holding the phone to the eyepiece but best results come by using a phone holder) but these are not expensive and are available both as a match for your phone and eyepiece or as a universal design

 

[Mike Crawley]

Here’s a hand held phonescope picture from Costa Rica last February

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

I'm a bird about to buy my first scope - trying to decide between Nikon Monarch Fieldscope, Celestron Regal M2 and Vortex Diamondback - all 20-60x, 80 to 85mm objective, angled.
I plan to use it when visiting wetlands and beaches to identify birds in the distance.
I'm not a pro photographer by any means but I like to take photos for ID and for my records and memories. I have a Canon EOS RS mirrorless camera and I got excited by the idea of being able to use this with a scope, and thought this may influence my choice of scope.

But before I spend hours trying to find compatible adaptors available in Australia (we have a much smaller market), is it even worth it? I got the impression from a couple of threads that digiscoping with a smart phone camera gives as good an image, or better than connecting a DSLR to the scope, or that I might get a better shot with one of my old point-and-shoot cameras.
Certainly using my phone would be quicker and more convenient, and cheaper (I already have a thing for digiscoping with binoculars that might fit scope) but I would use my DLSR on the scope at least some of the time if the resulting image would be significantly better than with mobile. Is it a big enough difference in image quality to justify the extra cost of adaptor and possibly more expensive tripod?
How does digiscoping with point & shoot camera compare in terms of image quality and ease of set-up? Is it like with phone where you just pop it on? or like DSLR where you have to remove eyepiece of scope?

Thanks in advance

The easiest way for digiscoping is by using your smartphone and adapter. But if you are particular with high resolution for pics especially for printing in the future, get a modern mirroless cameras with adapter. I does digiscoping with both system and the above are what I have found between images taken via smartphone, mirrorless and dslr cameras

Whitehead's Trogon with Nikon D3s DSLR (2010 camera)




Rufous-collared Kingfisher with Nikon V1 mirrorless (2011 camera)




Orange-backed Woodpecker with Realme 9 Pro Plus smartphone

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

Here’s a hand held phonescope picture from Costa Rica last February
View attachment 1564086

I like! What Owl is that?

 

[Mike Crawley]

I like! What Owl is that?

Spectacled Owl and thank you