Hi Dan . . .

I too have a Swarovski 80 mm. I have a 20-60x locking eyepiece. I recently
got myself set up and am happy with the digiscoping results. I purchased a
Nikon Coolpix 4500 specifically for it's digiscoping compatibility and
availability of needed accessories.

Everything has to do with your camera at this point, and you'll need to
explore to learn the specific accessories that work with it. Do a web
search and start slogging through reviews and so forth.


As for me and my 4500, I got some of my accessories from a wonderful
website/company called PhotoSolve. Prices are a touch high probably, but
the site and the service are *excellent*. I'm not sure if their stuff works
with your camera though.

The Digi-Mount adapter fits very well with my eyepiece and makes for a firm,
straight alignment of camera and scope. If this does work with your camera,
ignore anything you read that suggests you need to tear off the eyecup to
make this thing fit on the eyepiece. You can attach it with the eyecup
folded. You just have to slide the inside sleeve on before folding back the
cup.

I got a wing-mount and an Xtend-a-View to be able to view the LCD screen in
any lighting situation. It's also very helpful for fine focusing as it
magnifies the LCD a bit. It's vital that the sun not shine through the
viewer and hit the LCD. It'll fry the LCD in seconds.

You also *absolutely* need some sort of remote shutter release. Nikon's
electronic release is poor. Sony's may be better -- don't know. I got a
Harbortronics Digisnap, electronic shutter release, and it's working very
nicely to control both the shutter and the camera zoom. If you go with
this, get the Fast Snap option so you can trigger the shutter more quickly.
I don't think the set up that has a cable-release that physically pushes on
the camera button will work as well at high magnification. If the camera
moves *at all*, the picture quality will be compromised. Others who have
tried this may have helpful feedback.

You need a very sturdy tripod to reduce movement and mount that allows you
to move the scope very smoothly up and down and side to side. You also may
find that you want a counter-balance to help with this. I was able to do
this very cheaply with my Bogen set-up. Just a long screw (Home Depot),
pliable lead weight to wrap around the screw (fishing supplies), and some
ever useful duct tape to cover it all up.

One thing I have yet to get is some sort of blind/shelter. Check sports
sites for duck blinds. It's not only for hiding from your subjects, but
also for blocking the wind. Any wind blowing, and the set-up moves. At
high magnification, that's a bad thing no matter what. For now, I'm still
doing some "field tests" to see what I want to get, size-wise.

Good luck. I'll be interested to hear what you learn about what works with
the Sony.
______________________________________

Ned McGarry
Sammamish, WA