Re: Advice please for a newbie

On Fri, 18 May 2007 19:24:02 GMT, Golden Oldie wrote:

Never mind. I will find somewhere more willing to help with my question.
I thought the purpose of groups like this was to help people!

It is and it will. I hope you'll stick around at least a little
bit longer. But there are only a few people that have the
experience to accurately answer your question. It may take several
days before they visit this newsgroup and have a chance to see your
question. The title of this thread also minimizes the chance that
they'll see your question, since "digiscoping" wasn't mentioned
anywhere in the Subject/Title of the thread. For what it's worth,
one of the experienced digiscopers is Mike Myers. Unfortunately, he
was last seen in these parts about 3 weeks ago. He has posted many
links to photos taken with Nikon's 82mm Fieldscope, and whose
messages may be identified thusly (i.j.) :

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>

You can get some more information by retrieving old messages in
this newsgroup. Below are a few quotes from some of the older
messages I've archived. Again, I have no digiscoping experience, so
wait for the 'experts' to answer any specific questions. You may
want to ask your question again, starting a new thread using a more
'attractive' title.

===============================================

From: omcdaniel.abcd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Olin K. McDaniel)
Subject: Re: Is 12x optical zoom ona 10 mp digital camera good enough
for shooting surfers from the beach? Thanks!
Message-ID: <44fb7a13.36064305@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2006 18:51:30 GMT
. . .
Not saying that the several different viewpoints discussed here are
wrong, just that they are based on different criteria. My older Nikon
CoolPix 995 claims to have a 4X optical zoom. And the actual range of
focal lengths is from 8 to 32 mm, which they say is equivalent in 35mm
camera terms to 38 to 152 mm. So as others have pointed out, if the
50mm point is considered the reference or starting point, this lens
really has an EFFECTIVE telephoto multiplier of just over 3X. More
important, to me at least, when I attach it to my Swarovski spotting
scope having an additional 20X to 60X, and set the camera at max.,
zoom which itself is equiv. to 152 mm, then the combo is effectively a
3040 mm to 9120 mm telephoto lens - again based on 35mm film camera
lenses.

From a practical standpoint, I've learned that anything over about 30X
on the spotting scope is not very useful, due to reduced sharpness.
But from 20 to 30X, this digiscoping technique works extremely well
for me in my wildlife photography efforts. And is much lighter and
less expensive than a standalone 3000 mm telephoto lens.

Olin McDaniel

===============================================

From: "professorpaul" <deadgoose@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Question about digiscoping.
Date: 11 Feb 2007 09:04:30 -0800
Message-ID: <1171213470.795436.11080@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
. . .
I am considering getting a Nikon Coolpix L5 camera to use for digiscoping.
Does anyone have any opinions about this camera for this activity?

Check out this link... The adapter seems to be the issue.

I have a Olympus C-5000 which has a threaded lens, so might look into
the idea

http://www.shortcourses.com/how/digiscoping/digiscoping.htm

===============================================

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Saturn at 9000mm
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:15:34 -0400
Message-ID: <nospam.m-m-710674.20153404042007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
. . .
I just received my Nikon 82mm Fieldscope and attaching my Coolpix 990
gives an effective focal length of 9000mm. Here is a 50% crop of Saturn
last night.

Through the eyepiece I was able to see the Cassini division as a solid
black line, like it was drawn with a fine felt tip marker. The photo
though is not as clear

http://www.mhmyers.com/d80/DSCN3405w.jpg

and from another of his messages in this thread :

Personally, I find these home-made images just as interesting as the
high-res ones...on a different level. There's something fun about feeling
as they these celestial objects are "within reach" of even basic photography
techniques...even if the clarity isn't the greatest.


Yes, that was me with the little picture. And you're right how
satisfying it is to be able to stretch what we have into the next level.

You should see what I had to do to get the camera attached to the
Fieldscope: oak, silicone tubing, velcro. And the homemade shutter
release works better than Nikon's electronic wired one:

http://www.mhmyers.com/camera/DSC_0897.jpg

===============================================

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Is a UV filter still needed on a digital lens?
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:31:51 -0500
Message-ID: <nospam.m-m-9CF9FE.00315117012007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
. . .
I am using Nikon's 18-135mm and a 70-300mm VR on a D80.

I'm moving from digiscoping with a Coolpix 990. See www.mhmyers.com

===============================================

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>
Subject: "That's a REALLY nice 1500mm lens you have there"
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:23:03 -0400
Message-ID: <nospam.m-m-B34E14.21230311042007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
That's what this cardinal looks to be saying.

Nikon Fieldscope 82mm + D80 = 1500mm (equiv) of exquisite optics and
rendition.

Full frame, no post-camera processing except to reduce in size to 18% of
original.

Check it out:

<http://www.mhmyers.com/d80/DSC_1516w.jpg>

===============================================

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: "That's a REALLY nice 1500mm lens you have there"
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:09:49 -0400
Message-ID: <nospam.m-m-E67991.22094811042007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
. . .
Nikon makes an connector specifically for their DSLR's that replaces the
eyepiece of the scope. It meters and displays all EXIF data accurately.

Here's a photo of the setup, except today I used my Bogen fluid-head:

http://www.mhmyers.com/camera/DSCN3280.jpg

I set it to Aperture priority (it's fixed at f/13), minimum shutter
1/125 and the camera bumped the ISO to 900 to achieve that. (Try
THAT with your Canon :)

===============================================

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: "That's a REALLY nice 1500mm lens you have there"
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:23:33 -0400
Message-ID: <nospam.m-m-156A9A.21233312042007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

I'll tell you this from experience:

An 82mm Spotting Scope is way better than a 60mm one. The images are
much brighter.

A $1500 scope is way better than a $300 scope. It's like the difference
between looking through a clean window or looking through a dirty foggy
one, not to mention the CA you will see all over in the cheaper scope.

I used a 60mm Swift Telemaster for 25 years and I used to think I got
good photos through it. Not.

Here is one of my best shots with that $300 Swift Scope:

http://www.netaxs.com/~mhmyers/cdjpgs/eagle1L.jpg

Note the lack of definition and the extreme CA.

m-m

===============================================

From: M-M <nospam.m-m@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Saturn's Rings Handheld at 300mm
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:11:51 -0500
Message-ID: <nospam.m-m-808A9E.01115104032007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
. . .
Thank you for redeeming me, Roger. Your images are quite impressive, as
are your mathematical calculations.

I just ordered a Nikon 82mm Fieldscope with a SLR adapter for my D80
which will give me 1500mm equiv at f13.3. The beauty of it is the glass
is completely color corrected and it is a fine instrument even if half
of what I read about it is true.

I can also connect my Coolpix 4500 to a 75X eyepiece which should enable
me to capture the Cassini division in Saturn's rings.

The rings are becoming more edge-on every year so by 2011 they will be
only a thin line and they will not be this open again until 2015.

===============================================

One message had a digiscoping link but I haven't checked it out :

http://www.digiscoping.co.uk/

.

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