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My Video Setup
Created on 19 Apr 2003. Copyright Dr Chan Kai Soon.
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This is my video setup for digiscoping with a camcorder. It had been modified and had evolved over the last three years of my digiscoping with camcorders. I am now pretty satisfied and settled with this setup. I do not forsee any major change in this setup in future and hence this is an opportune time to put it on the web to share with others. The video bracket was designed to be used with angled scopes only. Some parts have to be custom made. 

Design priorities : 

  1. Can be disassembled and reassembled easily and in a short time. All disassembled components should be small enough for air travel.
  2. Able to use different combinations of camcorders and eyepieces on the same setup.
  3. Changing of eyepieces in the field should be easy and fast.
  4. Fully assembled setup must be compact enough to be put into my car
  5. Fully assembled setup should be easy to carry on my shoulder in case some trekking with the equipment is required.
  6. Materials and components used should preferably be readily available so that replacement parts could be obtained easily in case of  losses or breakage. 
  7. Custom made parts such as the main video bracket, U bracket and camcorder bar etc should not require high precision workmanship. Precision of the unit will depend on purchased parts (e.g. the tilt lever) which are readily available.
The overall design is copyright Dr Chan Kai Soon except for the U bracket which was designed by Mr Cheang Kum Seng. Personal use of this design is permitted but commercial duplication is prohibited. 

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Video SetupVideo SetupVideo SetupVideo setup. The setup consists of a main video bracket on which is mounted various components each with its own function (left). In this picture, the microphone attachment had been removed to make it look simpler. I have chosen to use aluminium for making the bar because it comes in appropriate thickness which allows me to use the usual camera screws for attaching the different components. The middle picture shows the setup with the scope, camcorder and a zoom microphone all mounted. This is the complete setup I usually use. The right most picture shows that the whole setup can be put into a padded rectangular plastic box (actually an off the shelf flower pot) which can then be transported as is in a car, ready to be mounted onto the tripod head and start shooting right away. The longest component of the setup is the main video bracket which is about 18 inches long, about the length of the scope. When totally dismantled, the components could be easily packed into relatively small suitcases for air travel.
Scope quick mountScope quick mount. The scope quick mount is fitted into a slot at the front part of the main video bracket. It enables me to easily remove the scope for storage. Once the quick mount bracket is securely fixed, there is no need to realign the scope each time I mount it onto the bracket. Note that the bracket is pointed backwards so that when the scope is attached, its back half will press firmly on the horizontal support (see below). The paper clip is used to 'remember' the position of the quick mount bracket in case it gets accidentally shifted forward. However, I will need to move the quick mount position forward when using a higher camcorder and some realignment may be required in this case. 
Microphone attachmentMicrophone attachmentMicrophone attachmentMicrophone bracket. These are three different ways with which a zoom microphone could be attached. I prefer to use the L bracket (left) because it allows me to put the whole setup into a plastic box for easy transport. Since I always use the right hand for focussing the scope, the microphone is placed on the left side of the scope. Alternatively, the microphone can also be mounted onto the camcorder itself (middle), a flat bar (right) or onto the U bracket instead of using a separate L bracket. 
U bracketU bracketU bracket. The U bracket (U) is used to prevent the scope from swinging sideways. The right picture shows that the position of the U bracket can be adjusted sideways (an excellent idea conceived by Cheang Kum Seng) to ensure that the scope eyepiece can be well aligned with the camcorder lens. Its forward-backward position relative to the horizontal support (H) and microphone bracket (M) will depend on the shape of the scope. In my case, it is located near the front end of the flat part of the scope body (Note: flat side, not flat bottom) because this is the position for the shortest camcorder (TRV950) I have. When I use a higher camcorder (TRV900), the scope will have to move forward and the U bracket will still be at the flat part of the scope body. 
Horizontal support for scopeHorizontal support. The horizontal support (H) is important in ensuring that the scope body is always fixed in a horizontal position. This is achieved by selecting an appropriate support height so that when the scope is tightly mounted onto its quick mount bracket (S), the flat lower surface of the scope body rests firmly on the support. This maintains a horizontal position even when pressure is applied onto the eyepiece at the back e.g. by the weight of the camcorder. This ensures that the angle/tilt of the eyepiece is fixed even when some weigh from the camcorder is bearing on it. If not, one will have to frequently readjust the tilt lever describe below. Thus scopes having a large flat lower surface (the older Swarovski!) will have an advantage while scopes having a curved lower surface (e.g. Leica Apo Televid) will encounter problems because you will need to position the horizontal support at exactly the lowest part of the scope. Alternatively, you can permanently fix the horizontal support to the scope body instead of to the main video bar.
Manfrotto tile leverManfrotto tilt lever. The tilt lever is important in ensuring that the camcorder will be mounted at an angle similar to that of the eyepiece. It is smooth and hence is able to achieve precise alignment of the camcorder to the eyepiece. When well tightened, it can take all the weight of the camcorder. Initially, I used a midi ball head but the head also has sideways movements (in fact movements in all direction) which make it difficult to align the eyepiece. Since the lever takes all the weight of the camcorder, there is really no need to use any eyepiece-to-lens adaptor. While the U bracket above determines and anchors the sideway alignment of the setup, the lever fixes the tilt (angle) of the camcorder to match that of the eyepiece. Each of these two alignment can be individually and independently adjusted and locked. This method makes it easy to get the camcorder perfectly aligned to the eyepiece.
Camcorder barCamcorder barCamcorder bar. The camcorder bar is mounted onto the Manfrotto lever. It has a long slit for mounting a camcorder which means that the setup can use eyepieces of different lengths. Since the tilt lever has a quick mount, it means that the camcorder could be removed quickly for storage or for quick changing of eyepiece. For changing eyepieces, I normally just loosen the camcorder, retracts it, swing it sideways out of the way and then change the eyepiece. The exact length of the camcorder bar need to be determined carefully to allow this. When the camcorder bar and camcorder are removed, the setup can be used to certain extent for normal birdwatching as the tilt lever does not project too much beyond the eyepiece and it is still possible to look into the eyepiece comfortably. This only applies to camcorders whose optical axis is close to its base (TRV950 is an example)  However, bear in mind that the zoom power of eyepieces for bird watching (20-60X) are quite different from and do not overlap with those suitable for digiscoping with camcorder (10-12X). 
Eyepiece-to-lens couplingEyepiece-to-lens couplingEyepiece-to-lens couplingEyepiece-to-lens coupling. The William Optics DCL4337 eyepiece-cum-adaptor (left) is a 37mm threaded eyepiece which conveniently fits most SONY camcorder threads. But I am not very sure whether the thread on the eyepiece can take the weight of the camcorder. Hence, it is better to couple the camcorder to the eyepiece by using the tilt lever and camcorder bar method above to take all the camcorder weight off the eyepiece. The middle picture demonstrates that another eyepiece (note the longer length) can also be used on this setup although it has no eyepiece-to-lens adaptor. Not using an adaptor means that changing eyepieces in the field will be much less cumbersome and faster. However, to prevent stray light from entering the camcorder lens, I usually use a stepup ring with lens hood on the camcorder (right picture). The lens hood means that the camcorder can be used in the normal way the moment it is removed from the camcorder bar.
Extra attachmentsAdditional attachments. Besides a zoom microphone, other accessories can also be added to this setup. One merely has to make more holes (refer to picture) and add more brackets accordingly. For example, one can add a bracket to mount a finder scope if necessary. If I have to trek with the equipment, I always put the whole setup on my right shoulder with the scope pointing backwards. Thus all attachments have to be placed in such a way that the right side of the setup do not have anything projecting out. The underside of the main video bracket should also be flat and not cause undue discomfort when it is resting on my shoulder. Hence, almost all attachments are secured using screws on the upper side of the bracket, the only exception being the scope quick mount and the tripod quick mount plate which have to be on the lower surface. In future, I may find a way of padding the under surface with styroform mat without interference to the tripod mount.
Some important points to remember:
  1. The length of the main video bracket will depend on the length of the scope and the height of the camcorder. Height of camcorder is defined as the distance of the optical axis of the lens above the camcorder base. To determine the length of this bracket required, you can lay your scope and camcorder sideways on the floor, roughly align the two and take measurements accordingly.
  2. The length of the camcorder bar is dependent on the length of the camcorder and the length of the different eyepieces that will be used.
  3. Some camcorders such as the SONY TRV20 have the camera mount off the centre of the optical axis. Your camcorder bar will need a slot which is off centre appropriately.
  4. You may need to make different camcorder bars for each of your camcorders. You need to make only one main video bracket unless you have two scopes of very different lengths.
  5. I stick a thin layer of rubber to the bottom of most of my brackets (U bracket, mic L brackets etc) so that they can be easily fixed to the video bar with only little tighting of the screws.
  6. Tighten the tilt lever on the main video bracket properly once you are sure of its correct sideways aligment. You will not need to change this alignment in future. Minor changes in the tilt/angle can be easily readjusted but not the sideways alignment.
  7. The width of the camcorder bar should not be much wider than the width of your camcorder so that you can easily access any camcorder controls/buttons near its base.
The above setup was designed to my preference and habits in birding/digiscoping. Although it may not be necessarily suited to others who intend to take bird videos, it does provide a reference and starting point from where you can design your own system. 

An appropriate setup is central to success in digiscoping with a camcorder. In particular an eyepiece appropriate for the camcorder should be used in order to eliminate vignetting. See Jay's article on Understanding Vignetting (link provided below) for a discussion on this problem. Taking videos may actually be easier than taking stills if you have a good setup and use an appropriate eyepiece because less light is required and acceptable focussing is generally more easily achieved. 

To all those who intend to take up this challenge, happy videoscoping! 

Links and references:

  1. Jay's article on Understanding Vignetting
Back to Bird Videography page.

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