does anybody digiscope?

[50cal]

I was just wondering how many of you digiscope? If so what equipment do you use? I am just getting into it. I have a swarovski ATS 80mmHD, along with the DCA camara adapter. I just got a canon A570IS and the lens adapter for that. Some of the pics turn out pretty good, but others are not. Am I expecting to much? Thanks.

 

[Squirrel]

I've dinked around with it with a set up close to yours and it can be time consuming to say the least. It usually takes animals at long range where they don't spook as it takes forever to get everything set up for the shot. Focus is the biggest issue for me , I've taken to focusing without the camera mounted then mount and shoot without further adjustment. Use the self-timer to avoid blurring of the image of course. The biggest factor is to take lots of shots and delete the bad ones- sooner or later you'll get "the good one".I always hike with the kids (dogs) which makes close range encounters brief- I threaten to leave them behind but never seem to do it - they give me the pathetic traitor look...

 

[50cal]

squirrel, thanks for the info. What power do you typically use on the scope? Also do you zoom in with the camara at all. Your comment about focusing the scope and then placing your camara on it without any further adjustment is hopefully going to help. That was probably my biggest issue as well. Thanks.

 

[Squirrel]

Glad to help, but I'm far from an expert, still experimenting myself- good thing it doesn't cost film! I use the camera zoom to eliminate the "vinetting", thats a misspelled word that means the shadow filling in the perimeter of the square pic vs. the round objective of the scope!! I get good shots at any power but focus is more critical at the 60x as well as heat mirage- took me awhile to realize that at -20 you could get heat mirage in pics! Maybe heat mirage is the wrong term it should be "frozen sunlight mirage". The viewfinder of the camera is inadequate for focusing the pic- the snow is so bright that it is tough to get my eyes to be able to see the display- I tried the old jacket over the whole thing like you see in the old west movies in the early days of photography but it causes too much wiggle. Besides at -20 I want my coat on me not the tripod. I like to focus on the ears/legs/antlers of the animal-somwhere you can get a nice clean focus then install the camera asap and use the 2 second delay timer as when going longer the subject has time to walk out of the pic. (They are very inconsiderate). Usually I have to just barely touch the scope to steady it before the shutter trips. Of course our omni-present 40mph wind doesn't help much either on the vibration. If you come up with any tips please feel free to share, When I have more time I'll post some of my shots from this yr, maybe my wife's as hers are the best we've got this winter of 14 bulls here at the house. We have dial up and it takes a lifetime to upload pics to share. That plus I'm dumb as a rock at this whole computer thing!

 

[DIYHunt]

Swarovski has a CD/DVD titled "Digiscoping" it has a date of 09/2007 on the package and 10/2007 on the CD itself. there is no other identification on it. I'm sure you could call them and get one sent out to you. It is helpful. the one other thing that I have found is essential to being successful with digiscoping is to have an extension rail on the scope. it makes it so when you attach your camera to the scope it doesn't change where the scope is pointed to. if you don't do this you will usually lose where you were focused and have to find it again. Using the self timer or a remote shutter release (if your camera has one) is very important as Squirrel states above.