Why is the oly not suitable for digiscoping (1 Viewer)

[KC Foggin]

Hey Andy, I know you have told me the Oly cameras are not suitable for digiscoping thru a little experimenting I can see why. Much vignetting. I recently bought the raven spotting scope knowing full well it was not going to be used with my camera. I am enjoying the heck out of the scope and perhaps at another time I will get a better one but for now it is suiting my viewing purposes and opening a whole new spectrum in viewing the birds. I guess what I want to know is:
1. What is it about the oly lens that causes this vignetting... and..
2. Were I to purchase another camera down the road to try digiscoping and to have a better camera, which would you suggest?

 

[Andy Bright]

Hiya K.C.
Not all Oly cameras are unsuitable for Digiscoping... but the ones with large diameter lenses and high power telephoto lenses, like yours, really struggle.... though you'll note that you can get some sort of image at full camera zoom (still vignetting, too much zoom and probably contrast problems).

It's just the actual lens positioning inside the camera that is the problem....the actual lens on these cameras is usually situated quite a way back from the end of the lens (the glass at the end of the lens is no more than a protective cover)....so it's often beyond the eye-relief distance of the scope/eyepiece. Basically, just lens geometry.

The best camera for digiscoping is the Nikon coolpix 4500 (950/990/995/880/885/5000 are all suitable, notably the 990 & 995). Things may change.
If you really love Olympus cameras you could think about the 4040 or the 5050 but I'm not 100% sure on them and they do need the Olympus CLA adapter to allow a digiscoping adapter to join camera to scope.....sounds a bit complicated.
Hope that helps,
Regards,
Andy

 

[KC Foggin]

Thank you so much for answering this for me and I promise I have copied and pasted this so I will not have to ask you again.

I do like the oly a lot except for low light situations but I tend to stick with what I am comfortable with rather than brave new technology. I guess that thinking has to change.

 

[Steve Lister]

Hi andy
I am thinking of starting digiscoping but at present my scope is a Nikon EDIIA with the standard zoom eyepiece; I suspect that the diameter of the eyepiece lens might be a bit on the small side; am I right ? I also have a 30x wide angle, which has a much bigger diameter; would this be more suitable for digiscoping / And is there any reason not to go for a Nikon CP4500 ? I would be using it for moths and other insects too.
Thanks
Steve

 

[Andy Bright]

Hi Steve,
First off... the Nikon eyepieces are a slightly odd design in that most standard digiscoping adapter tubes wont fit over them very well.

Fortunately Nikon make their own excellent digiscoping adapter (advertised in Birdwatching mag I think) for their MC series eyepieces... but it won't work with the Nikon zoom eyepiece :-( Which is a shame as a zoom eyepiece at it's lowest mag usually lets in lots of light.
Don't worry about the eyepiece diameter too much, not that relevant.
Your 30x eyepiece should be o.k.... but combined with a scope with a smallish diameter objective lens (not sure about your scope) this may not let in a great amount of light for getting reasonably fast shutter speeds.

No reason not to buy the cp4500.... the coolpix series is famed for it's macro abilities (focus down to 2cm) so it's great for little creepy crawlies.... they even make a ring flash that fits to the lens for illuminating macro subjects.
Regards,
Andy

 

[Tim_in_indiana]

My 2100UZ has a 49mm ring in the front, and I have added a 180C, 1.7X adaptor to it. I understand what you mean about vignetting, but at full zoom it is hardly noticable. I have been thinking of trying it with a scope of some kind (Meade 90 comes to mind). Would I be able to compensate for the vignetting by cropping the center of the picture, or is the vignetting so bad that I lose most of the image?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Andy Thatcher]

I bought a digi camera before I had realised there was such a thing as digi scoping, that would be last year !

As it is an Oly do you know of any problems with the C2040 Andy ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[IanF]

I did try digiscoping with an Oly C2000Z and a Kowa 611 with A TSN 30x WA eyepiece.
I got photos, but they were poor quality, very soft images. The camera is fine for normal use and even using tele-lenses attached, so I just put it down to the scope incompatability. Perhaps the scope objective was too small not letting in sufficient light. I didn't find vignetting a problem though. It was slight but could be cropped out.

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Cheers Ian.

Must confess that since the Tring Bash thing I can't wait to have a bit of a crack at this. May work might not but I do want to find out.