Digiscoping????

[Flon18]

Was watching a Birding show on the TV and the guy was shooting threw a spotting scope of some kind. Any one do this, what are the do's and dont's for setting this up. Just looking for more information on the subject.

 

[KmH]

A spotting scope is just a lens, but a fixed (not adjustable) aperture lens.

Each spotting scope has a focal length and am aperture speed. An adaptor, like a T-ring, is used to attach a DSLR to the spotting scope.

Nikon | Sport Optics | Digiscoping System

 

[jackiex_x]

I have one, it's not easy to use with DSLR IMO. I often get vignetting. I use it to take pics of birds and the night sky... i need a LOT more practice.

 

[Flon18]

So this is not a just case of using a Knife blade as a pry bar, sure it works buts its not the best tool for the job.......Is there advatages to doing this, is cost one of them.

 

[Canuk]

So this is not a just case of using a Knife blade as a pry bar, sure it works buts its not the best tool for the job.......Is there advatages to doing this, is cost one of them.

Cost is not necessarily a benefit. A good spotting scope costs and much as a good lens.

 

[table1349]

So this is not a just case of using a Knife blade as a pry bar, sure it works buts its not the best tool for the job.......Is there advatages to doing this, is cost one of them.

Yes and no. Spotting scopes are optimized for the human eye rather than a camera body. Camera lenses are just the opposite. The human eye/brain can deal with chromatic aberration much better than a camera sensor. The coatings on at least some scopes will probably be different than on a camera lens. Plus just like a camera lens you get what you pay for.

Optically, there is no way that this scope: Meade Condor 20-60x60 Spotting Scope Kit 81014 B&H Photo Video is going to be close to this scope in quality: Nikon EDG VR Fieldscope 20-60x85mm Spotting Scope (Angled) 8275

As Kmh mentioned you have a fixed aperture to deal with.

 

[Overread]

Digiscoping tends to be very popular with bird watchers over bird photographers - where its more about record keeping than photographic quality. As said a good scope can be as much if not more than a good lens and that whilst they offer long reach, it comes with optical limitations.

A lot depends on how much you want to invest - far as I know you can (cheaply) get more range from digiscoping as opposed to regular lenses - but cheap digiscopes are going to be much more limited esp if not in good light - like I said at that angle is more about getting record keeping shots of the birds than anything else.