Nikon Fieldscope ED82 Angled Digiscoping ??? (1 Viewer)

[EagleEyed]

Hi All,

I have a Fieldscope 82mm ED Angled (I also have the 50mm ED Angled) with the 25-75x zoom, the 50x wide, and the 30x wide, these are all the MC eyepieces not the digiscoping eyepieces. I need to get a digiscoping solution going for good quality documentation purposes but need some advice. I would like to know what solutions (cameras/adapters/eyepieces) you folks here are using for your 82mm ED fieldscopes, and how you feel about the results you get. If you can reference your photos on the net that would be really helpful.

In your responses please don't consider the best solution for the MC eyepieces or to include the ED50 in your calculations, I am not too concerned about digiscoping with the 50ED just yet, but want to get a good solution only for the 82. I really appreciate any feedback.

I wish that Nikon would come out with a good technical digiscoping guide for their products and keep it up to date. I mean if I was a world-class camera AND spotting scope maker, I would have a constantly updated electronic downloadable publication showing which of my camera and scope combinations were advisable and the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each, giving magnifications possible with each combination, techniques, adapter and equipment recommendations, etc. Support like that would really help to sell product and endear users to the brand!

So far I can see 3 ways to go:

1. A Nikon DSLR (but which one?) with Nikon's DSLR adapter.

2. A Nikon digital camera (but which one?) with which Nikon adapter gear. Nikon is still showing on their website that their adapters work with the P5000 series of cameras, these cameras are not even available any more. What is their current solution with their current equipment?

3. Another brand of digital camera, just holding it up to the eyepiece, or
using some other adapter gear.

I think with a DSLR you just get one fixed magnification. With a digital camera you can maybe get more magnification.

What do you guys think, what solutions are you using with the 82, and how do you like them?

I know a lot of people are interested in the answer to these questions!

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

Hio Mark,

i'm using Fujifilm F31D with universal adapter made by SRB-Griturn attached on my DS20x eyepiece. So far so good because my camera is excellent in high ISO and I normally shoot in the rainforest.

You are using MC eyepiece, you can check from the Griturn to see if they have the measurement in the catalogue.

By the way, it is better to use carbon fibre tripod with sturdy head e.g Manfrotto 501 to get good result hehehe

 

[EagleEyed]

Thanks horukuru! I am using a Manfrotto 055MFV carbon fiber tripod with the 701RC2 head, so far so good, like this setup. Did I read that you upgraded to the 501 head, if so did it make a good difference? How long have you been using the F31D? Mark

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

Did I read that you upgraded to the 501 head, if so did it make a good difference? How long have you been using the F31D? Mark

I was using 701 head for several years and once I got my digiscoping adapter, it became back heavy plus the camera itself. The 701 sliding plate is not long enough to balance the scope and the panning and tilting locks became a bit loose unfortunately ...

So I have decided to get the 501 head, even though heavy, but worth the money and I took pictures much faster using this head than my old one hahaha :king:

Have been using Fujifilm F31D since 2007 and only started digiscoping last year check my birding blog below to see my digiscoped images.

 

[Baltus]

Hand held

Eagle Eyed
My advice is to skip adaptors alltogether.
Many of my birding friends have them and they all stay in the closet(the adaptors that is...).They are just too cumbersome.
As I see it there are two choises:
1:Serious bird photography with proper gear.(SLR,top notch lenses)
2.Bird watching with an option of photographic documentation(Digiscoping)

I use an ED82 with an 30MC eyepiece combined with a hand held Ricoh R7 pocket camera.The lens fits right into the eyecup, thus making it an "adapter" in it`s own right.
Why I prefer this?
The trick is to shoot as many shots as you can before the bird flies.Before you can even remember in which pocket you put all your gadgets, I will have fired 20 shots.
There ar three criteria for a decent picture:
Light,more light and yet some more light.
You need light to get low shutter speeds.Much more important than IS.Ask any pro photographer, the answer will be the same:Light !!
You need your tripod as low as you can get it for stabilisation.
I take 10-15 shots once I spot the bird, then lower the tripod and take 20 more.If the bird stays put, I sneak nearer and nearer,stopping all the time to shoot more pictures.
With this method I can concentrate on birding and still be able to document my finds.
Out of 100 shots, an avarage of 40 are OK for documentation,1-2 turns out decent pictures and the rest is junk.Ergo,do not take one or two pictures;Take one hundred!Here lies the secret, no matter what they want you to belive or buy(no offense meant).Don`t worry about vignetting,Photoshop takes care of that.
Save money. Use what you have already got. Have fun.Don`t dispair!
reg
Baltus

p.s.A few examples with aprx. distances:10mts,25mts,30mts and100meters

 

[Alexis Powell]

My advice is to skip adaptors alltogether...
As I see it there are two choises:
1:Serious bird photography with proper gear.(SLR,top notch lenses)
2.Bird watching with an option of photographic documentation(Digiscoping)

That's fine advice so long as the goal of the poster isn't choice 3: dedicated digiscoping for the purpose of taking high quality photographs of small birds with (relatively) inexpensive gear and done in a fairly impromptu manner (i.e. no major investments in setting up blinds/hides etc).

Mark,
There are some SLR lenses that can be used behind a scope eyepiece in the same fashion as a compact camera for digiscoping, but in general the little lenses that are typical of digital compact EVF and pocket cameras match the size of the scope ocular better and thus reduce vignetting problems. A bracket will allow you to achieve perfect alignment of the lenses to maximize image quality, and I'd say is essential for photographic quality digiscoping. Using an SLR with long lenses is a whole different ball game--much greater cost, and you usually have to have a target subject in mind (or a staked out location--feeder, water source...) and perhaps even set up blinds etc in order to get close enough and keep the bird happy. Using a scope with an SLR adapter is equivalent to using a slow, modest quality camera lens, and as with those long lenses, magnifications are much lower than is possible photographing through the scope eyepiece.

--AP

 

[Kevin Conville]

Mark,

You might try asking these questions in the digiscoping forum, two doors up.

Also, going to the gallery and searching "Nikon Fieldscope" will yield photos and the set-ups used.

Our friend Horukuru's gallery is a good place to start, some really beautiful work:
http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=10666

 

[Jason Bugay Reyes]

Thanks Kevin and Mark, another option for your camera adapter is by machining your own fixed adapter similar like Neil's adapter if your camera does not has any lens thread like mine.

This is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892550@N03/3330129980/in/set-72157614341197469/

When I first started digiscoping, I took pictures without adapter by hand holding it to the eyepiece. Then I found out, in certain situations, using video mode to record the behavior of birds is essential with adapter rather than hand holding your camera to the eyepiece because the shake for your hand would affect the quality of your pictures and video.

My videoscoping gallery below showed it clearly few videos of wild birds recorded with my Fujifilm F31D. The video mode itself is not very good compared with new cameras like Panasonic LX3, Sony W300 or Nikon P6000, but I shoot more in still mode than using the video.

Let say if I need to buy new camera for Digiscoping, I will buy the New Fujifilm F200EXR and use 25-75x zoom eyepiece or any of the cameras I mentioned above.

Let us know what is your decision Mark and happy digiscoping hehehe

 

[EagleEyed]

Thanks All, very helpful!

For documentation purposes I do like Baltus' approach, for use with the 30MC which I have that is a very good solution! Speed and simplicity are Very Important.

For far away birds, shorebirds or waterfowl, etc., where I would need higher power than 30x, it would be great to shoot through the zoom at 60-75x (I know not hardly possible or advised, too dark) or the 50x Wide MC, but then you might need a camera for each eyepiece?!!

Mark

 

[temmie]

Thanks All, very helpful!
For far away birds, shorebirds or waterfowl, etc., where I would need higher power than 30x, it would be great to shoot through the zoom at 60-75x (I know not hardly possible or advised, too dark) or the 50x Wide MC, but then you might need a camera for each eyepiece?!!

Mark

the 60-75x range will give much more vignetting, and thus less light on the sensor. Your camera will adapt and shutter times will be increased manyfold. Pictures will experience more camera shake, and more shutter-time softness. So not a good idea. The major concern will be to get closer to the birds...

50x MC has, as far as I know (and I have both), the same dimensions and thus diameter of the eyepiece as 30xMC.

Last remark, I see plenty of good pictures taken without any adapter, for example this one (with ED82A, 30x wide DS and Nikon coolpix 4500):

The most important boundary conditions are:
1. good light (thus no big magnifications, keep it at 30 or lower),
2. distance
3. steady hand, so if possible, lens that fits within your eyepiece rubber.

 

[Baltus]

EagleEyed
A few more tips:
Try the macro(flower symbol)setting.On many cameras this will give better (allthough slower) focus.
When able,use the 2sek. timer option to hold camera steady with both hands.(poor man`s cable release)
Use max. quality picture settings.
Get an older version of photoshop from someone that has to have the latest all the time.
Get NeatImage free on the web to remove grain and distortion caused by the
pixel cramped, tiny sensors that stupid marketing has left us with.(exept for maybe the old Fujis that had a better "sensor size/pixel count ratio"
Start trying out settings on a fixed object in good light.
Take tons of pictures so you can work effortless when you really need it.
Don`t give up if 200 shots turn out useless.
Stellar costallations are said too influence the result.....
Again: Good luck to you!
Baltus