Tag Archive | digiscoping

Review: Swarovski ATX-85 Angled Spotting Scope – Yes, it’s that good.

Posted by Dan Arndt

Earlier this year I was asked by the amazing people at Swarovski if I would be interested in testing out some of their optics, and writing a review of my experiences. To put a fine point on it, I could not have been happier to say yes, and in retrospect, I’d have to say it was an opportunity of a lifetime. I’m going to go over my general points with some photo assistance, and hopefully convince some of you to take a second look at Swarovski Optik gear.

Swarovski Scope Setup

Swarovski ATX-85 + Swarovski TLS APO Digiscoping Adapter + Pentax K-30

As you can see in the above photo, this setup is entirely manual focus. To be honest, I was incredibly skeptical that I would be able to get clear, sharp photos of fast-moving birds. I had recently picked up a new tripod with a pan/tilt head, which I would recommend for any digiscoper to start with, and also a remove infrared shutter release, which works both in front of and behind my Pentax K-30, which was also indispensable.

The trick behind manually focusing while digiscoping… take a lot of shots, and practice, practice, practice. I’ve read blogs and forums focused on digiscoping, and the general rule of thumb seems to be 1 good photo for every 100 photos taken. Maybe it’s the prior experience I’ve had with digiscoping, or just the quality of the equipment, but I found I was able to use nearly 1/3 of all the images I took. It was a lot harder choosing which photos not to use rather than the ones that I would keep!

Northern Shoveler at Weed Lake

Northern Shoveler at Weed Lake – April 14, 2013
Swarovski ATX-85 + Pentax K-30 @30x magnification
1/800 sec., f/13, ISO 400

Black Tern at Eagle Lake May 18, 2013 Pentax K-30  + Swarovski ATX-85@40X magnification

Black Tern at Eagle Lake – May 18, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@40X magnification
1/250sec., f/16, ISO 1600

Killdeer at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary - April 16, 2013 Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX85@30X magnification 1/250sec., f/10, ISO 1600

Killdeer at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary – April 16, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX85@30X magnification
1/250sec., f/13, ISO 1600

Mountain Bluebird at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary - April 16, 2013 Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@40X magnification 1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 1600

Mountain Bluebird at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary – April 16, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@40X magnification
1/320 sec., f/16, ISO 1600

 

Where the Swarovski ATX-85 Angled Spotting Scope and TLS APO Digiscoping adapter really excel though, is with birds that are a little more sedentary. While getting action shots is pretty easy when the light is excellent, the stability of shooting on a tripod with a remote shutter allows for much lower than usual shutter speeds, allowing lower ISO compensation, or allowing even greater magnification. With the zoom ring located mid-way down the eyepiece, rather than just below it, and the focal ring located on the body of the scope itself, it allows for very fine adjustments to focal length and zoom without the adapter getting in the way, and without jostling the tripod off the target bird.

Gray-crowned Rosy Finch at Bearspaw Dam - April 13, 2013 Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@60x magnfiication 1/320sec., f/22, ISO 3200

Gray-crowned Rosy Finch at Bearspaw Dam – April 13, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@60x magnfiication
1/320sec., f/22, ISO 3200

This Gray-crowned Rosy Finch was well inside an area marked with numerous No Trespassing, Private Property, and No Admittance signs, so I set up the scope, tripod, and camera rig midway up a hill about 150 meters away. The equivalent focal length of this scope at this magnification level is around 3000mm, once the 1.5x cropped sensor, 35mm equivalent adapter, and 60x magnification is factored in. To put this into some perspective, this bird is 140-160mm in length (about the size of a House Sparrow), and was taking up about 1/8 of the image in the display. To get an equivalent photo with my Pentax K-5 and Sigma 150-500, I would have had to be about 20 meters away from the bird, well within the clearly marked private property! The above photo was additionally cropped 50%. That speaks volumes to the sharpness of the glass and coatings that Swarovski uses in their spotting scopes.

Great Gray Owl on Grand Valley Road - April 20, 2013 Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@60x magnification 1/320sec., f/22, ISO 400

Great Gray Owl on Grand Valley Road – April 20, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@60x magnification
1/320sec., f/22, ISO 400

If that last image didn’t convince you, maybe this one will. Again, this photo was taken at over 100 meters distance, with blowing snow, wind gusts, and terrible visibility. Once again, Swarovski comes through in a pinch. While this may not be an award-winning photo, it goes to show just how incredible the equipment actually is.

Now, there are some of you out there who aren’t really all up on this digiscoping thing yet, and just want a nice, clear scope, with great optics that’s easy to use. As I mentioned before, the lenses and coating on this scope are the top of the line. Even on very warm days, the heat distortion above 40x magnification was somewhat dispersed by the optics, making identification of distant birds seem like nothing at all. I like the angled scope too because it can be tilted at any angle to allow others to view, without changing the position of the scope. You can simply release the tripod ring, rotate the scope in place, and lock it back in at the appropriate eye level for the new viewer.

It also doesn’t really change anything if you’ve already got some accessories that you usually use to scope with, be they car window mounts, bean bags, or your current scope tripod, this scope will work with just about anything under the sun. If you’re interested in this scope, or any of Swarovski Optiks other amazing optics, check out their website at http://ca.swarovskioptik.com/nature, for their birding equipment, or http://ca.swarovskioptik.com/hunting for their hunting gear.

 

The review, in a nutshell: 

Pros:

The scope itself is light, easy to clean, and best of all, totally waterproof.

It’s super easy to learn to use, and even with an entry-level tripod and camera can capture superb images.

The quality of the glass, coatings, and even transportability of the equipment is top-notch and very user friendly.

 

Cons:

The price point is obviously out of the range of many birders and photographers, simply because it’s the very top end of the line, but it’s worth every penny.

I did have a bit of trouble with the DRX Adapter sleeve not locking down properly, and coming loose off of the scope during transport. The reason this is an issue is that without a solid connection, vignetting of the images (black space where the eyepiece is blocking the adapter lens) becomes very apparent, especially at higher magnifications. It seems that a simple locking ring between the eyepiece itself and the adapter sleeve would be an easy fix.

DRX Adapter Sleeve

Swarovski DRX Adapter sleeve for TLS-APO Adapter

And last but not least, the only major con that I can readily point out is that using this scope on a nearly daily basis for 3 months has completely ruined me for using my current digiscoping rig, let alone simply using my current scope for its intended purpose of simply spotting birds! Are there any generous benefactors who’d like to gift me one of these amazing scopes? 😉

I’ve added a few more photos below of some of the better shots I was able to get while I had the scope, and if you want to see even more, here’s a link to the photo album I set up on Flickr to show off all the photos I took while I had the scope this spring!

Swarovski - Green-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal at Weed Lake – April 14, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@30X magnification
1/640sec., f/13, ISO 400

Swarovski - Red-necked Grebe portrait

Red-necked Grebe at Frank Lake – April 27, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@20X magnification
1/400sec., f/10, ISO 800

Swarovski - Red-necked Grebe detail

Red-necked Grebe at Frank Lake – April 27, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@20X magnification
1/160sec., f/10, ISO 800

Swarovski - Curlew

Long-billed Curlew at Glenmore Trail and Highway 24 Sloughs – May 18, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@50X magnification
1/250sec., f/20, ISO 1600

Swarovski - Franklin's Gull

Franklin’s Gull at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary – May 10, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@30X magnification
1/320sec., f/13, ISO 800

Swarovski - Common Loon

Common Loon at Carburn Park – April 28, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@40X magnification
1/160sec., f/16, ISO 800

Swarovski - Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup at Weed Lake – April 14, 2013
Pentax K-30 + Swarovski ATX-85@30X magnification
1/640sec., f/13, ISO 400

Thanks for reading, and good birding!

 

 

Digiscoping

Digiscoping is the activity of combining a digital camera with a spotting scope to record images through the scope.  Anyone who has ever looked through a good scope knows how impressive they are at turning distant specks that can’t be identified, even with binoculars, into sharply defined birds.  The combination of big lenses and up to 60X magnification really brings faraway objects into close focus.  Scopes are especially useful for waterfowl far out on lakes, and shorebirds on distant shorelines.

Today’s post features some wonderful photographs taken using digiscoping by local birder and photographer Daniel Arndt.

Eared Grebe and juvenile, by Dan Arndt

Digiscoping can be done with any point-and-shoot or SLR camera (or even a camera phone) coupled with any scope or binocular, but it can very tricky to get to good quality pictures by just holding the two together.  Here is a White-crowned Sparrow I photographed in my yard this week, using my camera phone held up to my 8X42 binoculars:

It’s very hard to tell when you have the shot in focus.  It’s even hard to get on the bird!  You get a better shot with just a good camera:

The same bird, from the same distance, taken with an SLR and 400 mm lens.  Note the leg band.

Here is another shot I took (in the winter) of a House Finch, using a point-and-shoot camera held up to my spotting scope.

However, the birds in these examples were only about twenty feet away.  I could identify them with the naked eye.  If you are dealing with distant waterfowl and shorebirds, the thing to do to get good photographs is to get an adapter that fixes your camera to the scope.  Dan Arndt’s outfit, pictured below, consists of :

Pentax K-5 camera with T-mount adapter
Meade ETX-90EC 90mm Matsukov-Cassegrain Telescope
Meade #844 Advanced Field Tripod
Meade Electronic Focuser
Meade MT-64 Camera Adapter
Pentax 39892 Waterproof Remote Shutter Release

Photo by Dan Arndt

Here are some of the amazing photos Dan took this summer at Frank Lake using his digiscoping rig.

White-faced Ibis with juvenile, and American Golden-Plover, by Dan Arndt

Lesser Yellowlegs by Dan Arndt

American Avocet by Dan Arndt

Black Tern by Dan Arndt

Black-crowned Night-Herons by Dan Arndt

American Golden-Plovers by Dan Arndt

You can see all of Dan’s digiscoping pictures on his Flickr page here, and while you’re there, explore all of his other excellent photographs as well.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre