Here is a (cropped) photo of a crested pigeon in our back garden this arvo, taken with the Pentax *ist DS DSLR attached to my wife’s Leica 77mm spotting ‘scope, to give a focal length of 800mm at F10.4.
The DSLR fits onto the spotting ‘scope using a long adapter (approx. 150mm) and really requires a solid tripod (yes), mirror lock up (no), fast shutter speed (no - 1/250 sec) and a co-operative, static subject (yes!) to avoid any camera shake. Estimated to be approx 10m from camera.
Cheers
Dennis
Last edited by Dennis; 08-10-2007 at 05:37 AM.
Reason: Changed Dove to Pigeon.
Here is an 800x600 crop (72dpi) from the 3008x2008 full size (240dpi) frame with Smart Sharpening in CS3 (0.5 and 250%). I think the Leica has a Fluorite lens element in there somewhere.
Sounds like a great little scope Dennis, there's very nice sharp detail in that shot.
I love the beautiful rainbow pattern in the wing area and the lovely shades of greys and browns throughout the body.
The ‘scope + adapter + DSLR is a little unwieldy with the DSLR dangling off the eyepiece end at the end of the approx 15cm adapter – quite an overhang. This makes it quite challenging to keep the whole assembly rigid. The relatively slow F10.4 aperture demands a slow shutter speed, so results can be a bit hit and miss. Tripod mounting and a cable release are absolutely mandatory.
