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the unofficial site for birders and digiscopers using Zeiss equipment.

Digiscoping with the Zeiss Diascopes and the Digital Camera Adaptor

Which Camera?

The cameras that work best with our scope (or anyone else’s for that matter) are:

• compact digital cameras, pocket sized to as large as the average 35mm compact. Since the portability of the equipment is one of the advantages of digiscoping over traditional DSLR photography, weight and size are a consideration.
• cameras with a 3 to 1 zoom range, to increase the likelihood that you will get a full-frame, unvignetted (shadowed) image: some 4 to 1 zoom cameras work for a portion of their range
• 5 to 8 megapixel. Higher pixel count sensors do not provide as much extra detail as you might expect, but, being newer, they are often “cleaner” with better performance at higher ISO settings, better color saturation and truer colors, and they are almost always coupled with newer and better in-camera image processing and exposure software, which results in better images. Higher pixel counts also allows for cropping the image to make the subject fill more of the frame, without loosing too much detail. Second generation 5 and 6 mega pixel cameras have all the advantages of the new 8 mp sensors, with the bonus that they are often available at much lower cost.
• cameras with a large, bright, wide-angle LCD display for composition and, rarely, focusing. With advances in LCD technology a “swivel” display (one that pulls out and away from the back of the camera, and assumes a variety of positions) can still be nice, but is no longer a necessity.
• cameras with at least an “adjustable program” setting. Though full-auto or one of the preset “scene” modes works most of the time, it is nice to be able to control ISO settings directly and to adjust the exposure point for back-lighted situations. That generally requires a Program mode, as opposed to the full Auto mode.
• cameras with the quickest start-up times and the shortest “shutter-lags”. Quick start up so that you can go from observation mode to image capture quickly. Short shutter lags so that you have a better chance of capturing particular poses or behaviors of the birds or wildlife, if and when you get to that stage in your development as a digiscoper.

Necessary features unique to our DCA set up.

• cameras with a tripod socket. Placement of the socket is not critical, but extreme placements (at the corners of the camera) make it harder to get a secure mount.

Remote Shutter Release: Finally, because of the very high magnifications (from about 1500mm to the equivalent of a 6000mm lens in 35mm terms) the major challenge in Digiscoping is to eliminate camera and scope motion. The ideal camera would have a wired remote shutter release, for complete “hands-off” image capture, but there are very few of those, at least among compact consumer level cameras, remaining on the market. An infrared remote also works, but not as well, as there is almost always a delay built into the remote. The delay can sometimes be adjusted or “turned off”, but in my experience none of them are as “immediate” as an electronic or mechanical release. For cameras without any remote capability you will have to either build or buy a standard cable release bracket. These brackets allow the use of the mechanical cable releases which are made for conventional 35mm photography. They have an arm that reaches over the camera, with a hole threaded for the cable release, so that the release plunger can be placed over the shutter button on the camera. The one we use comes from EagleEye Optic Zooms in the UK. We will cover installation of the cable release bracket under Set-up below.

Brands: we use only Sony brand compact digital cameras with Carl Zeiss lenses. For one thing it is a matter of company policy: Zeiss all the way through…but even if it were not, Sony makes some of the most digiscoping-friendly cameras on the market, and the unique characteristics of the Carl Zeiss lenses, from color correction and rendition, to lack of distortions, match the characteristics of our Diascopes very well.

Cameras that we have personal experience with are:

The DSC V series: incredibly sharp lens, but it gives a full frame image only over the lower half of its range, and, because the lens has to be almost touching the eyepiece, the DCA must be readjusted whenever you zoom the camera. The LCDs are not as large as other Sony models: The range of exposure adjustments are greater (only consumer level Sony with RAW image capture): Only consumer level Sony with an electronic remote zoom and shutter release. Unfortunately the Vs are no longer in Sony’s catalog, though they may be available from retailers for at least a few months to come.

The DSC W series: 5, 7, and 8 megapixel models: sharp Carl Zeiss Tessar zoom, perhaps the most digiscoping friendly zoom on the market. Provides a full frame view at all zoom settings, and without readjusting the DCA as you zoom. Bright LCDs. Adjustable Program mode. Wide ISO range. Great internal software. Excellent images.

The DSC N series: 8 megapixels: same Zeiss zoom as the W series with all its advantages, and the same sensor technology (with a higher pixel count) and internal software, for excellent image quality. Very large and bright 3 inch touch-screen LCD, among the best in daylight I have yet to see. All of the menu options are selected via touch screen. PDA users will be right at home. Some, however, may find the touch screens take some getting used to. However the selectable spot focus mode, which allows placement of the focus point where you need it with a touch on the screen, is enough to redeem the touch screen and make this one great camera for digiscoping. Ultra compact, metal body. Certainly the best digiscoping camera we have yet used.

The P series: current P models have the same Carl Zeiss Tessar zoom as the W and N, and should work just as well as the W and N do. Their ultra-compact format means that they have smaller LCDs.

The S600: for a real bargain, $199 gets you 6 mp, high sensitivity, good color and a digiscoping friendly Zeiss tessar zoom. At the wide end (31mm equiv.) there is slight, sharp-edged vignetting. Zooming up just a bit eliminates it and the field remains unvignetted through full tel. Images are sharp. The tripod mount location makes mounting it on the DCA a real challenge, but with proper padding with duct tape (see Mounting), it is possilbe. (Acutally the only real reason to choose this over the $30 more expensive W30 would be if you wanted the wide angle lens (31mm vs. 38mm) for general image capture (scenics, family, interiors, etc.).

Similar models from Pentax, Canon, Olympus, Kodak, and Fuji should also work, but we do not have direct experience with them. Look for a zoom lens that gives you a full frame image as near the wide-angle setting as possible (you will be too close to the bird almost as often as you are too far away, and excellent images are much easier to capture close in, than they are far away). You can easily test this at the store if you bring your scope in by hand holding the camera behind the eyepiece. Look for a zoom that does not require readjustment of the DCA as you zoom (one that is at its longest at the wide-angle setting).

Expect to pay from $200 (5-6 Mega Pixel) to $500 (the 8 Mega Pixel N1 with touch screen) for a good digiscoping camera.

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