Finally able to digiscope with the Canon G10 (1 Viewer)

The price of the G10 has been coming down a little here so I was able to buy one yesterday to finally find a way to make it digiscope. It's such a wonderful camera with great reviews that it had to be attached to a scope so that it could produce some good images.
I tested it with the Swarovski 30x, Televue 32 mm Plossl,Televue 12 mm Radian, Scopetronix Maxview 40 S , Kowa 25x LER and Kowa 27x LER. The only eyepieces that gave decent results were the two Kowas due to their long Eye Relief which is more important than the FOV.
In order to maximise the range of the G10 zoom I set it up on my balance bar so that the camera can be moved in and out as the lens is zoomed.
Here are some of the results from my first testing. Neil.

Canon G10 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Kowa 25x LER eyepiece and homemade balance bar

Hong Kong,
China.
May 2009

Impressive results.

Cool! The Kowa VA3 I have will also work with the G10 with almost no vignetting. Downside is it is big, heavy, and only gives 14x. I seriously thought about getting a G10 as they run about $350 here, but I really need to use my 20-60x zoom for longer focal lengths now.

cheers,
Rick

RJM said:

Cool! The Kowa VA3 I have will also work with the G10 with almost no vignetting. Downside is it is big, heavy, and only gives 14x. I seriously thought about getting a G10 as they run about $350 here, but I really need to use my 20-60x zoom for longer focal lengths now.

cheers,
Rick

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Rick,
I would love to try the VA3 with one of the Canons . The 14x is not a big problem for me as I like to get close for digiscoping. The Scopetronix Maxview 40 is only 12x and I've used that happily with the G6. It might also work well with the Nikon P6000 and Fuji F100 who both have "troublesome" lenses for digiscoping. It might also be a match for the new Panasonic G1HD with the longer zoom lens. I have to try and get one and modify it to my Swaro scope.
Neil

I took the G10 out to the mudflats this morning to try it out . I was able to use it on wide zoom on the Swarovski scope with vignetting but with cropping it worked out ok. It did a good job on the white of the Little Egret too.Neil.

Canon G10 plus Swarovski STS80HD scope and Sw30x eyepiece and DCA adapter

Hong Kong,
China.
May 2009

Anyone interested in digiscoping friendly eyepieces may wish to check the following website:
http://yhst-1469288697390.stores.yahoo.net/sucaprteey.html

I recently acquired the 32mm eyepiece and it works well visually. I use it in conjunction with a screw-in focal reducer to decrease the magnification and increase the field of view with my Lomo Astele 60 mak scope.

Neil, the depth of field of the black crowned night heron photo is astounding. Usually, digiscoping gives such narrow DOF. Do you shoot with reduced apertures?

wings said:

Neil, the depth of field of the black crowned night heron photo is astounding. Usually, digiscoping gives such narrow DOF. Do you shoot with reduced apertures?

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I use Aperture Priority and the f stop would be the minimum for the camera zoom. This would have been zoomed in a bit to about half way and at f4 . By focusing on the eyes the rest may seem to in focus when it is not exactly.
Neil

Neil,

Your results are causing some seller's remorse, since I just launched an eBay auction for my G9 an hour before seeing your impressive photos. However, I do not have an eyepiece with the requisite extra-long eye relief, so I may get over it.

Here are a couple more with the G10 on the Kowa eyepiece. Neil.

Canon G10 on Swarovski STS89HD scope and Kowa 25x LER eyepiece and specially made balance bar

Hong Kong,
China.
May 2009

I could get some images with the G10 using the Swarovski 30x eyepiece with minor vignetting which can be easily cropped out. This is possible at the wide end of the zoom so mainly suitable for large birds eg. egrets, herons,flamingos.
Here is the setup. Neil.

Nice looking setup Neil

After your visit to Singapore, I got busy investigating what I could do to 'upgrade' my WO Zenithstar 80 ED II so that I can do a little digiscoping like I had intended to do some years back. Just bought an APOGRADE (FPL53 doublet) upgrade kit and installed tonight. Gonna try and get an adapter for a 10mm Radian and my wife's Panasonic LX-3. This may not be the best setup, but it will be a starting point. Hopefully, will get some shots over the weekend.

If all goes well, I may just have to look at the G10. You were using a Panasonic if I remember correctly while you were here.... Are you happier with the G10?

Sorry for hijacking your thread....

Scott

Back to the local park today to watch the Yellow Bittern and took the G10 with me as well as the G1. Here is the view of the bittern with the G10 and then on the scope ( about 7 metres ). Neil.

Canon G10 and Swarovski STS80HD scope and Kowa 27x LER eyepiece and special balance bar.

Hong Kong,
China.
June 2009

Do not buy a G-10 (or G-11?) if you are a newbie until you've read this.

Hello, I am new to the forum and have had a rocky start. A large camera dealer sold me the Swar ATS80 and Canon G-10 (c their expensive adapter) and I've had miserable luck with this combo. It's a beautiful camera. The scope is a thrill to look through. Together, however, they make a poor marriage.
I've spent a long time on the net trying to find historical anectdotes on people's ease of use (or lack thereof) with this combination. The G-10 constantly shuts off. You can't keep the flash off between power downs. Ditto macro selection (all need to be reset every few minutes the G10 goes off) Vignetting is serious. Impossible to take a shot except on lowest zoom. VERY wobbly on a tripod I use for an 8x10 view camera. For the price on the adapter you'll have a coronary when you see how it's made (it is, shall we say, very 'light')
Now I see three threads in the forum from about May 2009 that the G-10 is a poor choice because of the way the lens goes in backwards(?)
Anyway, perhaps it's me, my inexperience with too many variables at once and no one nearby to get good info from (ala my bad experience with the 'expert' in the store)

Finally, I sent a couple of emails to both companies (one responded the other did not) but the reply was a friendly tut tuts (no useful, problem solving instructions).

I'm sick over the money I spent on this. Soooooo, can ANYbody tell me how they've gotten this combination of ATS80 and G-10 to work?

Alternatively, what should I do: sell scope, get a new objective, sell camera, sell both and get the right camera with a scope with a proper eye relief?

btw: if your answer is 'get a new objective' am i reading the original thread's post by Neil correctly: you can swap out different manufacturer's eyepieces between scopes (?!)

I think the easiest/cheapest solution is selling the G10 to fund the new Canon S90.

good luck,
Rick

I`d echo what Rick said & sell the G10, i`ve got one but havent even bothered to attempt digiscoping with it. You can customise settings & save them for use with the custom setting button (no sh.t sherlock!) so you dont have to keep mucking about with flash & macro settings etc, but the fact of the matter is it just isnt a digi friendly camera. By selling the G10 you would have a nice amount to spend on something more suitable. BUT DO SOME RESEARCH FIRST.

So far I have the Canon SD1200 and have good results...there appears to be lots of options out there...