Digiscoping is one of the simplest, yet most effective methods of taking high magnification pictures. Digiscoping began when someone decided to hold a small digital point and shoot camera over the eyepiece of a spotting scope and take a picture of the image in the eyepiece. The results amazed everyone. It was now possible to take good quality pictures at higher magnifications than ever before and do it with relatively inexpensive camera equipment.
Later, to make aligning the camera quicker and more precisely, adapters were developed to attach the camera to the spotting scope lens. The first adapters attached the camera directly to the eyepiece of the spotting scope by means of filter threads around the camera lens. At the time, most digital point and shoot cameras (small digital cameras that don't have a removable lens) were equipped with these threads to hold filters and other accessories. All you had to do was find the adapter that matched your spotting scope eyepiece and the thread size of your camera. This was sometimes tricky and the correct adapter was often hard to find.
Things have changed, however. In the past few years, digital point and shoot cameras have begun to shrink. Many, if not most, do not have filter threads, so new ways of attaching a camera to the spotting scope have been developed. These new adapters are called universal adapters because they allow you to use any digital point and shoot camera and attach it to virtually any spotting scope. Universal adapters don't thread to the eyepiece of the spotting scope or the lens of the camera. Instead, a universal adapter simply holds the camera over the eyepiece. This has greatly simplified getting an adapter and has opened up digiscoping to more people than ever before.
These universal adapters are of two types. The first is simply a bracket. One end clamps over the eyepiece of the spotting scope. The other end is an adjustable platform with a tripod stud. The camera attaches to the platform and is adjusted to the correct distance from the eyepiece. These bracket style universal adapters are relatively inexpensive. They include the following:
For digital SLR cameras or larger digital point and shoot cameras, you will need something a bit sturdier. This is the second style of universal adapter. This version of universal adapter holds the spotting scope and camera both, so the weight of a heavy camera is not supported strictly by the spotting scope eyepiece. This provides a more stable system. Examples of these adapters include:
Things continue to evolve, however, in digiscoping with the appearance of image stabilized digital point and shoot cameras. This has brought digiscoping full circle. It is now possible to hand hold one of these new image stabilized (shake reduction) models such as the Pentax Optio A10 8.0 MP Digital Camera 18903 over the eyepiece of a spotting scope or even a binocular or monocular without an adapter at all and get excellent results. It does take practice and a little patience, but if you want simplicity, there is nothing like pulling one of these digital point and shoot cameras out of your pocket and taking a pic of whatever is framed in the eyepiece of your spotting scope or binocular. No bracket no adapter needed.
Joanie K
Digiscoping 2008 Update
Like all things digital, digiscoping - taking pictures through the eyepiece of a spotting scope with a small digital camera - keeps evolving. Much of the change centers around the constant upgrading of today's digital point and shoot cameras. For digiscoping, the improvements in lens quality, image processing and the addition of image stabilization make today's digital point and shoot cameras better than ever when placed behind the eyepiece of a good spotting scope.
What do you need to start digiscoping, then, in the current marketplace of digital cameras and spotting scopes? The answer is actually quite simple. That much has not changed. You need:
- A good spotting scope
- A good digital camera
- An adapter or other means to attach your camera to your spotting scope.
1. The Spotting Scope
The basics have not changed when selecting a spotting scope for digiscoping. Keep one digiscoping principle foremost in your mind - the main factor, by far, in picture quality when digiscoping is the optical quality of the spotting scope. The camera is actually a distant second in this regard, so put your money into the spotting scope, first. Digiscoping is no different than any other type of photography when it comes to picture quality - it's all about the camera lens and, in digiscoping, the spotting scope is your camera lens.
What makes a good spotting scope for digiscoping? The best feature to look for in a spotting scope for digiscoping is a high grade objective lens with special, high performance optical glass - ED, HD, XD, APO, fluorite and so on. Just as with camera lenses, an ED or other high performance glass objective will produce the sharpest pics with the best color and resolution. These special glass versions of spotting scopes produce the best images at high magnifications, visually, and at ALL magnifications, photographically. Yes, special glass objective spotting scopes are expensive but they are a digiscopers dream. For digiscoping, it is better to choose a small spotting scope with an ED or other special glass objective than a large spotting scope with a standard glass objective.
Next consideration in a spotting scope for digiscoping is the spotting scope eyepiece. Remember, the eyepiece in a spotting scope is half of the optical system. The eyepiece is an important consideration for both visual use and for digiscoping. For visual use, a zoom spotting eyepiece is the most popular and versatile eyepiece choice and, yes, a zoom eyepiece can be used for digiscoping. The best eyepieces for digiscoping, though, are fixed power, wide angle eyepieces with long eye relief. Why? Fixed power, wide-angle spotting scope eyepieces usually have wider lens elements than zoom eyepieces and fixed power eyepieces typically offer more eye relief than zoom eyepieces. This makes camera placement behind the eyepiece less critical with a fixed power eyepiece, but, more importantly, it also means a fixed power eyepiece produces less vignetting (darkening at the edge of the frame in your pic) than a typical zoom eyepiece. Indeed, some zoom eyepieces, especially cheap ones, produce so much vignetting that we end up with a round frame pic, rather than the usual rectangular pic we are used to seeing on our camera. This is sometimes called "portholing", since it is similar to viewing the world through the porthole of a ship.
The bad news is that you typically don't get the option of fixed power eyepieces on lower and mid-priced spotting scopes. To get the option of fixed power, wide angle eyepieces, you usually have to move up to more expensive spotting scopes. Really no choice, though, if you want this fixed power eyepiece option. With very few exceptions, spotting scope eyepieces are not interchangeable between brands or even between models within the same brand. The good news is that you can always crop any pic, even a porthole shaped pic, in your computer software, once you download the pic into your computer, but getting a full frame pic in the first place gives you much more flexibility when editing.. (Hint: when choosing a fixed power eyepiece, keep magnification around 20x or 30x. When you factor in the optical zoom on the camera with these magnifications, you have all the magnification you will ever need.)
Okay, you don't have the budget for a high grade spotting scope. Now what? With spotting scopes, optical quality is very directly related to price, so buy the best spotting scope you can afford. You don't need a lot of magnification or even a large objective lens, just the best optical quality and that will be reflected in the price. If a small scope and a large scope are priced the same, which do you think will have the best optical quality? Right, the smaller scope at the same price. If you cannot afford a model that offers fixed power eyepieces as an option, you are stuck with a zoom eyepiece, but not all zoom eyepieces are created equal for digiscoping. For digiscoping, at least try to find a model with 15mm of eye relief or more. That will produce less vignetting and portholing in your pics.
2. The Digital Camera
It may seem to go against everything you've learned or heard about cameras, but the best cameras for digiscoping are small cameras with small lenses. The key is small lenses. Small lenses are a much better match for spotting scope eyepieces and produce much less vignetting than large camera lenses. Not only that, small digital cameras are much easier to use and handle when digiscoping. Large digital cameras with high zoom ranges and SLR cameras (cameras with removable lenses) produce a lot of vignetting when placed behind a spotting scope eyepiece. These large cameras also create clearance problems with many digital adapters and large cameras also create some serious weight and balance issues when added to a spotting scope. Who needs the hassle, especially when any decent quality, small digital camera will do a great job? When digiscoping, then, keep the camera small. How do you know when you have a small digital point and shoot camera? If the camera offers up to 3x or 4x optical zoom, but no more, it is likely to have a small enough lens for digiscoping. If it offers more optical (digital doesn't count) zoom than 3x or 4x, it is likely to have a larger lens and therefore be a poor choice for digiscoping. Besides, when you factor in 3x optical zoom on the camera lens to the magnification on the spotting scope eyepiece, you already have more magnification than you will probably ever need.
For digiscoping, there are a couple of other helpful features in a digital camera to be used for digiscoping. One is a large, easy to see LCD screen. The good news is that most of today's digital cameras are better than ever in this regard, with 2" and 2.5" screens being almost standard. Another very helpful feature is image stabilization, which is now a feature found on many good digital cameras. An image stabilized digital camera allows you to depress the shutter button with a minimum of vibration to the camera. This means you can leave the remote switch at home - one less thing to mess with in the field. In fact, some of us diehard digiscopers are even forgoing the use of a digiscoping adapter when using an image stabilized digital camera. We simply hold the image stabilized camera over the eyepiece by hand and fire away. It takes some patience and practice to hold the camera over the eyepiece of a spotting scope without the aid of an adapter, but it is the ultimate in convenience and portability.
How about camera megapixels? Relax - that is an over-hyped digital camera feature and most digitals these days have 8MP and more. Even 8MP is more than you will ever need for digiscoping. In fact, I have taken some of my best shots with half that, so don't lose sleep over the difference between, say, an 8MP model and a 10MP model. Even this much resolution is going to be wasted unless you plan to make and print insane enlargements and, if so, your printer's resolution is more likely to be the limiting factor. Let's face it, most digiscopers simply trade pics via emails and/or view them on computer monitors. Screen resolution on your monitor, not pic resolution, becomes the limiting factor, then. Bottom line: Do not buy a camera based soley on its MP count. Lens quality, image processing, color saturation and so on are far more important. When in doubt, go online and check reviews. If that doesn’t work for you, just stay with one of the major models from the big names and you'll be fine for digiscoping.
Check out the Small Digital Cameras available at OpticsPlanet:
3. A Digiscoping Adapter
Keep one thing in mind here - a digiscoping adapter has no optical function. The only thing a digiscoping adapter does is hold the camera over the spotting scope eyepiece.
These days, when choosing an adapter, you will be most likely be choosing an adapter that holds the camera over the eyepiece with a platform, just like a tripod head, rather than an adapter which attaches the camera to the spotting scope with threads. In other words, threaded digiscoping adapters are all but obsolete. Why? It's simple. With very few exceptions, today's small digital point and shoot cameras don't have filter threads, so you cannot use an adapter that attaches the camera to the spotting scope with threads. How can you check to see if your camera has threads? If the camera lens extends out from the body when you turn it on - and that includes 95% + of all small digitals - it does not have filter threads. No need to worry about the camera lens hitting the eyepiece of the spotting scope, though - all universal digiscoping adapters are adjustable. Simply zoom the camera lens out to its maximum lens length and adjust the adapter to get the right distance.
As far as platform adapters, you have two choices. You can go with one of the many bracket style universal adapters, which clamp onto the spotting scope in the vicinity of the eyepiece or you can go with a universal rail style adapter, such as the Alpen 706, which holds both the spotting scope and the camera. I prefer rail style adapters, rather than bracket style adapters, despite the larger size and bulk of rail adapters. For one, rail adapters do not interfere with the zoom ring on the spotting scope eyepiece or the focusing knob on the spotting scope - problems you may encounter with some bracket style adapters and scope combinations. For another, rail style adapters often offer a swing away function, which allows you to pivot the camera over the eyepiece for pics, than out of the way so you can use the scope visually. This is a great time saver and very convenient when you are using your spotting scope for both visual use and digiscoping, as I do when birding.
Lastly, you do not need to worry about an adapter that supplies a cover to keep lateral light off the eyepiece of the scope when digiscoping. I have taken literally thousands of shots by simply holding a camera over the eyepiece without any adapter or shield at all and light sneaking in from the side of the camera has never been an issue. If it makes you more comfortable, use a cardboard tube if you want a shield. After all, improvising with materials at hand is in the true spirit of digiscoping. That's the way it all began.
Stay tuned for more updates. In the world of digital cameras and digiscoping, change is a constant.
