The following are three set-ups that I am using for avian digiscoping purposes. Photos showing how they perform in low-light conditions follow afterwards.
1 Set-up I - using Nikon's prosumer DC, the CP8400, as the image recorder
a) Optics: Swarovski's fieldscope 80 HD ATS and 30x-eyepiece
b) Adaptor between Eyepiece and Prosumer DC: A tailor-made aluminium tube capable of i) adjusting tube length for accomoodating the size of different eyepieces; ii) rotating along the central axis of the eyepiece for the purpose of landscape- and portrait-format shooting.
c) Supporting L-bracket: A tailor-made aluminium tube for the purpose of a) reducing vibration from the manuver of shooting; and b) providing firmer anchorage for the adaptor in (b) above;
d) Nikon CP8400 52mm-diameter adaptal tube for linking with the adaptor in (b)
e) Tripod and tripod head: Gitzo on which is Manfrotto's 501
f) Backing-up Platform: Comprising a tailor-made wooden plank on the top and a tailor-made 38cm-long plate at the bottom for sliding onto Manfrotto 501. The long-plate is the same in design as the one used by CW Chan. The long plate makes it possible for the best balancing point to be found for the whole system so that it will tilt abruptly when your hands are off the gears and that when you want to stop at a certain tilting angle, the whole set up will stop as you wish, thus enhancing stability while shooting.
2 Set-up II: using a Nikon D200 and an AFD 24-50mm Nikkor
The components are similar to Set-up I's except that a DSLR and DSLR zoom lens have been used and because of that, the following adjustments have been made:
a) A new adaptor between the eyepiece and the zoom lens (same as the adaptor in Set-up I, this one also has the features of tube length adjustment and rotation functions along the central axis);
b) A new L-bracket for providing anchorage for the zoom lens;
b) Absence of the adaptor mentioned in item (d) of the first set up; and
c) Provision of a shutter-release cable for stabler shutter release.
3 Set-up III - using Nikon's D200 and Swarovski's telescope converter TLS800
TLS800 is a teleconverter that changes Swarovski's 80 HD ATS into an f10 800mm super-telephotographic lens.
For Nikon cameras of the grade D200 or above, the camera is capable of providing automatic metering functions for this manual lens. Just click the
Non-CPU lens icon, enter the information
800mm and
f9.5 into the camera and things will go automatic for you.
The
f9.5 should be an f10 but the camera can only provide f9.5, in which case you have to provide a +0.3 EV adjustment in subsequent shooting to attain correct exposure.
4 Photos showing their performance in low-light conditions.
The following shots were taken in my house and were directly from the camera without treatment.
a) Set-up I (f3.7 for 1 sec, released using the finger)
b) Set-up II (f4.1 for 1.3 sec, releasing using a cable)
c) Set-up III (f9.5 for 1/1.3 sec, released using a cable)
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Last edited by lwingkay at 1/02/2010 12:07 ]
