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Whitehntr

Pictures through Binos

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What kinds of cameras do you all use in order to take pictures through binos or spotting scopes with? I have tried my 35 mm with my Leica 10x50's but it did not work. Will a digital camera work? Thanks.

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I use my digital and it fits perfect into my eye cup on my binos.

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I have a little 2.1 MP Nikon digital, it does OK through binos and spotting scopes. You just have to make sure you are not shaking too much and the glass is rock solid when taking the pics. They turn out blurry with only a teeny amount of movement. I just hold it up to the lens and have the camera autofocus till I can see what I want on the viewfinder and then snap the pic.

 

Bret M.

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I use my digital on my binos and scope alot. Make sure you aren't going to scratch your optics though. My digital camera lens is larger than my binos, so it fits well.

 

Getting something in focus is the most difficult thing with digiscoping. I find it works best if I use my LCD panel to look at the focus while turning the focus on the binos. And many times the focus changes after you press the camera shoot button, so I usually half press it and then focus on the binos and then complete the shot. Still it's never crisp. Like bullwidgeon said, having your binos on a steady rest is best.

 

Amanda

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The camera I use is a Nikon Coolpix 4500. It's a good one for digiscoping, but it is several years old now, so there are newer models.

 

The other problem you get with digiscoping is the vignette effect. Part of the picture is blacked out because the camera lens doesn't fit perfectly over the eyepiece of the binos. You can alleviate this by zooming in the camera, but zooming tends to make it harder to get a good focus. Here are some pics I took of some antelope this summer. The first shows the vignette effect, the next few show zoomed in pics that don't have as good a focus as the non-zoomed. You can use any photo editing program to crop out the vignetting if you want.

 

Here is a link that you can use to read more about how to digiscope and what types of cameras and equip you can use. digiscoping info

 

You can search the internet to find more info too.

 

antelope-vignette.jpg

 

antelope-bucks-closeup.jpg

 

antelope-buck-closeup.jpg

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Thanks for all the help. What are some good types of digital cameras and much money am I looking at. I want a digital to take digiscoping pics and a good hunting camera to take pics after the kill.

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You can spend any amount on a camera from $100- $472,000,000, and you might be able to get one even cheaper if you win an auction on Ebay for an older/used camera. From experience you should get something bigger than 2.1 Megapixels, I wish I did. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't look at anything less than 4.0 MP. Zoom does not matter too much if you mostly plan to shoot through binos or snap close up photos but more optical zoom is better in some situations and digital zoom is worthless. There are a ton of websights out there dedicated to digital photograpy and cameras and Consumer Reports always runs stories about new cameras. With a little research you should be able to figure out what would suit your needs best. It is pretty neat, I am happy I got into it. I have some neat pictures and wish I would have started sooner, there are lots of things I glassed up in the past and never took pictures of that I wish I had pictures of now.

 

Bret M.

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Digital cameras, as well as other electronic devices, aren't too unreasonably priced now days. You should be able to find a good 4.0 megapixel camera for under or right about $200. I love my camera, it is so easy to use and it is extremely easy to upload pictures onto my computer. Digital cameras are so much more convenient than the 35 mm cameras...you get instant feedback, if you don't like the picture you erase it from the camera instantly, there is much more capacity, etc. If you get a 4.0 megapixel camera you should also get at least a 128 MB card. A secure digital 128 MB card costs about 20 bucks. My card holds 64 pictures on the highest resolution. Also, with a lot of digital cameras you can shoot video clips.

 

I always wondered how people were getting such awesome pictures of wildlife through their binos and scopes. I had no idea that it was so simple. I had no idea how "digiscoping works. Thanks for the info everyone, now I can't wait to try it out.

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I built a small bracket to mount my digital camera in front of the binos. Then I put the camera on timer mode so that I can hit the button and then let it sit there perfectly still and take the pic a couple seconds later. That eliminates all that blurryness due to hand movement while trying to push down the button.

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I built a small bracket to mount my digital camera in front of the binos.  Then I put the camera on timer mode so that I can hit the button and then let it sit there perfectly still and take the pic a couple seconds later.  That eliminates all that blurryness due to hand movement while trying to push down the button.

 

 

Would you be willing to post a picture of that? It sounds like a great way to keep the camera still.

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I know most of the big optic companys sell digital camera adapters for their spotting but they are pretty costly.

I actually saw a guy on tv use a second tripod for his digital camera and camcorder to hold them still while filming and taking pics through his spotting scope. I don't think I'd be wanting to carry all that.

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Heres a pic I took yesterday of a big ol 6x6 with my Canon G5. I hand held it and waited till neither of us weren't moving. I took it thru my 15x Schwerbinski's.

post-3-1126573763.jpg

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