Digiscoping - DPChallenge Forums

11/29/2008 02:36:52 AM · #1

This could really go into Hardware and Software as well, but I guess I'm more curious about whether people have done this at all and what their impressions have been. In the end, the higher end folks aren't really going with a setup much cheaper than the SLR lens route, but it's an interesting approach.
Anybody really messed with this much?

11/29/2008 05:19:14 AM · #2

My dad does, but unfortunately I don't know much about it myself. I know he uses a damn nice scope with a little point and shoot on the end usually. He gets some pretty good results.

He stalked a Prairie Falcon family for awhile. He's used the set up for lots of photos on his site, but this is the only set I'm fairly sure of.
Prairie Falcon Nest

If you don't get much of a response here and have questions, I can pass them on to my dad if you'd like.

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

11/29/2008 07:56:11 AM · #3

Well, I guess the information regarding the hobby was readily available to me, but I was curious if anybody here, who was more a photographer than a birder, had gotten into it. The folks I found that did it online seemed to be birders first and photographers second, so I was sorta wondering what people who were photographers first though. Some of those digiscopers are running $2500+ Swarovski scopes with 30D's and 400D's attached, while others are perfectly happy (if not happier) using just a simple P&S on the end. Some of the results are pretty high quality that I found, but at the point that you hit a $2500 scope, why not just drop that on a lens? You still need a tripod, so I was wondering if any photographers had gone this route to be slightly cheaper, or really just people's opinions on the whole thing.

one2one

Olympus E-5

11/29/2008 08:25:39 AM · #4

Originally posted by aliqui:

Great shots.

Digiscoping is the use of a telescope to photograph Earthly objects? First time I hear the term.

strangeghost

Canon EOS-7D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

11/29/2008 11:57:39 AM · #5

A good friend of mine here in Madison is a fanatical birder and digiscoper. He does all his work with a quality swarofsky spotting scope coupled to a Nikon P&S digital.

Check him out.

delin

Canon EOS-40D

11/29/2008 12:28:12 PM · #6

They do get some good shots through a scope, but I think the limiting factor is the effective F-stop. It's usually around F/8 if I recall correctly, pretty slow for the money you put into the scope. Hard to get it sharp at those speeds.

fridjo

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/29/2008 12:35:49 PM · #7

Here is a web page from the slovenian digiscope photographer Marjan Cigoj with some excellent photographs and setup description:
//digiskopija.si/anglo/digiscoping.html

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

11/29/2008 04:46:53 PM · #8

In the response to the question "why", I called dad!

Dad says...
"...you can get a longer focal length. You'd have to have a 600mm with a 1.4 tele-extender to get the same results. There's no mirror slap, so you don't need a super duper tripod. Besides, most birders have the scopes already anyway. In the long run it's just much, much cheaper."

Oh, he also said that Zeiss is coming out with a scope specifically designed to digiscope, and it will have its own camera that comes with it. He said one of the biggest problems he has is aligning his camera on the scope.

Message edited by author 2008-11-29 16:51:33.

strangeghost

Canon EOS-7D

11/29/2008 05:25:52 PM · #9

aliqui's dad has it right. Digiscopers are able to get insane focal lengths for very few $$$. This usually works out because most birders already have good spotting scopes and they spend most of their photography time in bright sunlight.

11/29/2008 10:25:38 PM · #10

I guess I didn't consider them already having the scopes in the first place, and, in that case, it is way cheaper. I was looking at it from a starting point stance. I agree some of the digiscope photos are amazing. There's a Flickr group I stumbled upon that has some pretty sweet stuff on it.

Message edited by author 2008-11-29 22:26:00.

11/29/2008 10:51:46 PM · #11

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

From a starting standpoint it's cheaper to digiscope too. Like my dad said, you'd need a 600mm lens with a tele-extender on it to come close to what his scope does. That's more than a couple grand. The cheapest 600mm lens I saw on BH is over 7 grand.

11/30/2008 02:50:28 PM · #12

Here's a link to that Zeiss scope with the integrated digital camera that's coming out.

Carl Zeiss PhotoScope