The Nikon Fieldscope ED82A Digiscoping setup with Nikon Coolpix P4

[harlequin]

The Nikon Fieldscope ED82A Digiscoping setup with Nikon Coolpix P4

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A few other side views of the setup mounted on a Wimberly 2 and Gitzo 1325 Carbon Fibre tripod.

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A size comparison between a Digiscoping setup versus a traditional DSLR with a 600mm. It looks really tiny compared to a big gun like the 500/600mm lens.
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10 Lessons learned so far :

1) 30X eye piece gets decent reach without the degradation of picture quality. The 50X and 75X do give you awesome reach but quality will definitely drop. On the bright side, the longer focal length definitely helps you to achieve better documentation of skittish subjects.
2) Stability – lots of it. That’s the reason why I bought the Wimberly 2 and Gitzo 1325 Carbon Fibre tripod. At such extreme focal length, every bit of stability helps.
3) Panning and finding the subject – See point number 2 J The new Wimberly 2 offers very easy subject location through the smooth panning viewed through the LCD viewfinder. And after locating the subject, it really locks tight without the traditional drooping factor experienced with traditional Pan & Tilt Video ball heads, which typically drops by like 1 to 2 degrees, and this equates to a big drop in the subject composition in the viewfinder. Those pan and tilt may be a cheaper alternative but don’t the drooping factor does give you a lot of misses. Traditional ball heads can be used but it can really hard to hand hold the fieldscope at long focal length and viewing the LCD viewfinder at the same time, and one can really miss out the subject easily.
4) Do multiple shots burst mode – the low shutter speed often associated in digiscoping really needs a lot of stability and with the push-needle shutter release, you need to ensure no slight disturbance as you pressed the shutter release and start bursting, hoping for a good picture.
5) Manual focal point – luckily the Nikon Coolpix allows you to change the focal point so that you can focus on the subject properly
6) Auto ISO mode – if possible, ISO 100 to 200 preferred. Any values higher induces noise.
7) Aperture Priority mode preferred – I force the camera to go at F6 and above to get as sharp a picture as possible.
8) Avoid Digital Zoom on the camera at all cost. Use the telephoto zoom on the camera which is usually up to 3.5X to get you the reach. Set the camera telephoto zoom to the widest mode first and after locating the subject, you then use
9) Very quick and easy setup – all within like 1 minute as compared to my current setup which usually takes at least a good 5 minutes before I can shoot.
10) Flash – forget it ! J The dinky little flash from Point & Shoot Cameras won’t work here

Disadvantages :

1) Expect to trash away a lot of blurry shots – this is expected.
2) Picture quality cannot never be compared to or matched with a DSLR with a prime 500mm or 600mm lens.
3) Action shots like feeding, in flight or fighting can be really hard to get (not that its not possible though )
4) Battery life – with the constant use of the LCD Viewfinder to locate subject and to focus, you need to carry a few spares around
5) Stability again – wind , unstable grounds, or even a slight movement caused by the shutter release wire can cause blur pictures.

Weight (for those who needs to know the real numbers)

Nikon ED82A fieldscope – 1.67 kg

30X eye piece – 160 g

Fieldscope Digital camera bracket for P4 – 210 g

Nikon Coolpix P4 camera – 170g

Wimberly Head version 2 – 1.42 kg

Gitzo 1325 Carbon Fibre tripod – 2.04 kg

Total weight : 5.67 kg

Its really a lightweight setup (great for ladies too !) , offering superb telephoto reach with easy pan & tilt provided by the Wimberly 2 and easy subject location via the LCD viewfinder. Great combination for those who wants to use it to document very skittish and hard to reach subjects or as a compliment to traditional DSLR with 500mm or 600mms lens. For those contemplating on bird photography the easier way, here’s a solution for you without burning a big hole but it do come with lots of compromises.

Couple of websites you can go for further information :

http://www.nikon.com.sg/pagearticle.php?pageid=91

http://nikon.topica.ne.jp/bi_e/products/nature_c.htm

[szekiat]

phil, how much did u pay for the scope+mount+finder setup?

[DAISY O'NEILL]

Philip,

Thank you very much for an impressive run down of the set up, function details including the Gitzo and Wembley.

Don't take a long time for photographer experts like yourself to know how the set up tick or not tick. Yes, knowing your equiptment well is very important.
It is as though you are already talking to the gismo and it is 'talking ' back.

I have asked Chien to arrange the order of the full set up to what I can manage to carry. The Wembley may look abit bulky for me to carry around.
A total weight of 5.67 kg to hunk around the shoulder for several hours..mmm
I have to weigh objects to bring to the nearest equivalent and feel the weight and see if I can manage and enjoy carring the set around.

It will definately make me a happy person to finally decide it is time to upgrage and for the best it is going to be and what digiscopy best can deliver.

Thanks Philip.
Daisy

[harlequin]

Originally Posted by szekiat

phil, how much did u pay for the scope+mount+finder setup?

Around S$2200.

[harlequin]

Originally Posted by DAISY O'NEILL

Philip,

Thank you very much for an impressive run down of the set up, function details including the Gitzo and Wembley.

Don't take a long time for photographer experts like yourself to know how the set up tick or not tick. Yes, knowing your equiptment well is very important.
It is as though you are already talking to the gismo and it is 'talking ' back.

I have asked Chien to arrange the order of the full set up to what I can manage to carry. The Wembley may look abit bulky for me to carry around.
A total weight of 5.67 kg to hunk around the shoulder for several hours..mmm
I have to weigh objects to bring to the nearest equivalent and feel the weight and see if I can manage and enjoy carring the set around.

It will definately make me a happy person to finally decide it is time to upgrage and for the best it is going to be and what digiscopy best can deliver.

Thanks Philip.
Daisy

No worries. You're welcome.
Actually most of the time you wont be carrying it on your shoulder right ? You should be aiming at some subject or waiting for subjects to appear.
If you're heading up to Frasers this weekend, then you can get to feel the weight in person. Chien can give you a heads up there too.

[ash]

Hi Philip & The Zommer,

well done, really good write up on the pro & con of digiscoping technique.
now he has given other an alternative for nature/bird photography too.
$S2200 is half the price of my Swarov setup man. Whimbley made the
scoping for your subject much easier than pan or video ball head, of course
much better balancing than other ball-head.

Hope to see more postings from the Zoomer!!!
Many thks,

Ash

[harlequin]

Originally Posted by ash

Hi Philip & The Zommer,

well done, really good write up on the pro & con of digiscoping technique.
now he has given other an alternative for nature/bird photography too.
$S2200 is half the price of my Swarov setup man. Whimbley made the
scoping for your subject much easier than pan or video ball head, of course
much better balancing than other ball-head.

Hope to see more postings from the Zoomer!!!
Many thks,

Ash

Hi Ash,

Thanks ! Actually you still need to add the cost of the Coolpix, Wimberly 2 and tripod also what...plus memory cards, batteries.....But then its still lots cheaper than big glasses.

Trust me on the pan and tilt or ball head experience with digiscoping....even i give up the act of balancing. Who ever invented the wimberly needs to be given a Nobel award

[Remo]

Very good write up.
a good sharing on your part.
Recently handled that wimberly2 and agree it's superior to video fluidheads, sidekicks and ballheads.

So come for the 16th SBWR get together with your setups and let us touch and look see..

[harlequin]

Originally Posted by Remo

Very good write up.
a good sharing on your part.
Recently handled that wimberly2 and agree it's superior to video fluidheads, sidekicks and ballheads.

So come for the 16th SBWR get together with your setups and let us touch and look see..

Thanks mate.

16th outing nah...count me out as there are still someone i dont wish to see you know the reason also have to go on a business trip too.

[Nelson Khor]

Can compare both image quality ?

[szekiat]

how does the field scope compare against a leica apo televit 77 since i understand the leica scope tube is about 1.7k new in singapore (quoted by AP)? 2.2k for seems rather pricey.....quality wise?

[harlequin]

the nikon 82A scope is listed as SRP$1800.00

you still need to add in the cost of the eye-piece, digital bracket mount and lastly the Nikon Coolpix.

the 2 links to nikon that I have posted will give you an idea on the required pieces and the SRP price.

[Mervin]

looks like i switching !!!!

who wants my 500f4 ???

[eagleeye]

It may be interesting to look at the Fuji Non SLR cameras.
They offer low noise at high isos as high as ISO 800
using their Super-Had CCD.

This would allow faster shutter speeds and will get better pictures.

You would need to ask someone to make an adaptor for your
camera or make one yourself.. A whole range can be
found at http://www.ckcpower.com which can help you to decide
your camera. I have purchased things from this person before and
it is good..

Also here is another place
http://www.at-infocus.co.uk/digiscoping.html


Other interesting points:
====================
A) ED 82A is FOG FREE , its filled with Nitrogen
B) Claims from users to be as good as or better than
Swarovski ATS80 HD and Leica APO Televid 77.

C) You can adapt your Nikon DSLR cameras to it.

Quote:
http://www.birdforum.net/reviews/sho...cat=998&page=1

And this from the Web’s \"Bird Digest\" who reviewed the previous but similar scope, the ED78 (http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/op...copes03.html):

\"When we tested the Fieldscope’s optical resolution... the Fieldscope won the same outstanding score of 19 [/20] at 60x as the Swarovski ATS80 HD and Leica APO Televid 77.

D) quality is amazingly good from what I can see at
http://www.pbase.com/syling/bird

E) The Nikon P series camera with VR anti-shake is a good choice.
since these little cameras has no mirror slap, it should work very well.



Regds
Allan

[szekiat]

anyone needs anything from infocus? I go down to the london branch quite often. Can deliver by next week...

[wilis128]

impressive write-up phil!...

the weight looks manageable.. esp already included the wimberly n gitzo..

[harlequin]

Originally Posted by wilis128

impressive write-up phil!...

the weight looks manageable.. esp already included the wimberly n gitzo..

Well Daisy can give you guys an answer since she carried it for a while in Frasers Hills over the weekend.

[Deswitch]

Harlequin, to get this complete setup including the camera, how much will it cost? Wher would be a cheaper place to get it? I'm considering to get one since i can afford a 500mm without wife barking down my neck.

T.I.A

[tsechien]

Over here it is

Nikon Fieldscope 82ED Angled : MYR 3750.00
Nikon FSB-4 Mounting Bracket : MYR 450.00
Nikon 30X Eyepiece : MYR 695.00
Nikon 50X Eyepiece : MYR 795.00
Nikon Coolpix P4 with 512Mb Card : MYR 1450.00

= MYR 7140.00 = SGD 3090.00

Minus all Support Gear of course.

chien