Canon S1 IS + Digiscoping Wildlife & Astronomy

[r0nn13]

I would like to get a spotting scope to increase my current 10x optical zoom in order to photograph objects in the sky and closer shots of the moon, but I would also like to photograph wildlife (mostly birds) too using the same equipment (if possible).

I have been told by my "local camera store" that I need a spotting scope for wildlife and a telescope for astrophotography. I have found an f-adaptor to attach either to my camera, but still confused by the need for 2 different scopes. I thought I could just get a spotting scope for both astrophotography and bird photography, and get a better spotting scope…

Any help here is much appreciated. I am not a newbie to digital photography, just long distance equipment…

[judge9847]

I would like to get a spotting scope to increase my current 10x optical zoom in order to photograph objects in the sky and closer shots of the moon, but I would also like to photograph wildlife (mostly birds) too using the same equipment (if possible).

I have been told by my "local camera store" that I need a spotting scope for wildlife and a telescope for astrophotography. I have found an f-adaptor to attach either to my camera, but still confused by the need for 2 different scopes. I thought I could just get a spotting scope for both astrophotography and bird photography, and get a better spotting scope…

Any help here is much appreciated. I am not a newbie to digital photography, just long distance equipment…
I'm not an expert but in the past I've done a lot of research into digiscoping and from what I've read and seen, cameras with a bigger zoom factor simply don't deliver the goods. Although it sounds as though you should be able to improve considerably on say a 3X optical zoom, that isn't the case. The experts will tell you - and can prove - that something even a small degree higher than 3X zoom causes a huge amount of vignetting and even a lot of barrel distortion.

Apart from anything else, the lenses on cameras like your Canon simply aren't built for strapping up to the eyepiece of a scope. You can physically see what the problems will be with the larger lens on the camera up against the much smaller eyepiece.

There are companies that make adapters that will enable you to attach the camera to a scope but I've never seen any proof - by way of photographs - that it all works together. For my own purposes, I'd be really pleased to see some but despite asking many people over nearly a year now, I have yet to see even one digiscoped photograph taken using a larger-zoom camera. But I've seen many thousands of sensational images taken with cameras using just a 3X zoom.

Here's a link (to another link!) on the birdforum.net (http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=243) website to the experts. Read what they have to say and get the definitive answer!

[Rhys]

I would like to get a spotting scope to increase my current 10x optical zoom in order to photograph objects in the sky and closer shots of the moon, but I would also like to photograph wildlife (mostly birds) too using the same equipment (if possible).

I have been told by my "local camera store" that I need a spotting scope for wildlife and a telescope for astrophotography. I have found an f-adaptor to attach either to my camera, but still confused by the need for 2 different scopes. I thought I could just get a spotting scope for both astrophotography and bird photography, and get a better spotting scope…

Any help here is much appreciated. I am not a newbie to digital photography, just long distance equipment…

10x zoom won't get as close as you want. This is one of the very rare occasions when you really need a DSLR to mount to the telescope or spotting scope. Alternatively, consider the Canon attachments that fit to the S1 IS. There's allegedly a multiplyer that increases the zoom. I don't know how much light is lost by it though. Personally, I'd say for this you might indeed be better with a DSLR or even a cheap SLR if you don;t do a lot of astro and bird photography.