DigiscopingDigiscoping
Note when I first started in bird photography, I had a film body and a cheap 75-300mm lens. I got some decent shots, but...BOY did I wish for more length in many situations. The solution?
For times when I wanted more length, I purchased a digiscoping outfit. It's a way to get the reach I want, at a much more reasonable price. Digiscoping is simply using a digital camera in combination with a spotting scope to take digital photographs. Here are some of the shots I've taken with my Swarovski AT80 HD scope, and a Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera. Rare birds...good shots of common birds...closeups...they're all there. Check below the photos for links to some of my favorite digiscoping web sites. Many of these were very useful in helping me to discover the right equipment to purchase, as well as tips on technique.
NOTE: I have sold my digiscoping outfit. It's a great way to get cheaper "reach", but in general, the quality isn't as good as 35mm equipment. I wish I could have both a digiscoping and 35mm outfit, but that's just not practical for me from a financial standpoint!! I'm extremely happy with my 35mm equipment, but did enjoy my time digiscoping.
DIGISCOPING LINKS
Birds of Manitoba -- My favorite site. This site is maintained by Ann Cook, who provides some truly wonderful digiscoped shots. It also includes links to some other very good web sites.
Doug Backlund's Digiscoping Pages -- Doug (Pierre, SD) has provided a lot of the photos for this site. He uses the same digital camera as myself, but with a Pentax scope. Check out his pages for more great photos of birds within South Dakota.
Digiscoping Bird Photography -- WVbirder.com -- A nice site from Matt Orsie in West Virginia, who digiscopes with the same combo that I do!! He's got photos for quite a few species.
Laurence's Digital Birds -- A site maintained by the "father of digiscoping", Laurence Poh of Malaysia. He provides tips on digiscoping, as well as some great shots of Malaysian birds.
Digiscoping and Digital Birding -- A nice site by Stéphane Ammoniate. Contains a digiscoping primer, as well as some nice shots.
Yahoo Digiscoping Forum -- Got a question on equipment or technique? Head over to the Yahoo digiscoping forum. Join the digiscoping group and you'll get access to a great source of info on digiscoping.
Shortcourses.com on Digiscoping -- From Shortcourses.com, this site provides an introduction to the basics of digiscoping, as well as links to sites on equipment and technique.
Digiscoped U.K. birds -- Great site on digiscoping in the U.K., with wonderful photos, as well as information on digiscoping. Highly recommended starting point for those wanting to get into digiscoping!!
Birdwatcher Digest -- Scopes Roundup -- A site reviewing some of the scopes commonly used for birding, and thus, digiscoping. The Swarovski scope mentioned here is the scope I use (and heartily recommend). Make sure to read the part about chromatic aberration!!
Scopetronix.com -- THE place to go to check out digiscoping adapters (which link scope and camera). If you're anything like me, you'll really be wondering how to mate the camera and scope. This site will likely have a product to mate almost any combination of digital camera and scope.
Digital Photography Review -- The Nikon Coolpix 4500 -- As you'll quickly find out, the Nikon Coolpix series of cameras are the most widely used for digiscoping. This site provides a WONDERFUL and incredibly thorough review of the Coolpix 4500, the latest of the split-bodied Coolpix cameras. This is the camera I use.
B&H Photo/Video -- I've purchased the vast majority of my photo equipment from B&H out of New York, including my scope. Prices are generally good, although you may find cheaper elsewhere on the web. Service and reliability are what sets B&H apart, however, and I will gladly pay a bit extra to get that peace of mind.
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Please mail any comments/suggestions/additional links for this page to: Terry L. Sohl
This page was last edited on 11/17/06
