Didn’t want to hijack the SLR lens thread lower down, but it made me think that this might be a good place for humble opinions…
I want a spotting scope. The two choices I’ve sorta narrowed it down to are Bushnell’s Sentry or Spacemaster.
The Sentry is cheaper (CDN$ 150) and lighter (600g), although it has a smaller objective (50mm) and does not have a camera adapter.
The Spacemaster is more expensive (CDN$350), heavier (1087g), has a 60mm objective, and an available camera adapter, which as near as I can figure would turn it into a 1000mm/ f16 lens, possibly able to zoom into a 4000mm/ f64. But the details on how this thing actually works as a lens seem sketchy at best.
If any of the teeming millions has used one as a lens, I’d love some feedback on how well it works, and whether the lens feature is worth the money and weight… On the other hand, if anyone’s had great experiences with other makes of scopes with telephoto photography adapters, please share those, too…
It is a lot lower cost (the $350.00) than purchasing a telephoto lens made for your camera (usually), but the image sharpness can get pretty crappy with some cheaper spotting scopes. Plus, the aperture is a real bitch to work with.
That being said, it sure is a lot of fun.
Here is a site about eypiece projection (which gives even less of an effective f/stop and image sharpness)
It is a lot lower cost (the $350.00) than purchasing a telephoto lens made for your camera (usually), but the image sharpness can get pretty crappy with some cheaper spotting scopes. Plus, the aperture is a real bitch to work with.
That being said, it sure is a lot of fun.
Here is a site about eypiece projection (which gives even less of an effective f/stop and image sharpness)
It is a lot lower cost (the $350.00) than purchasing a telephoto lens made for your camera (usually), but the image sharpness can get pretty crappy with some cheaper spotting scopes. Plus, the aperture is a real bitch to work with.
That being said, it sure is a lot of fun.
Here is a site about eypiece projection (which gives even less of an effective f/stop and image sharpness)
I think the “zoom camera adapter” uses eyepiece projection.
Have you ever used a 1000mm/ f16 lens? It’s not as useful as you might imagine. A 1000mm lens is extremely sensitive to vibration so you need a very sturdy tripod. A lens as dark as F/16 is difficult to focus properly, and results in long exposure times which will make it even more susceptible to camera shake.
There is a big difference between camera lenses and spotting scopes. Camera lenses are designed to produce a flat, even image that covers the entire film plane. Spotting scopes are optimized for high resolution at high magnification. So if you connect a spotting scope to a camera, the image quality in the corner will be noticeably worse than in the middle. On some spotting scopes it might be pretty good; on others the corners would be badly distorted or completely black.
If you understand these limitations and still think it would be useful, then go for it. But don’t expect it to replace a true telephoto lens - you get what you pay for.