As a product specialist, one product area that is a real headache is digiscoping. These days everyone has a digital camera (point and shoot), so how hard can it be to attach it to a spotting scope? Should be simple, right?

Wrong! The number of spotting scopes made that have digital camera adapters available could be counted with the fingers on one hand. I can't blame the manufacturers, however, since digiscoping is an application for which these cameras were never intended. To make things even more complicated, there is no standardization in these little cameras as to filter size or accessories. Worst of all, even if you do get a camera attached, it is no guarantee of results, since many camera/spotting scope eyepiece combinations are simply not compatible. This means the prospective digiscoper needs to do some homework.

The first digiscopers simply held a camera over the eyepiece of a spotting scope and fired away. I've done this myself, with some surprising results. I've even held a monocular in front of a digital camera to increase the magnification. A better approach, though, is to get online and see what camera/spotting scope/eyepiece combinations others are using. Or, get crazy and experiment - that's the way digiscoping got its start!