This will change the way I see the world!

[killdeer43]

Arrived today via FedEx, ready to go.

In the field, I can attach my digital camera to my spotting scope and shoot wildlife at 80X. I've been hand-holding with good results so I'm anxious to see if there's a noticeable improvement.

A field test report is coming....if the rain stops any time soon! :shock: :lol:
Joe

 

[Ravon]

Cool 8) . What brand spotting scope do you own Joe?

 

[killdeer43]

Cool 8) . What brand spotting scope do you own Joe?

As it says on the tube....Vortex. The model is a Skyline with a 20-60X80 straight eyepiece. Extremely sharp/bright optics and I recommend it highly.

It's a lot like a Guild....great bang for the buck. :wink:

Joe

*My previous was a Kowa, which cost 3 times as much but was only half as good!

 

[Ravon]

I checked on spotting scopes a couple years back and the Vortex brand got great reviews. I would have gotten the Vortex spotting scope but ended up getting a pair of Garrett 20x80 astronomical binoculars instead as I'm more an amateur astronomer than terrestrial observer. The 20x80 bino's can get up close and personal with the wildlife though :wink:

 

[killdeer43]

I checked on spotting scopes a couple years back and the Vortex brand got great reviews. I would have gotten the Vortex spotting scope but ended up getting a pair of Garrett 20x80 astronomical binoculars instead as I'm more an amateur astronomer than terrestrial observer. The 20x80 bino's can get up close and personal with the wildlife though :wink:

That's very interesting because I, too, am a stargazer and I use my 20X80 Celestron binocs for that pursuit. I've also used them for doing all-day bird censuses to minimize eye strain.

We have more than Guilds in common, I can tell. :wink:

Joe

 

[Ravon]

Really cool! I have an old 10" Meade LX50 (SCT) beast that I occasionally push out of my shed at night. Alas, the only really dark part of my sky now is at zenith thanks to the encroaching light pollution (as most all of us). Some nights though can be really spectacular here with the bino's especially when the Milky Way was more overhead. I unfortunately have to get creative holding the 20x80's as I never got around to buying a good parallelogram mount yet :lol:

 

[killdeer43]

Anytime we travel to someplace where I know the sky is going to be really dark (West Texas is really great), I pack the 20X80s. My old Bogen tripod is a great platform for them and the legs splay out in a number of configurations to allow me to get underneath the bins for easy viewing. They're a little on the heavy side, as you know. That's a lot of glass! :wink:

Joe

 

[dreadnut]

I was going to mention stargazing but I see you already did. Yeah, we do have more than Guilds in common. I have a 4.5" Celestron reflector, and recently someone gave me an old Meade 12" reflector, takes two of us to move it, but it sure does pull in some light!

 

[killdeer43]

Yeah, those big boys do pull in the light, but the weight/mobility issue is similar to the reason I chose guitar over piano. :lol:

Joe

 

[chazmo]

So, what is this thing, Joe? I assume it intercepts the view from the eyepiece and essentially acts like a camera body? I'm having trouble visualizing how this attaches to the scope...

 

[killdeer43]

So, what is this thing, Joe? I assume it intercepts the view from the eyepiece and essentially acts like a camera body? I'm having trouble visualizing how this attaches to the scope...

The adapter mounts on the scope by way of a threaded ring that you install ahead of the eyepiece. The camera then mounts onto the base which attaches to the adapter. Two knobs are used to center the camera on the eyepiece, vertically and horizontally.
Set the scope on minimum magnification and zoom the camera to 3 or 4 X, just enough to remove any vignetting.
Focus and fire away.

Got it? : :wink:

Joe