OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!

I was glad to see that Vortex has added an ED glass option to their already good Vortex Skyline spotting scope. Just makes a good scope that much better.

Do you really need ED? That depends. If you find yourself using magnifications higher than 40x on a regular basis, you will notice a difference between a standard glass version and an ED glass version of a spotting scope. Chromatic aberration (color fringing around an image) produced in a standard glass spotting scope will rob you of some resolution and it is most noticeable at higher magnifications. Birders, like me, who are pushing the limits of a spotting scope to the extreme, love ED and other special types of optical glass.

Nice job, Vortex.

Timing is everything in wildlife photography.

Last week, while riding the bike trail, I passed a field where the yellow coneflowers were bursting with blossoms and the Goldfinches were having a feast. Through my Nikon Premier LX 10x25 binocular, I could see the birds perched on the flower stalks and instantly knew it would make a sensational pic - brilliant yellow on both bird and flower.

I went back, yesterday, just one week later, Kowa 663 spotting scope and Pentax A10 camera in hand, with high hopes. Alas, the coneflowers had faded and gone for the season, at least in that field. The Goldfinches were still there, but showed no interest, of course.

Hardly a wasted trip, though. The weather was perfect and the birding was good, considering the season. As far as the pic, oh well, always next year.

Some folks make digiscoping adapters more of a mystery than they really are. Here's a few tips.

First, digiscoping adapters have no optics or optical function. Their one and only function is to place a camera over an eyepiece of a spotting scope to take a picture. Period. In the early days of digiscoping, some folks actually just duct taped cameras to the eyepiece or fabricated their own adapters from cardboard tubes. Today, with the advent of image stabilized digital point and shoot cameras, many digiscopers, myself included, actually just handhold the camera over the eyepiece and dispense with the adapter, altogether. Makes life much simpler out in the field. My overall approach to digiscoping is to keep it simple.

Second, despite what spotting scope manufacturers would have you believe, you can do just as well with universal digiscoping adapters. You do not have to buy the same brand of digiscoping adapter as your eyepiece. Again, the only function of an adapter is to hold the camera over the eyepiece. Doesn't matter what name is on the adapter, as long as the adapter fits and, these days, there are very few scope and camera combinations that a universal digiscoping adapter cannot manage.

Third, universal adapters circumvent the problem of having to find a digital point and shoot with filter threads and then finding a threaded adapter with the right thread size. You don’t need a camera with filter threads with a universal adapter. This is especially important, these days, since the overwhelming majority of digital point and shoots on the market don't have filter threads.

Lastly, I like universal rail adapters, such as the Alpen 706 or similar, rather than universal bracket style adapters, which clamp onto the scope, near the eyepiece. Bracket style adapters have a tendency to interfere with the zoom ring on the eyepiece and may have clearance and balance problems when using large or heavy cameras.

We've had a few inexpensive stereo microscopes returned lately with the complaint that the microscope would not focus properly. This is a shame, because most of these microscopes are fine; the customer just didn't know how to use them.

Stereo microscopes are one of my favorite microscopes to recommend for students and youngsters because they are simple to use and you can stick just about anything underneath them, as is, no preparation needed. Just send the kids out into the backyard and have them collect rocks, bugs, twigs - just about anything. Because these objects vary widely in size, stereo microscopes, even inexpensive ones such as the Meade 8300, are made with a head that can be moved up or down on a vertical shaft to make room as needed.

The head must be adjusted properly to not only make room for the specimen, but also to bring the microscope head into the proper working distance of the optical system. If the head is outside this working distance, either too low or too high, the specimen will not come into focus. Not a big deal. Just raise or lower the head slightly and try again.

One question I get often is, "Can I digiscope with a zoom eyepiece?"

The answer is, yes, though it is always something of a compromise to digiscope when your spotting scope is fitted with a zoom eyepiece. You will get some vignetting (darkening at the edge of the field) or, worst case scenario, portholing (a round frame pic, instead of a rectangular frame). These effects be edited by cropping with your photo program, however.

Of course, not all spotting scope zoom eyepieces are created equal. High performance spotting scope zooms, such as those offered by Swarovski are not only optically excellent, they also have larger lens elements, making them a better match for the lenses on today's digital point and shoot cameras. Inexpensive spotting scope zoom eyepieces are optically challenged and suffer from tiny lens elements, making them the worst possible eyepieces for digiscoping.

The best eyepieces to use for digiscoping? Most digiscoping nuts like me prefer fixed power, wide-angle eyepieces. I use a TSE-21WD 20x wide angle on my Kowa 663 spotting scope for most of my shots (though I also use the excellent TSE-Z9B zoom on occasion). Eyepieces like this have the widest lens elements you can get in a spotting scope eyepiece and also offer maximum eye relief. This means less vignetting and more flexibility with camera placement behind the eyepiece.

One feature of a monocular that many people do not know exists, is that a monocular can be used as a magnifier. Simply hold it backwards over an object (look through the objective end, rather than the eyepiece) and you will get some magnification. Like any magnifier, how much magnification you get will depend somewhat on how far you hold it from the object you are studying.

No, won't always be as good an image as you can get from a standard magnifier, but when out in the field, it can be a useful thing to know. I use my Nikon 5x15HG to study flower parts and rocks quite often.

Have had a lot of interest, lately, in Dobsonian telescopes such as the Meade Lightbridge and Celestron Starhopper. That's the good news. The bad news, at least for a Dob lover like me, is that most customers quickly ask how to hook it up to a computer or how to add a motor drive.

Sorry, I can't help but think that John Dobson, the creator of the Dobsonian telescope, would be shocked and upset to hear this. He originally created his design in the spirit that simple is better, that astronomy should be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their budget or financial status, and that you do not have to be a gadget freak to enjoy astronomy. Truly, a man after my own heart.

After a long day at work, slaving away at the computer, the last thing I want when I get out under the stars is another computer. Frankly, I find the whine and whirring of motors to be irritating and, more importantly, I find that high tech gadgets such as computers detract from the experience I seek. The night sky is beautiful to me, in part because it is a naturally quiet place and, in part, because it can be enjoyed without any equipment at all. The less I put between it and me, the better.

That's me, though. I don't claim that my way is right for anyone else. Each astronomer must decide what is best for themselves. All I ask, I guess, is that we leave the simple Dobsonian simple. If you want a high tech gadget laden telescope, go elsewhere.

I was one of the last holdouts for film cameras when the digital age swept in and I defended film gallantly, if I do say so, myself. So why am I an ordinary, garden variety digital camera user, these days? Why am I using a Pentax Optio A10 digital camera, instead of my old beloved Contax SLRs?

I guess it's a matter of format. In the old days, I was primarily concerned with enlargements and making prints to hang on the wall. Photo quality was everything - no junk was going to hang on my walls or get framed. If this was still my goal, believe me, I would still be shooting film. Film is still the way to go if you are doing this type of photography and have the time, money and experience to get it done.

My goals are different these days and, besides, I don't have room in the apartment to hang more pictures. More importantly, I don't have the time or money to pursue that type of photography, anymore. Don't get me wrong - I take as many pics as ever - but it's typically when I am doing other activities. Moreover, I am a computer user (not entirely by choice) and, as such, digital just makes more sense. I store my digital pics on my computer, I view my pics on my computer, I edit pics on my computer, I email pics on my computer and use digital pics as desktop backgrounds on my computer. I suspect I am like most digital camera owners, in this respect. Sure, I could have slides and prints scanned and turned into digital pics, but why go to that expense and hassle?

Of course, that could all change if I move to a larger apartment or get a house.

I talked to our folks in purchasing and they report that Leica will no longer be delivering their long standing and popular Televid spotting scopes. That's a real shame, as I used an angled APO 77mm Televid for many years and couldn't ask more from a spotting scope. It was a true master of the shorebird flats.

The good news is that Leica will be coming out with a new spotting scope, but, as of this date, Leica has yet to announce details. Stay tuned.

When people think great optics, it's not usually in reference to magnifiers. Say, "magnifier" and people typically think of the traditional magnifier with a handle or, perhaps, a small pocket model used for a better look at a coin, twig, insect, print and so on. Don't need great optics, here, and most people don't want to pay a lot for this kind of use, anyway.

However, there times when optical quality in a magnifier is critical. One is a jeweler's loupe, such as the Nikon 10x Jewelry, where optical color correction is of prime importance, since even subtle colors on a gemstone can affect value. Another is with a photographers loupe such as the Pentax 5.5x photography loupe, where resolution is critical for seeing fine detail on a transparency or negative. I have this one, not because I am doing work with photos, but because this Pentax magnifier does just as well when examining insects and flower parts as it does with photos. Like any true loupe, it is as its best when the eye is placed directly over the lens, but it can also be used as a conventional magnifier held at arms length (though a bit heavy and cumbersome).

Okay, I admit it, I also bought because I just love a well made optic and this one is a beauty.

Summertime for me means outdoors, so I haven't had much chance to work with my microscopes, lately, but for those of you who are stuck indoors, you might want to spend some time at the microscope. I'm a hobbyist and playing with microscopes is one of my favorite indoor pastimes.

You'll need to do some collecting, though. Here's a tip for pond water fans. When collecting pond water, my advice is to think green. Algae and photosynthetic bacteria are the base of aquatic food chains, and just as in the macro world, most of the things we like to see will be hiding in the green stuff. When collecting, I also scrape the bottom to pick up organisms that are working that part of the ecosystem. Lastly, when preparing slides, don't overdo. Just a touch of green or muck in your drop of water goes a long way. Too much and you won't be able to isolate those protozoans and invertebrates from their hiding places.

If you are just getting started, you might also want to review some of my basic articles at Microscope Guide for Beginners and Using your First Microscope.

Good hunting.

We recently received some of the new Celestron microscopes in the 44000 series and I've had a chance to examine several models. Overall, my first impression has been positive. These appear to be well made (all metal) microscopes of reasonable quality and appropriate features for the price and the supplied manual is a cut above the usual generic pamphlet. I would rate them as being "young student" grade, in the Celestron 44100 and Celestron 44102, to middle and high school level grade in the Celestron 44014 (excellent buy with all the basic features for serious use) and Celestron 44106 , to college level grade in the and Celestron 44108 and, finally, to the professional grade model in the Celestron 44110. In other words, Celestron has covered just about every level of bright field microscope in their new line of microscopes.

"Can binoviewers be used on a reflector?" is a question I receive, now and then. The short answer is, no. Problem is, reflectors have focusers which do not have enough travel to allow accessories such as a binoviewer to come into focus. Yes, using two eyes does provide more comfort, but if you want to use a binoviewer, you will need to use a different telescope design, such as a refractor or a Schmidt-Cassegrain. In fact, Televue makes a refractor designed specifically for their TV binoviewer in their TV-102i, which is a shorter version of the standard TV-102. The Televue TV-102i compensates for the automatic 2x doubling of magnification produced by a binoviewer. Take a TV-102i, add a bino viewer and two Televue Panoptic 24mm eyepieces and you have the ultimate 36x daytime observation telescope. If they don't have one of these in heaven (assuming I make it, there), I don't want to go.

Had a fairly decent night under the stars, Saturday night. I like observing on Saturday nights, this time of year, since summer observing means keeping late hours and I get to sleep in late on Sunday morning (though I never do).

Had a neighbor stop by to see what I was doing, so gave him a look at Jupiter in my Kowa 663 spotting scope set at 60x. Now, I'm not about to claim this is a great choice for planetary observing, but it was just handy (I keep it set up in my living room) and I didn't feel like setting up a big scope just for a short observing session. A better choice in a small telescope, though, would have been a Televue Tv-76 and, of course, it would also look great in my living room, especially perched on the Televue walnut Panoramic tripod.

A girl can dream, can't she?

A binocular and/or camera in hand is worth a whole truckload of binoculars or cameras left at home and, sorry to say, I wasn't on the right end of this maxim, yesterday. My little Pentax Optio A10 camera is usually in my purse, as is my Nikon 5x15HG monocular, but since I was bicycling last night, I accidentally left both in my bike pack.

Sure enough, some of our employees came rushing up, yesterday morning, and told me there was an eagle sitting outside the building on a building light fixture. According to them, it had to be an eagle, since it was very large. As we all rushed out to see the bird, I told them that an eagle was a possibility - I had found them in stranger places and times - but that it was more likely a Red-tailed Hawk, since I had seen this species hunting in the area many times.

Sure enough, the bird proved to be a Red-tailed hawk, sitting unconcerned only twenty yards away on a light fixture on the side of the building. It always amazes me how suburban wildlife tames up so quickly. In my rural Nebraska, the Red-tailed is normally a very cautious bird and this would have been a prime photo opportunity. If I had had my Kowa 663 spotting scope available, I could have taken pics of the hawk's bill, we were so close.

As it was, without a camera, binocular, monocular or spotting scope, all we could do is watch. Let me tell you, though, I brought a camera and bino, today.