I am more interested in taking videos of birds (and wildlife to a lesser
extent) using a similar technique. I guess this can be called 'Videoscoping'.
There are however few people known to be interested in this activity compared
to digiscoping. These include:
-
Neoh Chee Kong (Sony VCL-FS1K plus Panasonic 3CCD), Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
-
Wong Kim Seng (Meade ETX90 plus SONY D8, self-made bracket, now digiscoping
with the CP4500 instead), Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
-
Casey Ch'ng (Sony VCL-FS1K plus SONY D8), Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
-
Professor Ng Soon Chye (Canon XL1, strictly speaking not videoscoping),
Singapore
-
Yeo Lam Swee (Swarovski 80 ATHD plus Canon MV550i, custom-made video bracket),
Ipoh, Malaysia - recently made his video bracket.
-
There are also others who take bird videos in one way or another - see
links below.
Although some of us did bird and videoscope on the same trips before, opportunities
for exchange of practical experiences, ideas, tips and tricks are far and
few in between. On the other hand, I am more fortunate to be living in
the same area as Laurence Poh, Ooi Beng Yean, Cheang Kum Seng, Dr Chan
Ah Lak and Lim Kim Chye. This means we often go on birding and digiscoping/videoscoping
trips to improve our skills and collection. |
| Although the principles are the same, there are some practical
differences between videoscoping and
digiscoping. |
| I do not have in depth knowledge about photographic equipment. In fact,
I never own any SLR camera and so my understanding of F number and aperture
etc is at best superficial. Hence, I underwent a process of trial and error
to buy my equipment for videoscoping, incurring a lot of unnecessary expenditure
along the way. Here is the history of my equipment
purchases. It is hoped that by reading this, others who want to
take up this recreational activity can learn from the mistakes and avoid
wasting significant proportion of their budget on things that do not work
well. |
| My video setup is
available for your reference. Here, design considerations, pictures illustrating
parts of my setup and discussions on the design are included. |
| Besides an appropriate setup, the other elements needed to succesfully
take bird video would be like in other wildlife situations. You need to
study and understand the subject you are interested in. You need patience,
perseverence, physical fitness (to slug around with your gears) and practice
(lots of them). You need lots of luck too. At the end of the day, when
you review your recordings and share experiences with fellow digiscopers,
you will really enjoy the companionship and your 'keepers'.
However like in plain recreational birding,
it is important to remember that the well being of the birds overrides
the need to take pictures or videos. In our endeaver to get that special
shot or video footage, we are sometimes unaware that we may have compromised
the safety of our subjects. Hence, great restraint and care should be exercised
especially in cases of breeding birds. |
Videoscoping links at Kaisoon Online :
-
Videoscoping Vs Digiscoping comparison
table
-
My equipments
-
My Video Setup
-
Focussing options and suggestions
|
Other links and resources:
-
Digiscopingbird
list at Yahoogroups - Discussion on all aspects of digiscoping, including
digital dark room techniques. Subscription is moderated
-
Birds-pix at Yahoogroups
- List for posting and receiving bird images
-
Laurence Poh's Digital Bird -
Laurence is the father of digiscoping. See his pictures to appreciate what
can be achieved by digiscoping. He had also compiled a list of digiscopers
on his website.
-
George Raiche's Digibird.com - A
good primer and description of the digiscoping technique. Anyone intending
to take up digiscoping or videoscoping should visit this site. Includes
an Excel file to calculate the resolution limit of your setup.
-
Jay Turberville's website - Includes
a description of digiscoping on the cheap and vignetting explained.
-
Digiscoping
equipment. From Thebirdguide.com. An account of the types of scopes,
cameras, adaptors and tripods usually used including links to some of these
equipments.
-
Asiabird.com by Professor Ng Soon Chye
(Canon XL1 user)
-
Vincent's test
still shots taken with the Sony
VCL-FS1K and the SONY TRV900 camcorder. The VCL-FS1K package includes
a 60mm objective scope with a 10x eyepiece and a mounting bracket designed
to align a straight scope to a camcorder. The scope is believed to be made
by Nikon. I am not sure whether this product had been discontinued or not.
-
Digital camcorders
at digiscoping.uk.com - Commercial site. A discussion on why some birders
prefer camcorders to digicam for digiscoping. Also discusses advantages
and problems in digiscoping with camcorders.
-
Bird videos FAQ at Seiurus
Video - Another commercial site. Selling bird videos recorded with
the Canon XL1. This FAQ tells you some very basic facts about taking bird
videos. They believe digiscoping with camcorders is "not rewarding" but
perhaps they might be wrong!
-
Digiscoping
article by Trevor Codlin of London Camera Exchange - Some pictures
taken with digicams and some with a video camera (SONY DCR-PC100). He uses
the Swarovski AT80HD with a 30X eyepiece.
-
Layman's
guide to digiscoping with a camcorder - Ornithomedia.com. Discussion
on advantages of video, equipment guide and scope adaptors.
-
The Leicester
Llamas Digiscoping site. by Richard Fray. Actually, he is doing videoscoping
using the SONY DCR-PC4 and the Kowa TS611 scope with a 20x wide angle eyepiece.
Many video grabs available for your viewing.
-
Birding
With Video By Vincent K. Prapuolenis. He uses the Sony DCR-TRV120NTSC
(a D8 model) plus a Bausch & Lomb Discoverer Spotting Scope, binocular
and other optics.
-
Digiscoping and
Taking pictures
with a video camera by Stéphane Moniotte. He uses the Canon
XL1 for video and some sample pics are available. His website also includes
technical aspect of digital photography and a tips & tricks section
on adaptors.
-
Steveblain.co.uk
- Steve Blain takes his video with a SONY PC3 and his Leica APO televid
scope. He has some interesting pictures and video clips to show.
-
Camcorder
Birding Tips. Ed Talbot uses a Sony Digital8 DCR-TRV340 camcorder (25x
optical zoom) and and a Sony 2x Converter Lens (VCL-HG2037x) to take his
videos.
-
Rare Birds in Spain.
Ricard Gutiérrez reports on the use of a Panasonic NV-EX3EG digital
videocamera attached to his Kowa TSN 824 to get some videos of rare birds.
-
Composing
your pictures. Nigel Blake discusses the do's and dont's of composing
your bird pictures. Although bird videos are a slightly different matter,
the general principles he describes remain applicable.
-
Andy Bright, UK
- Includes flash techniques for digiscoping.
-
Jim Linch's Day5Creations.com
- Personal website including a section on digiscoping.
-
Links to Digiscopers
and their equipments - Compiled by Mikael Rantalainen
-
Digiscoping
Links from Birding America Copyright Mary Scott.
|
|
My
current interest is bird videography. In 1998, Laurence Poh discovered
that he could take digital bird pictures by pointing his Olympus digicams
at the eyepiece of his Leica birding scope. Soon after, the Nikon Coolpix
900, followed by 950 and now 990 digital camera came into the consumer
market. These have a 30 mm lens filter, which make them small enough to
take digital photos through the eyepiece of a birding telescope. This technique,
now called 'Digiscoping' has since
then gained tremendous popularity in Malaysia as well as all over the world.
