Digiscoping
Before I bought the EF 500 F4 L IS lens, I decided to have a go at digiscoping to see if I could get 'closer' to the birds I wanted to photograph.
I figured that if I could get good results this way it would be cheaper that the 500mm prime lens. However, there was still quite a bit of cost involved
in getting this started.
First I needed a field scope, so I chose the Nikon ED 82. I chose this for two reasons.
Firstly, I intended to buy the Nikon Coolpics 4500 digital camera to attach to it and thought
I might as well stick with Nikon because they sold all that I needed to connect the camera
to the scope. Secondly the 82mm diameter front lens allowed more light to reach the camera.
I also needed a very steady platform to hold the scope and camera. I chose a Manfrotto 443
carbon fibre tripod with a 701RC2 tilt and swivel head. This tripod is very light weight yet
it is a rigid, steady mount. The head can be slid forward or backwards to balance the scope/camera
combination and makes for more accurate control. I also bought a hide clamp so that the scope can
be used in a hide without the need to extend the tripod legs. Not always practical in a confined
space.
After reading all I could about digiscoping, I decided to choose a 30x magnification eye-piece
for the scope. Higher magnifications apparently making good results more difficult to achieve.
There are two types for the Nikon scopes, standard eye-pieces and wide DS eye-pieces, the latter
specially designed for digiscoping. Naturally, I opted for the latter, shown on the right.
The Nikon Coolpics 4500 was the most popular camera for digiscopers at the time so I opted to go
with the majority and purchased this excellent 4 mega pixel camera. All I needed now was something
to connect it to the scope eye-piece and something to trigger the shutter without using my hand.
This latter piece of equipment is essential as even the slightest shake can cause blurred
pictures.
Connecting the camera to the scope is achieved by purchasing the Nikon FSA kit and a suitable ring
to fit the cameras threaded lens. The FSA kit and the required ring for the Nikon Coolpix 4500 are shown
here on the right. The FSA kit is on the left in this picture. When using the Wide DS eye-piece, only the third piece (on
the right of the three) is required. The extreme right shows the ring (CP-9XX). This screws directly onto
the camera lens thread. The single required part of the FSA kit attaches to this ring and the whole
camera can then be connected up against the wide DS eye-piece of the scope.
The MC-EU1 remote card cost me about £90.00 and was the biggest waste of money I've ever spent. Some device is
needed to press the shutter release without using your hands but this is not it. It takes a moment to establish
'contact' with the camera and there is a distinct delay between hitting the button and the shutter firing. Not
what you want if your target is on the move. So I've bought a simple mechanical device, from Eagle Eye Optics, that I find much easier to use and much
more reliable. It consists of a bracket that fits by a screw to the tripod mount of the camera. A flexible shutter release cable, with a sliding
central core, is attached to the bracket. The tip of the cable sits just above the camera's shutter release button. The other end has a plunger which,
when pushed, causes the central core to protrude at the other end and press the shutter release with minimal vibration. Simple and great!
So here is the camera attached to the scope. So how do we go about taking pictures using this combination? Well lets
first consider the camera set-up. First we need to get the thing out of auto mode and into full manual mode. Set the
shutter speed to 1/250th of a second. Set the ISO to 100 if the light is good, higher if you need to but
don't expect great results at 400 and above unless you get a full frame shot. Switch off the flash. Set the image quality to 'fine'.
Now some sources recommend setting the focus mode to macro close up mode. Others recommend infinity mode. Having tried both,
I personally prefer the latter. I find with macro close up mode there is too much delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter activating.
Often the bird has gone or turned around by the time the shot is taken. Having said that I've noticed that with infinity mode on some shots the foreground is often in focus and gets steadily more out of focus
as you move towards the horizon. However, infinity, with it's faster shutter release activation is my preferred choice.
The Coolpix 4500 has a zoom lens. Try to avoid using maximum zoom. I know we want to get as close as we can but it is better
if you zoom just enough to avoid vignetting (a black ring around the border of the picture). Higher magnification means more difficulty
in getting good shots. I have found digiscoping to be good at a range of about 60-70 yards for birds the size of an average duck.
For smaller birds you need to get even closer so still need to do a bit of stalking I'm afraid.
So to finish with, a few samples:
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