Stuart, when you say that you rarely go to magnifications as high as 25X are
you referring to your scope magnification? I rarely use more than my 20XW
eyepiece sometimes moving to my 32W eyepiece but my camera has a 3X
magnification which I need to use to avoid vignetting. Thus my 60X minimum
magnification.

Ilene
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stuart MacKay" <stuart at blarg.net>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: No More Mickey Mouse Digiscoping.


> 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.
>