Some digiscoping experiments with a dslr (2 Viewers)

[Neil]

First photo shows the target I was aiming for. It's a small street lamp on a path at the back of my house. 2nd photo is at 92X and I think it's a small daylight sensor on top of the street lamp. 3rd photo is of a Wood Pigeon in the tree to the left of the street lamp, also at 92X magnification.

Paul,
Looking good. You should have no problems with waders in breeding color out on the mudflats now. I have Televue eyepieces (25 mm and 32 mm Plossls) which I've found very close to my Swarovski quality. I must give one of their Radians a go . Maybe a 10 or 12 mm. Neil.

 

[Paul Corfield]

A couple of test shots from today showing tiny flies at a range of around 35m. One was taken by stacking a pair of good quality 7 element 2X teleconverters together. I'd guess the magnification to be around 85X on the scope when I compared it to the other photo which was taken through the 28mm lens/6.5mm eyepiece combo. These two photos compare both methods and quality is about the same but colours are better when using the 28mm lens. Some camera noise is present which seems to be a factor on the older Pentax/Samsung dslr models but these pics are almost full size crops which is why it's more apparent.

Paul.

 

[mooreorless]

Paul,What species of flies are these? All joking aside, this has been a very interesting thread and thanks for posting these pictures and your and other's thoughts on the subject.
I have a Celestron 80ED focal lenght 600mm f7.5 and have yet to see any CA in it. I am waiting for warmer weather here to try out my new camera and this scope.
Regards,Steve

 

[Paul Corfield]

Paul,What species of flies are these? All joking aside, this has been a very interesting thread and thanks for posting these pictures and your and other's thoughts on the subject.
I have a Celestron 80ED focal lenght 600mm f7.5 and have yet to see any CA in it. I am waiting for warmer weather here to try out my new camera and this scope.
Regards,Steve

Steve, you will have a good idea what to expect from the Celestron 80ED as it's the same Synta optics as mine. The Celestron has slightly better build quality though but at an extra £100 here in the UK it just seems a bit much for something that's going to perform the same optically. Yeah the CA is virtually zero which is outstanding for something of this price. I have to photograph something pretty much into direct sunlight before there's even a hint of CA and even then you wouldn't see it in a resized imaged.

Paul.

 

[mooreorless]

Paul, I bought my 80ED at reduced price floor sample on internet. Right now there is a close out on these scopes at $300 U.S. and the people that are buying them love them so far. These are not a light wt. scope for sure, need a good tripod.
Regards,Steve

 

[Paul Corfield]

Some photos from today taken with the Skywatcher 80ED at varying distances from 10m out to around 50-60m using a pair of 2X teleconverters stacked together. All taken in dull conditions with light drizzle. Pretty pleased with the results and should perform well in better conditions.

Paul.

 

[Kuldoode]

Paul,

How do you get your focusing so crystal sharp when through the scope ?

regards

 

[BrianInnes]

Hi Guys,

I think i have managed to upload some images, these are my first attempt with dslr now that i am getting the hang of the manual thing. this was taken just holding the camera against the scope. Find it hard to keep it steady.

Hopefull when i get my other eyepiece and learn to focus better i think i can safely say my images will improve.

Paul, obtained a 50mm 1.8 lens yesterday , off ebay, serial number is within range that you provided.

I also bought the 52 to 54 mm step up ring so that i can attach to the baader hyperion when it arrives.

Then i will upload for true critisism and advice, in the meantime feel free to have a laugh at the ones i have attached. I can assure you this is much better than what i was getting with my coolpix.

speak soon guys.

Nice pics. I also live in Fife and I must visit Birnie Loch again soon with my scope and camera!

Whats the equivelant focal length of your setup?

 

[Kuldoode]

I have not got my set up complete yet so cant really say.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Paul,

How do you get your focusing so crystal sharp when through the scope ?

regards

Plenty of practice and a good eye I suppose. My hand is always on the focuser and I'm tweaking it with every shot. I use the continuous shutter so the odds of getting at least some in focus are pretty good. I've been digiscoping for about 5 years now and used to make my own scopes so I've got a pretty good understanding of optics and how to get the best from them.

A couple more from today using the stacked teleconverters. Measured the distance to 70m on google maps.

Paul.

 

[Kuldoode]

Now your showing off Paul !! LOL

Looking good mate, cant wait to see in better conditions

regards

Andy

 

[JGobeil]

Those flies are amazing Paul. Congradulations !

 

[Paul Corfield]

Really dark and miserable here today with steady rain so this is pushing it to the limits of what my camera can do. 2 teleconverters stacked (3600mm equiv) and settings were ISO800 with 1/20 shutter speed and mirror lock up at 35m range (115ft). Took around 15 photos and nearly all were sharp. More modern dslr's should be able to do ISO800 or even ISO1600 with no visible grain.

Paul.

 

[Kuldoode]

Paul

What do you mean by mirror lock up ?

regards

 

[Paul Corfield]

Paul

What do you mean by mirror lock up ?

regards

A lot of dslr's have the option to lock up the mirror before the shot is taken and it's something you need to do at really slow shutter speeds to keep everything as sharp as possible. On my camera the mirror moves to the up position and then there is a 2 second delay before the photo is taken. When the camera/scope is on the tripod this 2 second delay allows any movement to stop before the shot is taken and avoids blurring the image at low shutter speeds. On a normal photo as you press the shutter the mirror locks up and the photo is taken and the mirror moves back down all in a split second. On the tripod, just the small action of the mirror moving will cause a slight movement. At around 1/60 speed and higher I wouldn't bother because the scope is stable enough.

Paul.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Finally some sunny weather and got a chance to have some fun with the stacked pair of 2X teleconverters (3600mm equivalent) and really pleased with how well these perform with regards to detail etc. Here's three photos all at 35m (115 feet) range. The two tall ones have been cropped and then resized from 2150 pixels to 800 pixels tall. Similar for the wide one but width ways.

Pair of 2X teleconvrters = 3600mm
One 2X teleconverter = 1800mm
Scope only = 900mm

Paul.

 

[BrianInnes]

Finally some sunny weather and got a chance to have some fun with the stacked pair of 2X teleconverters (3600mm equivalent) and really pleased with how well these perform with regards to detail etc. Here's three photos all at 35m (115 feet) range. The two tall ones have been cropped and then resized from 2150 pixels to 800 pixels tall. Similar for the wide one but width ways.

Pair of 2X teleconvrters = 3600mm
One 2X teleconverter = 1800mm
Scope only = 900mm

Paul.

Those are very sharp images for 3600mm equivelant! :t:

 

[Paul Corfield]

Took this one today and really pleased with the detail on a small bird at this range. Out of 10 photos 7 were keepers so it works very well. If the bird is hopping around the branches it's a little harder but with continuous shutter there are a few sharp ones.

Magnification is 3600mm equivalent through the pair of 2X teleconverters/telescope and range was 35m. Got another 2X teleconverter coming this week that I picked up cheap on ebay. It's a 7 element Kiron model which were supposed to be very good. At the moment I'm stacking a 2X Tamron SP F-System and a Tokina 2X Doubler. They are both 7 element designs. The cheaper 4 element designs of which there are loads of on ebay aren't worth bothering with.

I'll post a photo of the whole set up tomorrow showing all the parts used.

Paul.

 

[Neil]

Took this one today and really pleased with the detail on a small bird at this range. Out of 10 photos 7 were keepers so it works very well. If the bird is hopping around the branches it's a little harder but with continuous shutter there are a few sharp ones.

Magnification is 3600mm equivalent through the pair of 2X teleconverters/telescope and range was 35m. Got another 2X teleconverter coming this week that I picked up cheap on ebay. It's a 7 element Kiron model which were supposed to be very good. At the moment I'm stacking a 2X Tamron SP F-System and a Tokina 2X Doubler. They are both 7 element designs. The cheaper 4 element designs of which there are loads of on ebay aren't worth bothering with.

I'll post a photo of the whole set up tomorrow showing all the parts used.

Paul.

Paul,
Very sharp. You must be running out of light.
Neil.

 

[Paul Corfield]

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to push the magnification much higher, maybe a short extension tube between the camera and teleconverters. The last photo was ISO400 1/60 although I did some at 1/90 today and they were fine. With a better DSLR you should be able to go to ISO800 or even 1600 without too much noise and that would get you up to a decent shutter speed. It's only really my camera that's limiting me now as it starts to get a little noise at ISO800 but It'll do me till next year. With just one teleconverter the shutter speeds go up to 1/500 on a sunny day like today. With no teleconverters it's up to 1/1000 - 1/1500.

A pair of 1.4X teleconverters would probably be a good investment. Something for me to think about.

Paul.