Digiscoping
Help,
Advice & Lessons for All!

im useing a fuji finepix a820 compact on a universal adpter i focus in with the scope the subject is in focus then i half press the shutter the auto focus comes then then fully press the shutter the picture come out slighty bluredout of focus im finding it hit and miss sometimes get good pics but mostly bad ones any help and advice would be great could i send you some of my pics danny tell me what you think is there an e mail address i can seend them many thanks barry

Hi Barry,

Thanks for getting in touch.

There are a few reasons that you will be experiencing blurry photos.

Poor light, reulting in slow shutter speeds would be the obvious starting point for me. Shooting at anything less than 250/1sec is always difficult. As a rule 250/1sec is the slowest shutter speed to 'freeze motion' What speeds are you shooting at?

Try raising your ISO when its not as bright, this will help. The slower your shutter speed, the more chance of a blurry result.

Camera shake would be a contributing factor. If your camera has a timer try to use it. a 3 second delay is usually enough. If not try a shutter release cable if your camera has one. Also, make sure your tripod is sturdy, as a poor tripod can often result in even more camera shake.

Another tip on focusing for you is to focus your scope, then focus the camera (by half depressing the shutter release button) and then re-focus your scope, this often helps to improve results.

Lastly, remember that in all forms of photography you will get blurry shots. Its only the best ones we ever get to see (you should see how many I delete after each trip!!)

Don't get downhearted about this though. Your pictuers will improve with experience, as you learn what tecnique suits you best!

Hope this helps.

My email is danny@dannysdigiscoping.com if you wanted to send any pictures through.

All the best,

Danny

I would say the same as danny. Most pictures will come out poo to half poo. When I first started out it came as a surprise (never trust movies). When I go on trips I usually take around 60 pics with only 1 or 2 becoming good pics and that is why I have to keep snapping pics of my subject to get the best possible outcome but that might be down to my technique which is just focus with the scope and snap away

hi danny no ive not been digiscoping very long since about march, im useing a opticron imagic 45 degree angled scopeyes the camera is in auto mode, there is a shooting mode when in manual you can change the iso from auto to 800,400,200,100,there is also a mode called picture stabilzation which is for moving subjects has a faster shutter speed reducess camerashake and moving subject blurring but when in this mode you cant change the isoalso there is a timer 10 sec or 2 sec, 2 sec would be best i guesswhat mode do you think i should use ?, i think i,ll try both see what results i get with both  

i  was looking at a nikon d90 but cost cant afford what over dslr cameras are there at the lower price range which would be ok for digiscoping. also im useing a universall adaapter for the camera like a bracket you just screw it to the side of the eye piececan i get a adapter that fits my fuji compact then screw over the eye piece on the telescopeill send a pic of my setup also can i send you some more pics hit and miss thanks for you help and advice i lookforward to keeping in touch with you 

Morning! 

It would seem that your camera is limited, but learn how use it in manual mode. You should be able to control the shutter speed, aperture (f number) and ISO. A higher ISO will probably lead to noisier (grainy looking) photos on your camera as it is only 8.3MP, so try to work on  ISO 400.

 The picture stabilisation mode could work, though I'm not familiar with it. See what your cameras manual says about it, and then see if you can use this modes features to suit digiscoping.

 As for cameras the D90 is a good one no doubt, but probably to good for digiscoping. You've probably seen that I use a Canon EOS 500d, but I started with an EOS 350d, which you can pick up on Ebay cheaply, and they will do the job perfectly well. 

If you do buy another camera, compact or DSLR make sure it has planty of megapixels as this means you can use ISO's of 800 upwards without getting noisy results. For example my DSLR is 15.1MP. As for adaptors for opticron scopes have a look HERE. These guys are pretty good and helpful too. 

The canon s70 or s80 are good compacts for digiscoping, as is the nikon P5000, P5100 or P6000. Always with compacts though do try some out as they are not all compatible to digiscope with. 

Please send as many pictures as you like, I'll happily look at them for you!!

 Regards,

 Danny.