Are combined binoculars/cameras any good?

[touchwood]

We've just come back from a week on Skye and realised how poorly equiped we were for the sort of bird/wildlife watching and photography we would have liked to do. (old pair of binoculars and standard digital camera).

Wouldn't say we're fanatical photograhers/birdwatches etc and are a bit new to it, but like to be out and about, (looking for fungi this time of year)and it's nice to be able to see or photograph anything interesting that comes along.

Quite like the idea of binoculars that incorporate a camera and wonder if any of you more experienced folks have any opinions or advice to offer on that idea.

All comments gratefully received.

[coasty]

NO..... let me think is there anything to add,,, No

[KeenTeen17]

I would recommend getting a scope. It would be very hard to photograph through bins - there too wobbly! Some scopes come with an adapter which fits an ordinary digital camera onto the eyepiece. I have never tried it because my scope doesn't fit my compact camera. I am saving up for a dslr and a fat lens though

[Darley]

Originally Posted by touchwood

Quite like the idea of binoculars that incorporate a camera and wonder if any of you more experienced folks have any opinions or advice to offer on that idea.

All comments gratefully received.

As Coasty said regarding combo units ... NO. Depending on your budget, my advice would be a decent pair of binoculars around 8x40 or 10x50 for which you shouldn't have to pay more than about £100, and a DSLR with the well-known Sigma 50-500mm lens should suffice. The latter is very expensive new, but good used examples can be found on various photography forums.

[touchwood]

Looks like I'll be stearing clear of a Combi then.

Being a bit new to this wildlife photography lark it's knowing where to start but your comments have been really helpful. Many thanks.

[sometimes]

Don't go anywhere near combo-whatsits.
Next decide whether photography or birdwatching/nature watching is your prime interest.
If the former put most budget into your camera, if the latter into binos. Don't buy a scope - you'll spend more time carrying on useless trips than lookng through it. Sharing a scope is a faff, much easier to pass a pair of binos (you could buy two pairs of binos). A scope needs a tripod. Looking through a scope means you miss more than you see. Strangely it's possible that you will use a scope less the longer you have it - as your knowledge level increases you will be able to identify birds more readily with binos and they'll be little point in setting the scope up. Depends whether you're using if for id or for studying behaviour. If there's a few birders about they don't mind you looking through their scope to see a bird they might be on - just engage them in conversation and bull up the fact they have a scope and you haven't.

If you buy a camera, it might be worth looking at a 'bridge' camera - they usually have pretty long focal length lenses, which would be comparable to the magnification of your binos. They look a bit like a DSLR. Main problems with them might be shutter lag (though this is improving all the time) and the fact they usually have a video type viewfinder, which can take some getting used to. Of course this would double for all your holiday snaps, family stuff and other bits and pieces. Because they have such a long wide zoom range they have a permantly fitted lens and they're pretty light - an equivalent DSLR and lenses doesn't bear thinking about in size, weight and cost.

Bear in mind that binoculars have no running costs, apart from the occaissional service and with care should last a lifetime. A digital camera will be perceived to be out of date much sooner - this is certainly the case for dslr backs. I run a canon 30D -there's already been 2 new marcs in the 3 years I've had it - in other words digital cameras are still developing.