Scope help and advice

[sleipnerofasgard]

After much soul searching and investigation i have decided that instead of purchasing the Sigma 50-500 i would instead go down the Digiscoping route as i do not have a decent scope anyway, i know there are a few furtive D/Scopers on this forum so advice would be most welcome.
I am thinking of buying an Opticron ES 80 GA ED and either a wide angled or a zoom lens (ideas please), i know most people recommend to get the best you can afford and this fits into that category i also think it would be better to get a separate camera rather than use the DSLR, one of the compact types (recommendations please) so that i can keep the DSLR for any quick shots ie in flight or too close subjects, i know my local INFOCUS do some good deals that compare quite well with any i have found on the internet and they have a descent D/Scoping kit that i might be able to wangle a deal out of them on that too.Cheers in advance

Frank

[epops]

i got an optiron imagic and a little nikon coolpix as i was fairly skint and could'nt afford much i must say the coolpix i fairly good for a little compact camera

[Kev-B]

Hi Frank ..

The best advice I can offer is before laying out any money .. find out as much about Digiscoping as you can ..

Just Google "Digiscoping" .. (preferably in UK) .. there are a number of very good Sites, which will explain all that you require to get set up .. (If you want links to my favourites just PM me) ..

Like many other things, Digiscoping involves more than just a Scope & Camera .. You'll need a good, solid Tripod, an Adapter for attaching Camera to Scope, Compact Flash Cards, an external Battery Pack, a Cable release & so on ... (it can very quickly become very expensive) ..

You'll also need an Image Editing package on your PC .. (very few of the stunning images you'll see on the Digiscoping Sites came out of the camera like that) .. most have been subjected to a greater or lesser degree of "tweaking" ..

I started out with an Opticron "Imagic" .. but soon moved onto a Swarovski AT 80 HD ... coupled with what is, by many regarded as the "ideal" Digiscoping camera .. a Nikon Coolpix 995 (sadly, no longer produced) ... though other cameras have come along & from what I read, are very good ...

The latest innovation is the Minox "DCM" or Digital Camera Module (not yet released) but which looks very interesting .. (just Google "Minox DCM" for more info) .. I may well update my camera in favour of this as it does away with the need for an Adapter & comes with a remote Shutter release, so removing any possible camera "shake" ..

Best of luck ..

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

PS .. Apologies for mentioning Brand names but there wasn't an easier way of explaining ..

[glsammy]

No problem mentioning brand names. We do it all the time.
Now if you were actively trying to sell those brands, that would be a different matter!

[epops]

Originally Posted by Kev-B

Hi Frank ..

The best advice I can offer is before laying out any money .. find out as much about Digiscoping as you can ..

Just Google "Digiscoping" .. (preferably in UK) .. there are a number of very good Sites, which will explain all that you require to get set up .. (If you want links to my favourites just PM me) ..

Like many other things, Digiscoping involves more than just a Scope & Camera .. You'll need a good, solid Tripod, an Adapter for attaching Camera to Scope, Compact Flash Cards, an external Battery Pack, a Cable release & so on ... (it can very quickly become very expensive) ..

You'll also need an Image Editing package on your PC .. (very few of the stunning images you'll see on the Digiscoping Sites came out of the camera like that) .. most have been subjected to a greater or lesser degree of "tweaking" ..

I started out with an Opticron "Imagic" .. but soon moved onto a Swarovski AT 80 HD ... coupled with what is, by many regarded as the "ideal" Digiscoping camera .. a Nikon Coolpix 995 (sadly, no longer produced) ... though other cameras have come along & from what I read, are very good ...

The latest innovation is the Minox "DCM" or Digital Camera Module (not yet released) but which looks very interesting .. (just Google "Minox DCM" for more info) .. I may well update my camera in favour of this as it does away with the need for an Adapter & comes with a remote Shutter release, so removing any possible camera "shake" ..

Best of luck ..

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

PS .. Apologies for mentioning Brand names but there wasn't an easier way of explaining ..

i just loked at the minox and i can feel a full upgrade coming on if mrs epops lets me lol

[Kev-B]

Graham .. Many thanks for that .. still being new, I'm hesitant about breaching the rules ..

Epops .. Funny how one gets these little "urges" innit ?? ....

Frank .. See what I mean ?? .. No sooner have you got all set up, than some shiny, new kit comes along & you get to thinking ...

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

[sleipnerofasgard]

Thanks for all the information so far, the Minox gizmo looks very interesting but as i said the scopes that it fits are more than likely out of my range(range, geddit?) as for quick decisions this is certainly not that as i have said the Bigma lens is generally available around the £700 pounds mark and would give you a reach of 500mm, although a recent thread on here has made that debatable,and even with that reach you still have to get pretty close, having said that i took up the interest through taking pictures i now find that i am a little bit more interested in the actual birds.
On a few occasions lately, i have seen the very scope i have been thinking about , in action, i was trying at the weekend to get a picture of a Spotted Redshank and the best i could manage was a red legged splodge and i am pretty sure even with the Bigma i would still be struggling to get a half descent shot, i am not looking to get a professional shot here by the way, but a reasonable recognizable image and a guy in the hide with me, who had the very scope in question, showed me his, in my opinion, extremely good shots that i would have been more than happy with.
the next day i met another D/Scoper with the same scope yet again who was using a canon DSLR, and watching him as he set it up convinced me that there were too many disadvantages to this method,the loss of the scope,lack of LCD and the time to change from scope to lens, so in conclusion, the fact that i could, with the right eyepiece, convert a camera into a 1500 mm lens coupled with the fact that i would also have a descent scope for around the same price as the Bigma has all but convinced me, incidentally, a guy i met yesterday had recently bought the latest Kowa scope, around £1400 worth, when asked if it was worth that much and that much better than his previous scope gave the perfect reply, he said "i don't smoke or drink,i am retired and you can't take your pockets with you when you go, so why shouldn't i have exactly what i want" tremendous.
By the way he also said that the Opticron was the best lens you you could possibly get for that money. I like the cut of his jib

Frank
ps sorry for rambling

[JW]

For what it's worth mate, don't go for the zoom. Buy one of Opticrons ED fixed eyepieces.
The reason being that the field of view on a zoom is more limited with a zoom than with a fixed. Also the quality of image on a fixed is higher. Although there doesn't seem much difference when you look through them it would be noticable on the PC. Our brains make up for a lot of optical problems that a PC can't overlook.

[sleipnerofasgard]

Cheers JW, that was the option i was thinking of going for, they had a nice 27x wide angled lens which seemed very good and i did try a zoom lens on the scope but the view seemed less impressive as you reached the higher end, i was told that i could try my DSLR on the scope to try a few pictures next time i am in, so i will at least have some idea of what to expect as regards to quality of results so all looks good so far

Frank

[canny]

The Minox DCM certainly looks interesting but I assume it replaces your scope lens therefore the quality of your image could be lost.
Zeiss also do something which looks very similar for their scopes but obviously with their lens. It costs nearly a grand? The Minox just over £300.... Big difference.
I can't find any reviews yet, bit early I suppose.

[Kev-B]

Hi Canny ..


Here's a link to the Minox "DCM" .. which explains how it works ..

Minox UK website

Bye for now ..

Kev ..

[sleipnerofasgard]

The latest update is, i bought the opticron scope i mentioned and i went for the 20x60 HDF zoom which was not the one i had tried previously and certainly seemed to perform much better at the higher end even with the camera setup, hoping to get the camera this weekend.
Incidentally, while i was trying out the scope, i got some good views of a Barn Owl hunting and sitting on a post a very long way away, took some pictures with the 300mm lens which were only record shots at best and i cursed the fact that i didn't have a camera on the scope but someone was sat next to me with a DSLR and a 500mm lens and i asked him what sort of pictures he had got of the bird, i have to say that they were only slightly better than mine.Now i know that having already decided to go down the D/Scoping route you might think i am looking to prove myself right but i do believe that if i had a camera on the scope i would have gotten a fairly good picture and that would have made me extremely happy, and that, as they say, is the whole point

Frank