lwingkay

The following is a very good stabilization set-up posted by Neil in another thread of this forum, the link being http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=7343&extra=page%3D1. The gist of the problem with digiscoping, as Wing has said, is vibration. The trick here is to provide good anchorage points for the fieldscope and the camera body.
The straight fieldscope, e.g. 80 HD STS, the one that you are using, works well with the above design.  A pity that mine is an angled one, difficult to be aligned in a similar manner.
A bit picky: would have been even better if the camera can rotate on the central axis of the adaptal ring as , by then, shots of the portrait format can be taken. Now, only the landscape format is possible.

lwingkay

Plate I is the set-up I have been using to digiscope. There are three anchorage points to prevent vibration: respectively on the retractable hood, mounting ring and bending-up point of the fieldscope. There is a sleeper concealed under the bending-up point to deck the platform up for the purpose anchorage. The white metal plates and black adhesive straps are to further enhance the stability of the fieldscope.







Plate II is a photo taken with an eyepiece and a Nkon CP8400 while Plate III is a photo taken with a TLS 800 and a Nikon D200.

Plate II   The shutter speed is 3/10 of a second




Plate III    The shutter speed is 1/20 of a second.


[ Last edited by lwingkay at 1/09/2009 22:32 ]

lwingkay

Possibilities with post-treatment depend on the quality of the original take. Quality depends, as most experts say, on how exposure, focusing and framing are controlled. In post-treatment, I like fine tuning the tonal contrast, defocusing backgrounds and cloning out undesirable objects to make the focus of interest more prominent.

Original takes of the shots posted in the previous thread are attached for reference. Hoped you don't mind Puppymic that in your shots posted above, the gist of the problem is with focusing. You can convert tonal contrast and adjust exposure as what Papago did in his shot, but there is no way to make an outfocused image focused.

Regards,
Pete

[ Last edited by lwingkay at 2/09/2009 00:56 ]

lwingkay

Another case showing branches being cloned out and background being defocused.
Pete

[ Last edited by lwingkay at 3/09/2009 10:20 ]

lwingkay

The following shot was taken with a TLS 800.  The shooting particulars were as follows:

相機:	Fujifilm FinePix S5Pro
曝光:	0.036 sec (1/28)
Aperture:	f/9.5
焦距:	800 mm
ISO 速度:	400
曝光偏向:	+0.33 EV
閃光:	Off, Did not fire

The aperture should have been set as f10 according to specifications laid down in TLS 800's literature, but in S5 Pro, the only option for aperature setting available for non-CPU lens is f9.5, meaning that there will be a slight under-exposure resulted if metering is based on that aperture setting. The exposure was therefore increased by 1/3 stop during shooting.

The shutter speed was slow for a shot of this focal length: 1/28 of a second. Thanks to the tailor-made wooden plank that a friend of mine made for me for mounting my digiscoping set-up, not much vibration problems were encountered during shooting that day. If interested, you may refer to a previous posting in this thread for how I set out my gears on the wooden plank.

  

lwingkay

Quote:

Original posted by puppymic at 10/09/2009 21:47
好 sharp 呀！

你果塊木板我係post見過，好長下。我果塊長板 33mm 唔知夠唔夠長呢

沒有實物，所以很難說。不過Wing的25cm長板也可以做出如此好的效果，我相信33cm會更理想好了。
題外話：個人感覺木板在防震上應比金屬好。

Without the plate, it is difficult to say but seeing the good result from Wing working with the 25cm, the 35cm will obviously be better.
A side issue: a wooden anchorage plank is better than a metal one as regards vibration control.

[ Last edited by lwingkay at 10/09/2009 22:33 ]

lwingkay

Another way is to use the continuous mood. It is good for two reasons:
a. both hands on the set up with the left pressing on the fieldscope to enhance stabilization and the right holding the camera to prevent vibration from the opening and closing of the reflex mirror; and
b. the image from either the 2nd or 3rd shot is usually with less vibration.

Having said that, I always use the singe-shot mode and it works well for my set-up.

Thanks Hsteen for the suggestion.

Pete

lwingkay

Quote:

Original posted by cwchan at 16/09/2009 21:41
Apart from vibration, another problem of using the angled scope with the TLS800 is the twist of the system,in particular if you are carrying/walking around in the field.  This is not obvious for strai ...

THANKS FOR SHARING. INSPIRING INDEED AS REGARDS THE WAY TO STABILIZE THE TLS SETUP ON THE TRIPOD HEAD.
SUGGESTIONS:
1 IT IS BETTER TO PROVIDE NON-SLIP STRIPS ON THE LONG PLATE TO ENHANCE THE GRIP OF THE FIELDSCOPE ON THE PLATE.
2 IT SEEMS BETTER TO LINK THE GRIP OF THE ADJUSTABLE L-BRACKET TO THE VERY TOP OF TLS800 AS THAT MAY ALLOW THE CAMERA TO ROTATE ON THE CENTRAL AXIS OF THE TLS, WITH WHICH VERTICAL FRAMING CAN THEN BE POSSIBLE.

PETE

lwingkay

Quote:

Original posted by cwchan at 17/09/2009 14:15
Thanks Peter for the suggestion if you want the portrait format.

However, regarding the non-slip material such thing, I hold different view.
If the long plate has already been provid ...

You said it well that in the presence of the retaining pin, retaining slot or double bolts, such the non-slippery material is no longer necessary. Fully agree with you.
Pete

lwingkay

Quote:

Original posted by cwchan at 3/10/2009 23:19
Having seen my DIY, C-fu makes this supporting bracket for my TLS-800, the system can take portrait format as it can rotate now. Not yet tried it out in the field.

http://images4.fotop.net/albums2/cw ...

I missed seeing this posting until tonight. Without doubt, the L-bracket must be working magic for the Swarovski fieldscope incorporated with its tailor-made TLS800.
Are you still keeping the specifications for the L-bracket with you?
Regards,
Peter

lwingkay

Dear Wing,
Many thanks for your quick reply to my email account.
Regards,
Pete

lwingkay

Quote:

Original posted by cwchan at 3/10/2009 23:19
Having seen my DIY, C-fu makes this supporting bracket for my TLS-800, the system can take portrait format as it can rotate now. Not yet tried it out in the field.

http://images4.fotop.net/albums2/cw ...

Got an L-bracket of the same design as Wing's from Master Chan, the mechanic who made the long plate, today and tried it out in the field this afternoon with my TLS800 at about 4pm in Shing Mun Valley Park. The birds in the following attachments were in the shadow and the shutter speeds were pretty low for a focal length of 1200mm and an aperture of 10. The reduction in vibration brought about by the L-bracket is highly acceptable to me. The respective shutter speed is provided for reference in each shot attached.

Would like to take this opportunity to thank Wing for his valuable advice in the course of making the L-bracket.

Peter

1.  1/60 of a sec


2  1/14 of a sec