Budget Digiscoping

This article is aimed at people who are interested in the art of digiscoping and are on a tight budget or wondering if digiscoping is for them. This article is not aimed at you getting top notch results but is aimed on saving you money. So, let us begin.

What is Digscoping?

Digiscoping is the use of a camera to attach to a spotting scope's eye piece. This is seen as a cheaper version from purchasing an SLR camera with a lens that can cost a lot more to reach the same length.

What this article is planning to try and do is to create the cheapest set for someone who is just starting out in trying Digiscoping.

Why am I doing this?

I am doing this because every site I have looked on only reccmmend the high end scopes, the ones that go into quadruple figures. Now although there is nothing wrong with these scopes. The problem is these sites mention setups that are well over £600 and to be honest if I was just starting out on Digiscoping or anything for that matter I would not want to spend that much. Why? This is because if I purchase such an expensive scope and then I decide Digiscoping is not for me then I would have wasted much more money than I would have with a cheaper scope.

Spotting Scope

Now if you remember, you are just starting out and if you are like me you would want to spend as little money as possible to begin with and the Spotting Scope I purchased was the Camlink CSP80. I bought this scope brand new from eBay. You can shop around for a scope but I would advise you to get a Branded scope (Camlink, Celestron). The Camlink CSP80 RRP is £150 but you can probably get it cheaper. A better range of starter scopes however is the Celestron range, They offer more of a range and can work out better for you in the future.

Whatever scope you choose to start off with take note on what the Objective Diameter of the scope is. Digiscopers tend to have an Objective diameter of 80, 90 or 100. These are all measured in MM and the objective diameter basically means the bigger the number the more light enters through the scope this will equal to pictures being snapped quicker than a scope with a smaller diameter and that is all you need to know about the objective diameter.

Tripod

The better the tripod is the sturdier it will be and the less shake there is will result in sharper images. Now when I say better this is obviously going to mean more expensive. A cheap £15 tripod unfortunately will not do. I am not just saying this because other sites say the same thing but I attempted to disagree with their opinions but it did not work. These cheap tripods will shake too much when attempting to take a picture and the end result is never satisfying.

The tripod I went with was a Olivon TR54 this is a heavy duty tripod and it is meant for the job. Another plus side to this tripod is that it is free flow, meaning anywhere you want to fix on, it will.The Olivon TR54 is ranged around about £80 and it will do the trick.

Camera

The camera I  used was the Panasonic LS60. This camera was bought a few years ago intended for family outings and the pictures are really not that bad in fact it is a perfect hidden gem for digiscoping, but for this I cannot merely recommend a camera because newer models keep getting released making the recommended cameras obscure. Since this is meant to be a budget set up you are most probably going to end up with a compact digital camera rather than a D-SLR or an advance compact.

To choose your camera this will equal to days, weeks or even months of research to find the best camera. If you are just starting out Photography as a whole then I would recommend a camera for a beginners, these are usually on the cheaper end of things and just because they are cheap does not mean they are no good, some can give really impressive results.

Also do not forget the higher the mega pixels does not mean the better of picture quality, this will make researching your first camera even the more difficult but the research will be worth it, you would not want to be wasting your money now would you? The List of Key things you need to look out for when searching for a suitable camera are:

* A optical zoom of 4x or less but 3x is even better
* A camera lens near enough the same size as the scope eye piece
* A Good brand (Nikon, Canon, Panasonic)

After you got your camera you will now need to get an adapter

Adapter

There are so many different kinds of adapters out there you probably would not believe it. There are DSLR brackets, Swing out brackets, threaded sleeves, alignment collars and also the line of universal adapters. Being me I chose to obtain a universal adapter mostly because it will fit most scopes and most cameras. They usually price around £40 and it is all you basically need, something to hold your camera into place. If you do go for a universal adapter be sure it will fit round your scopes eye piece by measuring the diameter of the eyepiece. There are many adapters out there some are even exclusive to some sites but these are usually overpriced so just search "digiscoping" on eBay

Sample Images

The following are what you can accomplish with the following set up.

* Camlink CSP80 (£150)
* Panasonic LS60 (£60)
* Universal Adapter (£40)
* Olivon TRH-154 (£100)

This whole set up cost me £350 but it gets better you probably have a camera lying somewhere around the house so you can start with that instead.

Most important of all do not be disheartened that you cannot afford the best setup. It will come over time. I know how it feels sometimes I think my pictures are no good and I look at others that look like masterpieces but I keep going, Wildlife photography should not be the rich persons game, anyone should enjoy it and good things will come to those who wait and most important of all just have fun and don't treat it as some kind of competition.



Sample Images