Anyone have a rifle scope?

[dEARlEADER]

I have been hired to shoot at a hunt camp this upcoming deer season. I will be shooting the final two days and there is a 50/50 chance that most tags will be used up sometime during this point. I have an idea for a shot and I'm not sure if it's possible.

I want to to take a shot through a rifle scope of a deer in the cross hairs. I would like some shallow DOF around the perimeter with sharp focus through the scope. Is this even possible? I don't hunt and don't have a rifle scope and was just wondering if anyone has tried anything like this.

I will only be able to do this shot if all the tags are used... I don't think any of the hunters will want to share their scope if they have a good opportunity.

 

[chrisburke]

great idea.. make sure you post it... but not the dead animals.. thats sad...

 

[zeroskillz]

I'm also a gun dealer, so here's my advice:
yes, this is possible, but tricky.
Scopes are set so that the point at which you see the image clearly through them is a couple inches from the scope--picture it mounted on a rifle and your head a bit behind it. If you get right up on the scope you only get a partial image (and a black eye if you pull the trigger).

As a result, unless you mount both camera and scope, it will be extreemly tricky to get the scope in the right spot while looking through the camera and find a deer in it all at the same time. Can we say shakey?

I would shoot the shots separately--one through the scope, one of a deer, and put them together in post. Otherwise, rig something up with a tripod and scope rail to mount things together. Also, you'll need to have the scope ahead of time to do that.

Or if your guys have a portable shooting bench and can bench rest the rifle, setting it on the spot and then quickly getting out of the way for you to take the shot before the deer moves that could be an option. The key is that you don't want to have to try and hold the camera in one hand and scope in the other while trying to line up the shot.

Or you could just wing it...definitely worth a try, but really difficult...

HTH
-Ted

 

[Parkerman]

Just wondering... Have you ever looked through a scope? Unless you somehow build a rig with one.. It won't be easy to do. I might suggest just doing something after in photoshop.. or cutting out your own crosshairs.

 

[chrisburke]

they make good points... i dont know how skilled you are with photoshop.. but you might just want to take a pic of the deer and then add the crosshairs in PP.. like this: (image source : http://www.bwoptic.com/ )

 

[dEARlEADER]

I'm also a gun dealer, so here's my advice:
yes, this is possible, but tricky.
Scopes are set so that the point at which you see the image clearly through them is a couple inches from the scope--picture it mounted on a rifle and your head a bit behind it. If you get right up on the scope you only get a partial image (and a black eye if you pull the trigger).

As a result, unless you mount both camera and scope, it will be extreemly tricky to get the scope in the right spot while looking through the camera and find a deer in it all at the same time. Can we say shakey?

I would shoot the shots separately--one through the scope, one of a deer, and put them together in post. Otherwise, rig something up with a tripod and scope rail to mount things together. Also, you'll need to have the scope ahead of time to do that.

Or if your guys have a portable shooting bench and can bench rest the rifle, setting it on the spot and then quickly getting out of the way for you to take the shot before the deer moves that could be an option. The key is that you don't want to have to try and hold the camera in one hand and scope in the other while trying to line up the shot.

Or you could just wing it...definitely worth a try, but really difficult...

HTH
-Ted

great advice thanks.... not sure if this can be done now... with the scope set up for best focal at 2" I don't know if the minimum focus distance of the lens will allow me to get that close... guess I'll need to use the 105 macro to even consider a shot like this...

originallly I thought I could could just shoot this with the scope on the hunters rifle but thinking now I'll need a detached scope...

maybe camera on a monopod and handholding scope firing burst while moving it in and out hoping to a keeper...

what about the magnification aspect? how will a 105mm at 1:1 appear through the view finder when pointed through a magnifying device?

 

[dEARlEADER]

Regarding a processed version of what I'm looking to do..... I'd much rather get an authentic s.o.o.c. version, but will do this in post if I can't achieve the goal...

 

[usayit]

Instead of a "Real" rifle scope.... you'd probably be better off attaching a DIY tube with cross hairs. Avoid putting more optics in front of the camera.

Try a toilet paper cardboard tube with toothpicks inserted for cross hairs. They'll be close enough to the lens and underexposed (relative to subject) that the details of the tube/toothpicks wouldn't show up in the image.

 

[zeroskillz]

If your really serious about this, there is a rangefinding rifle scope
out there with video outs on it.
I forget who makes it, but it was at SHOT Show last year.

That would get you a video straight off the scope that you could grab stills from.

FWIW,
-Ted

 

[roadkill]

A friend of mine cut a pair of old binoculars in half and attatched to a point and shoot for use as a zoom. It actually worked (for what it was) and he got some pretty good shots (for what it was).

 

[Joves]

You could use a nify fifty to shoot afocally but, you would have to make a mount to hold the scope correctly. More like a cone mounted to a lens filter ring. You then set the 50 at infinity and focus through the scope. It is the same thing I used to do for astrophotography.

 

[Bifurcator]

PhotoShop will work well as others have said.

Also you can get a Nikon 880 or 950 (coolpix) for about $50 and just butt the lens against the scope for perfect shots everytime - AF even works!. I've done it allot - it works great! Rifle scopes, telescopes, microscopes, etc. Beautiful images result!

 

[zeroskillz]

All rants aside, I strongly suggest you borrow a scope before you go to see how it works for you. Get some shots of the neighbors dog or something with it to see how feasible the shot is.

Good luck with it, it's real tricky.

IBTL
-Ted

 

[dEARlEADER]

All rants aside, I strongly suggest you borrow a scope before you go to see how it works for you. Get some shots of the neighbors dog or something with it to see how feasible the shot is.

Good luck with it, it's real tricky.

IBTL
-Ted

thanks... i'll be there for 2 days so I'll have some time to experiment..

 

[usayit]

I still don't see why you must use an actual rifle scope to accomplish the effect.....