Great Crested Grebe

[Tordan58]

Hi,

Today light was more favorable, unfortunately a bit windy but I went out for more field tests of the ED82A (equivalent to 1500mm F12.8 lens).

I am quite pleased with the results, keeper rate was almost 50%. Here are some samples.

ISO500, 1/640s, distance 40 meters:

ISO800, 1/250s, distance 25 meters

ISO800, 1/640s, distance 20 meters

Please feedback if you want.

/Tord

[Greytop]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

Great shots Tord
I particularly think that last one is excellent, the posturing of the chick to the parent and adds drama to the image.

[Floribunda]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

Great to see these! Especially the chick - what a pretty bird.
Enjoyed them very much.

[David Morison]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

I think these images are excellent considering taken through a 'scope. A few birders do "digiscope" but most get much inferior results and if they are really keen go down the DSLR and fitted lens route so well done.

David

[Olybirder]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

Three great, digiscoped images Tord. The last one is a real beauty. Keep up the good work.

Ron

[Tordan58]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback, it is encouraging.

In search of an adequate equipment for elusive bird photography needed to capture at long range I have been trying different setups; below is a summary of my findings.

For hi fidelity rendering, you should aim at filling at least a quarter of the frame with the subject after cropping, leaving some 3 M pixel left to work with which works OK when reproducing the fine details. Higher resolution is of course better but this is good enough for rendering on display.
The 300mm + EC20 setup produces a horizontal angle of view of around 2.1 degrees which sound narrow but is not narrow enough in most situations with many wild birds not accepting any human approaching within safety distance, say 20 meters. In most situations the safety distance is much higher than that, and any attempt to venture further will result into the subject vanishing into safety.

Subject size/shooting distance can easily be compiled into a table showing what it takes in terms of required focal length for full frame captures. I have the table at hand but will not bother you with piles of boring figures. I found that 1500 mm is about right.

Field experience from bird watching is that a magnifying factor of around 30X is adequate, offering a good compromise between magnification/ease to find subject/brightess/quality of picture. Most spotting scopes are designed this way, with magnifications typically in the range 20X - 75X.

So I started earlier this winter by using various compact cameras mounted in front of an eyepiece designed for digiscoping through the means of a generic flipping bracket. Of the four cameras I tested (Canon Powershot G3, Olympus My 850SW, Panasonic Lumix TS1, Canon Powershot S95) I concluded the Canon Powershot S95 produced the best result (shame on me ). The results would at time be excellent from sharpness point of view, brightness and shutter speed are of no concern, the camera AF can be a great asset but would also at times lock where you don't want it to lock. The bokeh however is not that pleasant, reproducing the out of focus elements in a somewhat "hard" way if you see what I mean. The camera lens would produce sharp results up until around halfway zoom, then gradually softening but still acceptable at full zoom (3X). I will post some samples for reference - though I understand this forum is for Olympus talk.

Recently I ventured into using my spotting scope as lens for DSLR. As discussed in earlier post this is some of a challenge caused by the less than bright picture in the viewfinder, in turned caused by the less than great lens speed (F12.8). But when I have managed to get focus right and actuate the shutter without shake I am really pleased by the results. The samples I have attached to this post are ~75% crops, cropped for composition reasons.

The conclusion is that I found myself in posession of a potentially powerful tool that takes some skills to handle. The main drawback is that I need to decide what to do - watch the birds or photograph them - since swapping the eyepiece and the DSLR adapter takes some time and puts the camera at various risks if you do it in the field.

Sorry for long post.

/Tord

[Jezzer]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

Hi Tord,

I didn't realise at first that these were digiscoped images so that shows the quality of them - well done as it is a tricky business at best.
These images were taken with a DSLR attached to the scope? Something I've not really tried as yet.
I use an Olivon T90 scope, which I had for use in target archery but wanted to double for digiscoping. I use an Olivon adapter which has a swivel function, with a compact Canon( sorry) to take the photos. It works to a degree - I can swivel the camera away to look at the subject and swivel it back to take an image.
It's a cumbersome package - the Olivon is BIG on its own - even bigger with the adapter/camera attached and you need a solid tripod. It's a matter of trial and error with settings on the scope and camera but does work.
Sod's law - I can't find the images I've taken so perhaps I'll go out soon and post a few images.
It's a big compromise - carting the scoping package against the mobility of the DSLR but for some objects there's no other way to reach them.
I'm a bit wary of attaching my DSLR to the scope so think I'll keep the two disciplines apart for the mo'.
Hope you keep enjoying it yourself.

Regards

[Tordan58]

Re: Great Crested Grebe

Below is a photograph of the setup when deployed in field, depicting the following:

• The Nikon ED82A spotting scope in its protective canvas case. If you wonder about the two protuberances, these are the front lens and eyepiece protectors that stick to the side with velcro in order to avoid shake blur caused by having them dangling free and capturing wind.
• The black tube is the Nikon 7468 DSLR adapter that is mounted instead of the observation eyepice
• The aluminium ring is a Nikon F mount - 4/3 mechanical adapter on which the E620 camera body is mounted.
• The camera strap sticks to the scope with the same velcro used for the eyepiece protector.
• Above mounted on sturdy Manfrotto tripod
• Not in picture: the IR remote release

/Tord