Digiscoping with the Nikon S9100 (1 Viewer)

[Neil]

I'm impressed with the speed of the new Nikon digicam with CMOS sensors. I've been using the P500 and P300 with some success so I thought I would give the S9100 a try with it's impressive 9.5 frames per second ( for 1 second )http://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon/compacts/nikon_cps9100
It also has an impressive 25-450 mm ED lens in a small body and I got it in red.
When used with the Kowa 25x LER eyepiece it has a small range when there is not vignetting at the beginning of the zoom. I was pleasantly surprised to find today that with the Swarovski 30x that there was no vignetting at 38mm in Macro Mode.
It also has a low speed Continuous shooting speed which is good for shooting for a lot more than 1 second. It also has a 60 fps and 120 fps at much reduced resolution for capturing fast action sequences.
The photos show vignetting at wide (25mm), unvignetted at 38 mm and a cropped bulbul taken at wide but as it was from the camera.
I'll be shooting with it at the wetlands tomorrow for a real test.
Neil

Nikon S9100 and Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw30x eyepiece and UCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
May 2011

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

Excellent Neil !

Will try this one too soon I hope

 

[Neil]

I took the S9100 out with me to the wetlands , with 5 other cameras for comparisons ( and fun ). Nikon P7000/P6000, Sony Nex 5, Panasonic GF1 and Olympus 7070wz ( "old faithful" ).
This was a Swarovski day and I mainly used the Swarovski 45x eyepiece, which is my favorite long distance eyepiece, but also the modified Kowa 25x LER.
There was a little vignetting with the 45x ( only 18 mm of ER ) and so I could only use the camera at wide zoom - around 28 mm.
The first image of the waterlily was with camera only at full zoom of 450 mm.
Neil

Nikon S9100 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw45x eyepiece and UCA adapter

Mai Po Nature Reserve,
Hong Kong,
China.
May

 

[Sandpiper]

Impressive results, Neil. Great to see the Spotted Redshanks in full breeding plumage.

Mike

 

[Neil]

Went back to Florida again and had 5 beautiful days for digiscoping the northerly migration. Here are some more images from the S9100. I used it more on this trip .
Neil

Nikon S9100 and Kowa lens/scope Prominar and Kowa VA adapter and Vortex PS100 adapter

Florida, USA
May 2011

 

[JBT]

Wow! Those are some impressive pictures Neil. I've been looking for a camera to replace my Panasonic lumix which tends to be a bit bulky for me at times. This Nikon has definitely got my attentions. Thanks for sharing your pics.

 

[Neil]

Wow! Those are some impressive pictures Neil. I've been looking for a camera to replace my Panasonic lumix which tends to be a bit bulky for me at times. This Nikon has definitely got my attentions. Thanks for sharing your pics.

I'm having fun with it but note my disclaimer - must be used with long eye relief eyepieces eg Kowa 25x LER or Kowa VA Video Adapters. It needs at least 25 mm of Eye Relief.
Neil.

 

[JBT]

Thanks for the heads up on the ER Neil. Neil have you ever tried videoscoping with the Nikon S9100?

 

[Neil]

Thanks for the heads up on the ER Neil. Neil have you ever tried videoscoping with the Nikon S9100?

I like the S9100's video as it has a dedicated Video button which is easy to activate. When light is marginal I use video more. This video was taken at about 50 meters using the Kowa 25x LER eyepiece on the Swarovski scope.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892550@N03/5715709764/in/photostream

Neil

 

[JBT]

Thanks Neil! The video quality looks very good. I just noticed you already had another thread posted about using the S9100 for videoscoping sorry I didn't catch that earlier. Sent you a PM.