I use my equipment as a replacement for 35mm - Initially I could never get
close enough to shorebirds to get satisfactory photographs but digicscoping
solved that. I rarely go with magnifications higher than x25 and if I could
get down to x15 for those close-up shots I'd be really happy. High
magnifications are more important when simply taking pictures for later
identification or reference. Any equipment must essentially be a spotting
scope replacement (nobody wants to carry two scopes around) with the added
feature of being able to record any image viewed. Another must-have feature
is as wide an objective lens as possible. Gathering enough light to take a
picture at a high enough shutter speed to reduce the effects of vibration is
a constant problem. This will make the equipment large and heavy.

Here might be the source of a"problem" with commerical digiscoping
equipment. It will be difficult to develop equipment that will satisfy both
needs so there is a chance that the marketing people will go for something
in between which ends up being the worst of both worlds. Initial forays into
binoculars with integrated cameras seem to bear this out.

Still, omni-present cameras will be a feature of the future (the UK now has
over 3 million surveillance cameras installed in city centers) so I look
forward to seeing improvements over the coming years. However most of the
technical trade-offs are likely to concern the optics. Since humans have
been building telescopes for four hundred years or so (perhaps twice that
long if you consider some of the atrefacts excavated at Viking settlements
to be optical in nature) this might take longer than one might first expect.

Stuart
--
Stuart MacKay, Seattle, WA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ilene Samowitz" <ilenesamowitz at comcast.net>


> I routinely digiscope at 60X magnification. I use a Leica APO 77 Televid
> scope and a Coolpix 990 at ISO 100 with a 3X. So this scope would not
have
> nearly the range in distance however it would allow more light. My Nikon
> D70 DSLR lowest ISO setting is 200 and the pictures it takes are beautiful
> and quite acceptable with ISO settings into the 600s.