Hello all,
Previously......
A few weeks ago I posted an RFI on 65mm spotting scopes, in particular
requesting comments and
opinions from users of the new Swarovski and Carl Zeiss models.
Well, as these are relatively new models I was not too hopeful of a great deal
of info flooding in.
As it turns out there was a mere dribble...but what I got was helpful enough
considering I really
had already made my mind up and just wanted some mental support.
Insecure?....me?.....surely not!?
A bit of background...
Recently I have been grabbed by the latest "fad" (that should get a few rocks
on the roof) of
digiscoping.
Digiscoping, for anyone who has just tuned in, is the 'art' (more rocks from
the real art-lovers) of
taking photos by coupling a digital camera to a spotting scope. It is a
practice that is taking on
all round the world with keen bird photographers who can't
afford the cost of professional camera gear but who want to take more than
reasonable record photos
of the birds they see.
(To get an idea of how 'big' it is do a "Google" search on 'digiscoping'.)
That includes me so I am into it.
The recommended gear is a Nikon Coolpix 9xx/4500 series digital camera and one
of the
top-of-the-range spotting scopes.
The most common scopes used are:
Leica APO Televid 77
Swarovski AT/ST80 HD
Actually, any spotting scope could be used but the best pictures are taken with
scopes with High
definition (Fluorite) glass and "apochromatic" lenses (designed
to prevent colour shifts).
Anyone who already owns a high-definition scope only needs to obtain a suitable
digital camera to
begin digiscoping. (Only?!)
I have been using an old Carton 60 mm scope to 'practice' and, although
reasonable images were
produced, it was obvious a better scope would be desirable.
The large scopes that seem to be so popular (fashion items?) these days seem to
me to be a bit of
'over-kill' for general birdwatching (see the review at :
http://www.betterviewdesired.com/HowScope.html ) so I was very interested in
the new range of
smaller high-definition scopes coming onto the market.
For a review of two 65 mm models(Swarovski and Carl Zeiss) see:
http://www.betterviewdesired.com/7-02%20BVD/index.html and for a review of a
slightly older 60 mm
model from Nikon see:
http://www.betterviewdesired.com/BVD701/index.html
I received a note from Aidan Moore in Ireland who advised me of a couple of
people there who were
using the scopes I was enquiring about:
Tom Shelvin using a Swarovski ATS 65 HD http://www.wildlifesnaps.com/
Eugene Archer using a Carl Zeiss Diascope 65 T* FL http://www.irishbirding.com/
(Naturaly, Tom and Eugene are both very happy with their individual choice.)
>From what Aidan says it would appear that the Swarovski 65 mm scope could be
>the scope of choice in
that part of the world in the near future.
My attempts to find a retailer of either scope in Brisbane ended up as a dismal
failure.
No one had a listing for either scope and the Carl Zeiss office (in Brisbane)
didn't even know their
company made spotting scopes!
A 'local' birder informed me that he had 'ordered' a Swarovski 65 mm scope but
had been waiting
delivery for some time and expected to be waiting a while longer.
It also appears that Lieca is planning to release a 62 mm scope soon but when
that will reach
Australia........?
Not being too keen to wait too long and being rather keen on the Carl Zeiss 65
mm scope (hoping that
the 15x to 45x zoom would be more flexible for digiscoping than the Swarovski's
20x to 60x) I
ordered the 'last-at-the-old-price' Zeiss unit in stock at the BOCA shop in
Melbourne.
This was delivered a few days ago and I have been busily fabricating a camera
mount to suit the
scope so that I can get stuck into a bit of digiscoping.
(The BOCA Shop does not deal in Swarovski scopes.)
The initial impression of the Carl Zeiss scope is that it is a marked
improvement on the Carton
scope I have been happily using for the last 15 years.....perhaps not 8 times
as good but still very
good indeed.
One of these days I will compare it to the 80 mm jobs but I can confidently say
that no one should
be disappointed with one of these scopes.
Some reports suggest that there is slight distortion at the edges of the image
but this has not been
a problem to me.
It should be realized that evaluating the performance of a spotting scope is a
very subjective thing
and potential owners of any scope would be well advised not to just take the
word of another person.
Each person's eyesight and expectations are obviously different so, if
possible, try before you buy.
I couldn't try, so I took the risk.
I am sure that the Swarovski 65 mm scope would be equally as good and either
unit would be a
slightly cheaper alternative for anyone wanting a good birdwatching spotting
scope.
As for digiscoping with the Carl Zeiss scope........
So far I have only taken a couple of 'trial' shots but the potential is
obviously there.
One feature that attracted me was the physical dimensions of the eyepiece.
The Zeiss zoom eyepiece is enormous compared to the zoom lens of the Carton
scope.
The Zeiss zoom unit is about 56 mm diameter overall with a quite large exit
lens meaning that when
coupled to the Nikon Coolpix 4500 digital camera there is vignetting only at
the lower end of the
camera zoom range (digiscopers will know what that means).
I also tried my 'old' Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom (10x) digital camera with the
Zeiss scope and found
the arrangement worked much better than the same camera and the 60 mm Carton
scope. This would
indicate the potential for using this scope with digital
cameras with larger lenses than the 'traditional' digiscoping camera, i.e.,
Coolpix 9xx/4500.
For more details of the Carl Zeiss scope see:
http://www.zeiss.com.au/C12567A80033F8E4/InhaltWWWIntern/856981479FC8E44041256AE50032BDF9
For the Swarovski 65mmscope see:
http://www.swarovskioptik.com/nf/us/birding/observation_ats65.htm
For the leica 62 mm scope see:
http://www.leica-camera.com/sportoptik/einsatzbereiche/vogelbeobachtung/televid62/index_e.html
If anyone has any queries about the Zeiss scope and digiscoping contact me by
e-mail and I will
endeavour to answer your questions.
Cheers
Bob Inglis
Woody Point
Queensland
Australia
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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