For about a decade birdwatchers have been defying the laws of physics by producing images of birds shot on digital compact cameras through telescopes. Early exponents of the technology found ingenious ways of strapping their camera to the scope's eyepiece to produce results from the very good to the appalling.
Marketing potential
In the last few years, the major manufacturers have realised the marketing potential of this technique and have produced special digiscoping equipment, enabling cameras to be more easily coupled to scopes. Now Kowa and Casio have teamed up to produce a set up that's believed to be an ultimate combination. The focal lengths achievable with this rig are astounding. Using the full zoom on the Casion camera you get an equivalent focal length of 432mm, but placing that behind the Kowa's x13 eyepiece gives an unbelievable 5616mm lens. When you consider that the camera, the Casio Exilim EX-F1, shoots an extremely high burst rate and has full HD movie capability, you have an outstanding piece of equipment. Using a Canon XL1 video camera, I still would have had to have access to an 800mm lens to achieve the same framing, and any footage would have been in Standard Definition (SD) rather than HD. I was fortunate to be able to take the gear (loaned by Casio) on assignment to Wiltshire where my mission was to try to obtain photos of the great bustard and its chicks. This was a major news event as this bird hasn't nested in the UK since 1832, but this year on Salisbury Plain two pairs had nested after a lengthy reintroduction project.
Secret location
At the secret location, I waited patiently for the bustard female to walk into shot with her chicks. The attached image might seem below par, but when you consider that it was taken at a distance of about 280 yards on one of the hottest days of the year, I think this pic shows the potential of the kit. Along with the cameraman from the BBC's Springwatch and Al Dawes from the project, I think we were the first to photograph great bustard chicks in the wild in England, because when they last nested in 1832 photography had barely been invented. The pictures were used on several websites including the Independent and Birdguides.
Marketing potential
In the last few years, the major manufacturers have realised the marketing potential of this technique and have produced special digiscoping equipment, enabling cameras to be more easily coupled to scopes. Now Kowa and Casio have teamed up to produce a set up that's believed to be an ultimate combination. The focal lengths achievable with this rig are astounding. Using the full zoom on the Casion camera you get an equivalent focal length of 432mm, but placing that behind the Kowa's x13 eyepiece gives an unbelievable 5616mm lens. When you consider that the camera, the Casio Exilim EX-F1, shoots an extremely high burst rate and has full HD movie capability, you have an outstanding piece of equipment. Using a Canon XL1 video camera, I still would have had to have access to an 800mm lens to achieve the same framing, and any footage would have been in Standard Definition (SD) rather than HD. I was fortunate to be able to take the gear (loaned by Casio) on assignment to Wiltshire where my mission was to try to obtain photos of the great bustard and its chicks. This was a major news event as this bird hasn't nested in the UK since 1832, but this year on Salisbury Plain two pairs had nested after a lengthy reintroduction project.
Secret location
At the secret location, I waited patiently for the bustard female to walk into shot with her chicks. The attached image might seem below par, but when you consider that it was taken at a distance of about 280 yards on one of the hottest days of the year, I think this pic shows the potential of the kit. Along with the cameraman from the BBC's Springwatch and Al Dawes from the project, I think we were the first to photograph great bustard chicks in the wild in England, because when they last nested in 1832 photography had barely been invented. The pictures were used on several websites including the Independent and Birdguides.
Free Video Cutter
I shall be working on other projects in the next few weeks in East Anglia and the South Pennines, so I'll have more to report later. I haven't yet fully tested the movie function as its shoots MOV files which are unreadable by my video editing software. However, I've downloaded Free Video Cutter, so that I can convert files to AVI or WMV for easier editing. I will be reviewing the equipment later in the year in Birdwatch magazine.
I shall be working on other projects in the next few weeks in East Anglia and the South Pennines, so I'll have more to report later. I haven't yet fully tested the movie function as its shoots MOV files which are unreadable by my video editing software. However, I've downloaded Free Video Cutter, so that I can convert files to AVI or WMV for easier editing. I will be reviewing the equipment later in the year in Birdwatch magazine.
More information on the great bustard reintroduction project is available from the Great Bustard Group.
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