Technique

A guide to how the digiscoped images were acquired and suggestions for sources of digiscoping information.

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. Other variants exist - such as attaching an SLR camera to the body of the telescope in the absence of the eye-piece. By such means, images of remarkable magnification can be achieved, which is especially useful for wildlife photography at long ranges. Not all telescopes are suitable for digiscoping, but, among those that are, the larger Kowa telescopes are particularly fine (hence the original naming of this site). 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), together with the upgraded 2007 models that have a completely redesigned optical system and large 88 mm objectives. My trusty Nikon CoolPix995 was my preferred camera for digiscoping and, despite being a mere 3.3 megapixel device designed 9 years ago, it proved a reliable tool that even today can still produce images rivalling, in all but size, those created by much more expensive dSLR set-ups 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), to the lavishly illustrated book A Close Up Look. Approaching Nature Through Digiscoping (ISBN 978-84-935232-6-8, Nayade Editorial, 2008) and to the information available at various web sites included in the ‘Web 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 digiscoping gallery, I include a summary of the in-camera technical information (Exif data) alongside each shot.

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