Technique

Digiscoping is the art of acquiring digital photographic images by attaching a digital camera (usually a compact camera such as a Nikon Coolpix) to the eyepiece of a terrestrial telescope. By such means, images of remarkable magnification can be achieved, which is especially useful for wildlife photography. Not all telescopes are suitable for digiscoping, but, among those that are, the larger Kowa telescopes are particularly fine. The model I have used to take all the shots featured here is the Kowa TSN823 with X20, X21 or X32 eyepieces. I have used this model telescope since 1998 and it is still available today, now as a slightly modified ‘M’ version (TSN823 M). My trusty Nikon CoolPix995 is my preferred camera for digiscoping and, despite being a mere 3.3 megapixel device designed six years ago, it has proven a reliable tool that can still produce images rivalling, in all but size, those created by much more expensive set-ups, even on occasion pro-dSLRs, when digiscoping. For further information on the art of digiscoping, I refer the reader to articles published in Birding World in 2002 (see references below) and to the information available at various web sites included in the ‘Links’ section of this site (especially birdforum.net). Successful digiscoping is not easy, but patience and practice, together with application of traditional photographic skills, can reap rewards. As a guide, in the Gallery, I include a summary of the in-camera technical information (Exif data) alongside each shot. Go to my 'Digiscoping Tips' gallery from the 'Galleries' link to see examples of common digiscoping problems, with accompanying pointers on how to overcome them.

References

Hackett, P. (2002) Progressing with video digiscoping Birding World 15 (3), 121-128

Hatton, D. (2002) Progressing with stills digiscoping Birding World 15 (8), 335-342