Moorhen

Moorhen (Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Digiscoped with Kowa TSN-663M Telescope with DSLR adaptor, ISO 400, 1/100 sec, Tripod)

Last week I took advantage of a few hours after a training session to visit RSPB's Vane Farm and Loch Leven Reserve to see what birds might be around.  I took along my Canon 5D Mark II and my Kowa telescope with a view to trying out this combination for a bit of digiscoping.  Effectively by using an DSLR adaptor you can convert your scope into a long lens.  The technique requires you to use fully manual mode on the camera, including manual focus.  In the past I have found focusing very difficult but this time round I used the live view function and it was a bit easier, although the camera shake made it quite difficult still to know when you had a really sharp focus.  This image was the only one using this technique which came out reasonably sharp (this final image was cropped a fair bit).  I took a few shots with my Sigma 150-500mm lens for comparison but it did not really have the reach as the bird was a fair way off, and ironically, using auto-focus did not provide any really good sharp images either.  All in all worth perservering but probably only for birds that are happy sitting still!