digiscope! advice please!

[deelcee]

thinking of going down the digiscoping road!
any advice as to camera,scope,adapters etc...greatly appreciated!!!

[Tornado]

Digiscoping can be extremely frustrating without the proper equipment for the job, as my husband has found. First of all, a camera that has an internal zoom lens is a must, cameras that do not tend to switch off when using the zoom against the eyepiece of a scope.
A good spotting scope with a large objective lens is a great benefit thus allowing more light into the which equates to a better quality image.
Next is finding a bracket that fits your scope and camera and that you are happy with, this can be difficult, there are numerous companies that manufacture these, all with their own advantages and disadvantages, the trick is going to a reputable photography shop who stocks various "universal" brackets and try them out with your own camera and scope (assuming these have already been purchased)
If starting from scratch I can recommend a great all-round camera that is pretty good for digiscoping and it's tiny. I will not post it on the forum but if you want more info please feel free to browse the website at the bottom of the post and click technical info then photography. I hope this will be of use to you

Regards Tornado

[g8ina]

Ive come from the astronomy side of digiscoping, with a standard small refractor and a Nikon D70 DSLR.

Using this kit needs a technique called "prime focus" where the camera body fixes directly onto the scope, without any other lenses or eyepieces. It is great for high quality images, as there is very little glass in the optical path to cause any distortions. The down side is that it can be big and unweildy, and you only get the prime focal length of the scope as a telephoto lens (mine is an 80mm objective with 500mm focal length).

With the more usual spotting scopes and compact cameras, like the Nikon 4500 or earlier 950, you use "afocal projection". This uses a scope with eyepiece attached, and an adaptor which clamps over the eyepiece onto the camera. I think the advantages of this outweigh any disadvantages... You can use a smaller and lighter camera, you can use different eyepieces and zoom settings to get MUCH higher magnification, and it's probably cheaper - unless you already have the DSLR.

I'm actually just selling my 80mm scope in favour of a large zoom lens (probably the Bigma 50-500mm), as I am disabled and the scope is just too big and difficult to handle.

I have had some very good success with prime focus however, and I will miss it !

http://www.g8ina.enta.net/Goldfinch_8427.jpg
http://www.g8ina.enta.net/Robin_8349.jpg
http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/dat...ars_7361-s.jpg

What sort of budget do you have and do you have any kit to start with ??