My Digiscoping Set-up Featuring Kowa 833 Scope and Nikon D90 Camera
UPDATE: February 6, 2011
I purchased a Kowa TSN-884 Prominar Straight Scope last July and have been using it for digiscoping ever since. I have also switched to the TE-17W, 30x Wide Angle Lens rather than using the 20-60x zoom lens listed below. You can see the new equipment at the end of the post. Other than these changes, the adapters and the 50mm Nikkor lens are the same. I have also included a piece of equipment that I find a necessity when digiscoping from the car. It’s called a “Groofwin Pod” and you can find it here at LL Rue. It’s a device that you mount a head and camera on rather than a tripod. It will attach to your window or you can use it on the ground or the roof of your car.
I found that the straight scope makes it much easier to find your target than using the angled scope. The angled scope is better used for scoping birds, especially when you are with a group of birders. When properly set up, both tall and short people can look through the angled scope.
You can see the new setup and the Groofwin Pod at the bottom of this post.
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When I decided to try digiscoping, there were several considerations involved in my decision. I already had a good camera in the Nikon D90 and a decent telephoto lens for bird photography with the AF VR-Nikkor 80-400mm 1:4.5-5.6D lens, but I wanted a good birding scope too.
I had been researching birding scopes for about a year, looking for the best quality in a mid-priced scope. I was also yearning for a bigger lens for my camera or a lens that I could use with a teleconverter, to get better bird images. Well, the larger camera lenses available to use with a teleconverter (a secondary lens placed between the camera body and the photo lens for magnification) were prohibitively expensive, in the $5,000 range.
This being the case, and seeing all the information on digiscoping in the birding world, I decided the more practical and less expensive way to get better bird photographs from greater distances was digiscoping. Plus I would have an excellent scope to use for birding!
Obviously the heart of the digiscoping set-up is the spotting scope. After reading the reviews and actually looking through this scope on an outing with Jeff and Dawn Fine of Dawn’s Bloggy Blog, I decided that the Kowa TSN-883 Prominar Spotting Scope was the best choice. After all, this scope came in as the best of the best out of the 15 top models reviewed in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Scope Quest 2008! See the results chart here.
Here’s what they had to say “the surprising (to us) and virtually unanimous top-of-the-line ranking went to the Kowa TSN-883 Prominar. In side-by-side comparisons with Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, and Nikon, both Kowa scopes provided a slightly, but noticeably, brighter and crisper image at 60x than any other scope. The three-dimensional detail visible on bird feathers and tree bark with these scopes, even in dim light, is simply phenomenal.”
The image above shows the scope with the TE10Z 20-60x Zoom Eyepiece which comes in its own leather case
I thought this eyepiece would give me the best bang for my buck both for scoping birds and digiscoping.
Kowa (pronounced koh-uh) has designed this scope with digiscoping in mind. Two simple adaptors will positively connect any DSLR camera to the 883 spotting scope. The TSN-DA10 Digital Camera Adapter
screws directly onto the scope eyepiece once the eye cup is removed. The Digital Camera Adapter Ring, which for my Nikon D90
was the TSN-AR52
screws directly onto your camera lens where a filter would attach and the other side screws onto the Digital Camera Adapter.
I checked with the knowledgeable staff at B & H Photo as to the proper lens to use for digiscoping with the Kowa TSN-883 and Nikon D90 combination. They suggested the Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens
The focus ring on the 50mm lens should be set at infinity and the aperture locked on f22 for the camera to work automatically to set your f stop and shutter speed for you.
You will have to manually focus when digiscoping but it is simple with the Kowa 883’s dual top focus knobs. I keep my right hand on the camera shutter button and adjust the fine focus knob on the scope with my left index finger. When I see something I like, I simply click the shutter release.
The third component of the set-up, and a very important one for digiscoping, is the tripod system. I own a couple of old tripods and even the aluminum one gets very heavy if you go on long bird walks so I was looking for a reasonably priced carbon fiber set-up. I found one in the Benro C-058EX Carbon Fiber Tripod which weighs in at a scant 2.1 pounds.
It has several nice features including flip lock legs, individual leg angle locks, a spirit level and compass in the top, and spiked leg tips in addition to the soft rubber feet.
I ordered both a panhead (Benro HD-18 3-Way Panhead) and a ball head figuring that I would use the panhead for the scope and the ball head for my camera but I ended up prefering the Benro B-O +PU-50 B-Series Ball Head for digiscoping too.
I find that I’ve got my camera attached to the scope most of the time now. I only seem to switch to my telephoto lens when I want in-flight shots. For this reason, I will be purchasing another Kowa TSN-884 Prominar, the straight version.
I feel that the angled scope is great for digiscoping birds that are up, either in a tree, on a wire or anywhere above eye level. I also think it’s best for scoping birds when I’m not photographing, especially if I’m on a bird walk with other people of varying heights.
I feel the need for a straight scope for in-flight shots and shooting from the car (for instance on a wildlife refuge auto tour).
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OK, here’s the updated info
Kowa TSN-884 Prominar Scope on Benro Carbon Fiber Tripod
See close up above (with arrows) for lens and adapter information
Groofwin Pod mounted on window
Detail of Groofwin attached to window
Groofwin Pod used on flat surface
I find this Groofwin device a necessity to take the best images from a car window. It’s perfect for auto tours at wildlife refuges and the like, or just taking photos from the roadside (which I often do). You can find it at LL Rue and it’s worth every penny.
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