Digiscoping Option; Bird Photography Frustration Mounts

Frustration mounts incredibly quickly with me lately and I've been dying for something with range enough to get me close to birds. And finally an idea; possibly a rather nasty brain-fart came to mind. If I was to get a Nikon fieldscope or something in that range and attach my D300s, I could easily get out to 1500mm f/13.3 on my DX sensored D300s which is practically unbelievable even with a telephoto lens. The Nikon ED82 Fieldscope appears to be the best possible bet; armed with a Nikon FSA-L1 DSLR adapter, and a Manfrotto 701RC2 tripod head for my 190XB, as well as a Universal Bracket (also by Nikon), I should have enough to get a head-start on shooting birds.









And from what I have seen from people shooting with the ED82/D300s combo, the results are pretty extraordinary. And all for a little under $3,000.00. It may be slow at f/13.3 but at least it's something and I'll be able to get shots of birds at least for identifying purposes and who knows; I can write a spotting book in the meantime.





I have seen even more crisp and clear birdshots with the Nikon D300s and the newer Nikon EDG-85, but the EDG-85 is going at an astronomical 3,499, while the ED82 is half that cost before the cost of bracket, and adapter are thrown in. The EDG-85 ends up taking the newer FSA-L2 scope ($899.99US) which in turn is over double the cost of the FSA-L1 ($399.99US). With the brackets and other items, the cost could run up to about $5000.00. For an extra $1,000. I could have myself a nice new Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8 VRII lens.





So hence reason and logic won out and I'm opting for the cheaper ED82 and accessories while retaining my desire to save up for the Nikon 200-400mm f/4 and 600mm f/4 down the road while I'm shooting birds in the interim with digiscoping.