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!

Evening is a magic time for outdoors folk. As that light begins to fade, wildlife begins to move and become active. Evening means it is time to grab that camera, spotting scope, binocular or, if you hunt, the firearm of your choice and, if you fish, the rod of your choice. Evening holds those few choice moments that fade all to fast, but those can be the moments you carry with you the rest of your life. What can be more magic than that?

Some of my very best outdoor memories included evenings with my camera and tripod when I was in exactly the right place and right time for that very special shot at that big buck or when the setting sun turned the landscape into gold. Then, again, how could I rate anything better than being on a western trout stream as the light fades with just the right fly for those finicky and very large trout? Perhaps, though, it was the evening when I was out on my cross-country skis and the bitter cold wind was blowing the snow at ground level into a sheet of white, but, overhead, Venus and a crescent moon blazed in the fading light. On the other hand, you haven’t lived until you backpacked to a campsite above the tree line and the stars above are so bright in almost hurts your eyes to look through a binocular.

Best of all, though, are the evenings I spend, even now, with the one I love.

February is just around the corner, now, and for some folks, February and cabin fever go hand-in-hand. Most of us, by February, have had enough winter and start to form mental images of greener and warmer days to come, even though we know, logically, that there is still a lot of winter left on the calendar. I am less inclined to suffer from cabin fever, given that I so love my cross country skiing, but make no mistake, come February, I am as thirsty as anyone for spring. So, how to get through February?

In the not too distant past, February, for me, was the time to collect catalogs of various kinds and wear out those pages, but the internet now allows me to go to websites, such as OpticsPlanet, and order what I want in an instant. Hard to argue with that kind of convenience, though I still collect catalogs. Call me old fashioned.

Make no mistake, February is a great time to gear up before the warmer weather pulls us back outdoors and we are too busy to shop. Waiting also increases the odds of a product being backordered due to increased demand. Now is the time to buy that birding binocular or birding spotting scope if you are a birder; now is the time to buy that new telescope eyepiece for your telescope if you are an astronomer; now is the time to buy that new riflescope or red dot sight for your spring hunt if you are a hunter. Now is the time to buy that new camera lens for your digital SLR if you are a shutterbug (I have my eye on several camera lenses, for instance, not to mention another tripod). February is also a great time to shop for specials.

Oops. Have to go check my mailbox for some of the things I bought online, last week.

Okay, so you want to brave the cold and take your telescope, outside, and do some astronomy. Great! Winter skies bring us some spectacular objects to observe and that cold, crisp, transparent air seems to intensify their beauty all the more. Winter is one of my favorite times of the year for observing, be it with an astronomical binocular or telescopes.

First thing you do when using a binocular or telescope for some winter astronomy is dress warm. This may seem to be a “well duh”, but it needs some real attention to detail. Rule of thumb for winter astronomy is that you cannot dress warm enough and that includes dressing for those somewhat warmer nights that happen during a winter thaw. Astronomy is a very active pastime, mentally, but not at all an active pastime, physically. If you can afford a pair of the heaviest long underwear, such as the Under Armor Cold gear, get it. Zero rated pack boots are also a much better option than even insulated hiking boots.

Hands need special attention when at the telescope in the winter. Yes, in sub zero weather (I’m not crazy – have done this many times), touching metal parts, such as telescope focusers or eyepieces can cause your skin to stick to the metal. Wearing gloves, such as a DeWalt Extreme, is a must, of course, but caution must be exercised; it is all too easy for those very expensive telescope eyepieces to slip out of your hand when wearing gloves. If your telescope eyepieces do not have a rubber covering around the exposed section of the barrel, you can add your own with a piece of bicycle inner tube.

If you wear glasses and have the option of substituting contacts, break out the contacts. Bringing your face close to a telescope eyepiece in very cold weather will cause both your glasses and the eyepiece to fog up – mostly a matter of your warm breath freezing as it comes in contact with colder glass surfaces. Even if you do not wear glasses, you should avoid breathing in the direction of the eyepiece and you should also try holding your breath when looking through the telescope eyepiece. Lastly, eyepieces with more eye relief will reduce the likelihood of your eyelashes freezing to the telescope eyepiece. When that happens, you know it is cold and you have earned bragging rights as a diehard astronomer.

P.S. Don’t forget that thermos of hot chocolate

For the first time in a couple of months, the snow has melted enough, around here, to expose some bare ground. That’s great news for ground feeding songbirds and, as I write this, my garden is being overrun by Juncos and White-throated Sparrows and, I suspect because of the open ground, the yard is full of Robins, too. Seems like Robins just have some built-in radar that tells them where to find open ground in the winter.

I take more of a mixed stance on snow cover or the lack of it. Indeed, for me, weather events are a trade-off for all my many outdoor activities. Of course, a lack of snow means my cross- country skiing is now on hold. On the other hand, a lack of snow cover also means that observing conditions for my astronomy will improve. Why? That white snow cover reflects a lot of light back into an already light-polluted sky and that extra light makes some of those very faint celestial objects for astronomical binoculars or telescope even harder to see. For best visibility when hunting for faint astronomy objects, a dark ground cover is best. The warm weather has also opened up some of my paved bike trails, so time to grab a digital camera and a bicycle and go. There is a lot more winter, left, and I doubt whether my skis will get too dusty.

I have been biking all my life and, until recently, I have been using a bicycle for all my transportation, as in no car, bicycle, only. Yes, that means riding a bicycle to work at OpticsPlanet (15 miles round trip), 365 days a year, even in the snows of a Chicago winter, as well as riding a bicycle for all my shopping, going to church and all my other activities. In fact, I've managed to incorporate a bicycle with my birding and photography,quite well. Guess you might say I am a die-hard biker and I won’t deny it.

I also pride, myself, on having experience commuting with nearly all types of bikes – mountain, hybrid, cyclocross and road bikes. Each type of bicycle has its advantages and disadvantages, but I love them all. There have been times, though, when our less than bicycle friendly society has had me considering yet another type of bicycle and that is a folding bicycle. I have yet to own a folding bicycle, but I could have used a folding bike for several reasons, but mostly for the sake of avoiding bike theft.

If you are an avid biker in a big city, like Chicago, you know that bike theft is a serious problem and you also know that there is no such thing as theft-proof lock. This presents some real issues for bike commuters, especially bikers who combine bicycling with train commuting, since train depots are prime locations for prowling bike thieves. Leaving a good bike on a rack while you are in a location many miles, away, is an invitation to get back from a long day at work, get off the train and discover that your bike is gone. I know several folks who lost their bikes just this way. Most of them now just use cheap bicycles, so it doesn’t hurt so much when one is stolen, but I also know a couple of bike-train commuters who have gone to folding bikes, so their bike never is out of sight and they tell me they can even take their bikes with them in stores and restaurants. That, in my mind, would be a great stress reliever. When I am in a restaurant, for instance, I always try to find a seat with a window view of my bike on the bike rack, otherwise I worry about my bike being gone when I walk out the door.

One of those bikers has a Dahon bike and the other has a Brompton bike. I did not get to see the Dahon, but I did get to see the Brompton bike and I was impressed with the quality, but even more impressed with how cleverly a folding bike like a Brompton bike is engineered. It took him less than a minute to unfold the bike and be ready to go and it had a handle and a case that made for easy carrying. I’m not sure what Brompton bike model it was, but it looked similar to the Brompton folding bike, M2L-NYC on the Brompton, NYC website.

Even though I no longer need to commute to work on a daily basis (now work from home), I don’t need or use a bicycle for commuting, but I still have my eye on a Brompton bike. Just something about being able to take a bike with me, wherever I go, no matter what other type of transportation I use, that is hard to resist. Could even stow the Brompton bicycle in the back of our Camry. That would let me park the car in downtown Milwaukee, where I now live, and enjoy those great Milwaukee bike trails and Milwaukee shopping on a bicycle. Besides, what could be cuter than a Brompton bike?

Okay, so you bought or received a cheap telescope as a Christmas or holiday present. Odds are, it is a small telescope, maybe even as small as 50mm or 60mm telescope and you are quickly learning that telescope size is the main factor in what you can or cannot see. Maybe you are thinking you'll just stuff that telescope in the closet and forget about it. Well, don’t put that small telescope away for good; there is always the moon.

You can use any size or even any quality telescope to view the moon and, even for the smallest telescope, there is plenty to see and the view even changes each night. The moon makes a worthy target for even the smallest telescope because it is so bright. There is no need for a very large telescope to transmit a lot of light; in fact, there will be times when the moon has too much light for good observing.

Observing the moon doesn’t get a lot of press in amateur astronomy circles; most astronomers want to see planets and deep-sky objects and, for deep-sky objects, the moon is considered an enemy, since it washes out the very dim light of the fainter deep-sky objects. This is somewhat unfair and also unfortunate, because the moon does offer more detail to see than any other astronomical object. For a beginner, then, the moon is a great place to learn the basics of using a telescope and is also a worthy object in its own right.

Don’t put that cheap telescope away, just yet.

Every astronomer with any experience under their belt develops preferences in terms of equipment and also in terms of objects they observe. My favorite objects to observe with both astronomy binoculars and telescopes are open star clusters. These may not have quite the mystique of nebulae and galaxies, but they can be every bit as gorgeous, in either a binocular or a telescope. Open star clusters are also numerous and less affected by light pollution than other deep-sky objects (objects outside our solar system), such as nebulae and galaxies. That means open star clusters are the most accessible and also the most numerous deep-sky objects for urban dwellers.

The secret of observing open star clusters is keeping the magnification low – most open star clusters cover too much of the sky to fit inside the field of view of high magnification telescope eyepieces. Ordinary binoculars, with their relatively low magnifications, are ideal for viewing the larger open star clusters, while telescopes with a low magnification eyepieces are excellent for some the smaller open star clusters. For instance, in my small refractor telescope, a Televue Nagler 22mm eyepiece, produces almost the same field of view as my 10x70 binoculars with more than twice the same magnification. Then, too, a telescope offers me the option of changing eyepieces.

On the other hand, a binocular allows you to observe some of these beauties with both eyes and no tripods needed. There is nothing simpler and easier to use than a binocular when it comes to astronomy. Best of all, many people already own a binocular, so they already have what they need to start astronomy.

Binocular or telescope? I use both for open star clusters

Maybe it’s the woman in me, but I like products that have a high cute factor. My favorite binoculars are compact binoculars, my favorite telescopes are smaller APO refractors (not cheap), my favorite cars are small compacts like the Honda Civic and my favorite cameras … okay that’s one exception. I still prefer SLR and DSLR cameras, even though those small digital point and shoot cameras are as cute as it gets. I suspect that is a result of all my many years of using SLR and, more recently, DSLR cameras. That’s not to say that I don’t like digital point and shoot camera or that I do not use digital point and shoot cameras; it just means that give me a good SLR or DSLR with a superb lens and the shutterbug in me just drools.

Why bother with the DSLR? As good as digital point and shoot cameras are, they cannot handle some types of photography jobs. Want to get some great action pics one of your kids or grandkids in their favorite sport? Forget point and shoot cameras – you need a DSLR and a proper lens for that work. Want to get a pic of that proud student walking up that dimly lit aisle at graduation? DSLR time. Want to take some people pics in low light but don’t want to use a flash because it would be too rude? DSLTR time, again.

To be sure, a DSLR and a couple of lenses are not going to fit in the pocket, but a camera bag, like a Kata camera bag, will make carrying a DSLR and an extra lens a breeze, assuming, of course, that you are not shooting with long telephoto lenses that need a tripod. Another excellent camera accessory is a deluxe camera strap to replace the sometimes less than excellent camera strap that is supplied as standard equipment on some cameras. The Kata Apss, for instance, is about as deluxe as it gets.

Digiscoping – taking pics through the eyepiece of a spotting scope or a telescope with a small digital camera – is currently one of the most popular ways to take long distance photos by wildlife photographers, today and why not? It’s the easiest method of high magnification photography and it gets you pics that are impossible to get with traditional long telephoto camera lenses and SLR or DSLR cameras. Care to give it a try? See my article, Digiscoping Update

Now, digiscoping, by its very name, implies the use of a digital camera and, contrary to what you may have learned in a basic photography class, a small digital camera is best, since a small lens produces less vignetting – darkening at the edge of the picture frame.

On the other hand, the very spirit of digiscoping is trail and error. The first digiscopers just said, “Why not?” and simply handheld a small camera over the eyepiece of a spotting scope to take pictures of birds and the rest is history. These pioneers didn’t read a book or a magazine article or consult the experts; they just went against conventional photographic wisdom and gave it a try.

Guess that’s what was flowing through my mind, last week, while I was at the spotting scope. My spotting scope is equipped with an extraordinarily large eyepiece in the Televue 22mm Nagler. From experience, I know the very large lends element in this eyepiece makes for a superb eyepiece for digiscoping. Since my old Nikon FE with its 50mm lens just happened to be sitting on the table, next to me, I grabbed this old film camera, focused the old 70s vintage 50mm lens and … hey, I got a nice clean, full frame pic by holding the camera up over the eyepiece. So, I fired away and got a good photo. Now what to call this? Filmiscoping? SLRscoping?

If you’ve ever seen a National Geographic special, you know that serious wildlife photographers set up a blind to capture images of birds and other wildlife. I’ve also done this with both standard SLR/DSLR camera equipment and various digiscoping setups. I prefer blinds specifically made for photographers, but since these are not that easy to get, locally, I've also used hunting blinds and modified them as needed. These you can get from most any outdoor store

Shooting from a blind is a rather equipment intensive approach to wildlife photography, but it works better than any other method of wildlife photography, assuming, of course, that you have the patience to sit for long hours in sometimes less than pleasant weather. That’s all part of the image, though; the toughest and most dedicated photographers get the best results.

Okay, time to confess; I cheat a bit. My favorite blind has all the comforts of home. That’s because it is in my home – in my kitchen to be specific. I watch and take pics of birds at my bird feeders through my kitchen window, using my spotting scope and my small digital camera. No, I won’t be making the pages of National Geographic with my “domestic” blind, but it does get me some very nice pics and talk about comfort! Come visit me in my blind; I will serve cookies and coffee and we will talk and listen to music. Don’t worry about the weather, either. It never rains in my kitchen and the temperature is a constant 70 degrees.

Are there some drawbacks to a kitchen blind? Obviously, it’s not the type of blind you can move to another location and taking pics through a kitchen window can degrade pic quality, depending on the quality of window glass and so on. Still, it’s a great way to practice your digiscoping technique and, as a result, you will do better digiscoping when you do get out in the field. Mostly, though, I digiscope and watch birds from my kitchen window because it is fun and very relaxing … and you can get some nice pics

Monopods and tripods are not products that cause you to stay awake at night, dreaming and drooling all over, yourself. Let’s face it; it is hard to get excited about buying a monopod or a tripod. You’d much rather pore over every detail of that new camera, spotting scope or, maybe, that astronomy binocular you've been wanting to buy and, now that you have saved just enough money to get that camera, spotting scope or binocular, you try to get by cheap on the tripod. Right?

Wrong, oh so wrong. A good tripod is the type of product you don’t think about until you actually use one and need one and then you understand very quickly that it was a mistake to cut corners on the tripod. A cheap tripod can render the most expensive digital camera or spotting scope almost useless and make your life miserable in the process. Worst of all, a cheap tripod will fail when you need it most.

Okay, so you need a good tripod. What does a good tripod cost? Pretty tough to find a tripod under $100 that has both the load capacity or the durable construction needed for a heavy spotting scope or astronomy binocular. To be sure, nearly every tripod under $100 features a plastic, not metal, head. Do you really want to put that new camera or binocular on a tripod that uses a plastic head? Not me. I’ve seen plastic tripod heads crack and then spill a new camera and spotting scope to the ground. Not a pretty picture.

To get a metal head on a tripod, at least go with the Nikon 848, the Bushnell 78040 to name a couple of good choices. These work great on cameras with short lenses or small and medium spotting scopes and some astronomy binoculars, but they don't have the load capacity for big cameras with long lenses or giant astronomy binoculars. For those, my favorite tripod is the Bogen 055XDB, 128RC. It's nothing fancy, but it is built like a tank and will do a good job for the big stuff.

I’ve been shopping for old Nikon, manual-focus lenses these last few weeks and have noticed that 1) the best known Nikon lenses from that era – the 70s, 80s and 90s – are still commanding high prices and 2) there is no shortage of well-used lenses of this vintage; after all, some of these lenses are over thirty years, old. True, you can still use the more modern AF Nikon lenses on old manual focus cameras like my F3 HP and my latest acquisition, a Nikon FE, but the manual focus mechanism on Nikon autofocus lenses is nowhere near as nice to focus as the manual focus on those old lenses. Then, too, those old film SLR lenses were made of metal and designed to last; the current AF digital camera lenses are usually plastic, to keep the weight down, which, in turn, is easier on the autofocusing motors in Nikon cameras.

I found the FE, locally. A retired gentleman wanted to sell his old Nikon FE, now that he and his wife had digital cameras. He hoped someone would still appreciate the old film cameras, so guess who showed up? Ha! We talked a bit and both decided that digital cameras have their place – nothing is quite as convenient – but we also agreed that those old film cameras could still take great photographs in the right hands. The camera included a 50mm f2 lens from the early 70s and several screw-on closeup lenses, an old Honeywell Flash and flash bracket, all for $50 and I guarantee that, even after thirty years of use, this old Nikon FE will still be taking pics when all those cute little digital point and shoots are obsolete and burned out.

I took the FE right home, loaded some film and started taking pics. Sure enough, everything works just as it was designed to do. I checked the meter against my other cameras and everything appears to be dead-on accurate. Now I have a good backup camera fro my mint condition Nikon F3 HP and since the FE is a bit lighter and more compact than the F3HP, I suspect it will be fed plenty of film in the days to come.

Finally, finally, finally got some time under a dark sky, over the weekend, with my new telescope, though my observing session was short-lived due to the cold and also due to limitations imposed by using a photographic tripod (not designed for looking at objects, directly overhead). For sure, I will have to invest in a real astronomy mount, such as the Vixen Portamount or a Televue Panoramic, but sometimes you just have to use what you have at the moment when an opportunity presents itself. Anyway, it is often not the length of the observing session that counts or even the equipment you use; it's sometimes what you do with that valuable time and how much you enjoyed yourself. For me, it is a good session if it makes you want to go back for more.

My main target with my 80mm triplet APO refractor (see my article, How to Choose the Right Telescope if you don’t know what that means) was the bright planet Jupiter, which was easy to see, low in the southwest. That was both good news and bad news. It was good news because it was an easy object for the photographic tripod I was using; it was bad news because anytime you get an object low in the sky, atmospheric turbulence greatly degrades the image.

Okay, I’ve seen Jupiter look better, but this was as much a test of my new APO refractor telescope as anything and, given the conditions, I was quite pleased with the results. Despite the turbulence and wavering image, I could still see cloud bands on the planet, using my 3mm Televue Radian eyepiece, which produced 160x magnification in my telescope. I should have backed off on the magnification, but that was the only telescope eyepiece I remembered to carry out the door with me. Like I said, it was cold and this more of a quick-peek session and that type of session is one of the great advantages of using a small telescope (large telescopes require much more time to setup and use). Next time, I will pack a few more eyepieces and definitely dress a bit warmer.

With all my blogging about binoculars, telescopes, spotting scopes, digital cameras and so on you might think I am an equipment freak. Not really. If anything, I am an activity freak – the equipment just makes all my varied activities possible. In truth, when it comes to making a needed piece of equipment or repairing a piece of equipment, MacGyver I am not. When a lose a “stupid little piece of equipment” that you need to make a product work or an activity go smoothly, I am out of business like everyone else. You can no doubt make one of your own “stupid little piece of equipment” list with an accessory that you dare not lose, but here are some of my favorites.

The USB cord on a digital camera is near the top of my “stupid little piece of equipment” list. Am I the only one that misplaces the USB cable to a digital camera? I think digital camera manufacturers should always supply two of these with each camera or start to think in terms of making this camera accessory universal.

Here’s another. Like all astronomers, when I am using a telescope or astronomy binocular, I use a red lens flashlight (red light preserves your night vision). You guessed it: I am forever misplacing that “stupid little piece of equipment”. You can a telescope worth thousands of dollars, but without that little night vision flashlight, my observing session grinds to halt.

Sometimes not having that “stupid little piece of equipment” can actually be painful. Ever get miles down the road and discover you left your sunglasses at home? If you think it is bad to drive without your sunglasses, try getting caught out on the ski trail without your sunglasses when the sun comes out. Ouch!

What’s at the top of your “stupid little piece of equipment” list?

A winter storm warning has been posted in the Milwaukee area for today. I know that is seen as bad news for some folks and I understand if they are concerned for safety while driving. I certainly felt the same when I had to drive or, worse, ride my bicycle through the snow, as I did back in Chicago when I did not own a car. Still, I have always enjoyed all the good things snow brings, too.

Today, for instance, my cross-country skis will get a well-deserved workout. It will be so nice to get out on fresh snow - that old crusty snow just doesn’t cut it for skiing. My skiing is, of course, great exercise and always an exhilarating outing in its own right. However, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing is also a great way to do nature photography. For a nature photographer, the world is so different and so beautiful when covered under a layer of fresh snow and skis or snowshoes get you back into places that you seldom see other times of year.

If you are a serious nature photographer, like I am, you can talk yourself blue in the face about cameras, camera lenses and camera accessories, tripods, technique and all the other fun things for taking outdoor photographs. On the other hand, I have always been one to encourage others to get outdoors, so, if you are not a hotshot photographer, grab your digital point and shoot camera and enjoy the snow, even if all you take are a few shots in the yard or of the house.

Just keep in mind that your camera’s meter will tend to turn the snow gray if you meter on the snow. There are several ways to deal with this. Many of the current digital point and shoot cameras, for instance, have a snow scene setting somewhere in the menu. Otherwise, meter on something dark in your scene, such as a tree or house or just overexpose a bit. Then, too, nearly all photo software has an option for adjusting the exposure, anyway, so just fire away and edit, later. Other than that, keep that camera charged up, or, better yet, carry a spare if you plan to be out a bit. Cold weather can drain batteries, quickly.

See you out on the trail!

P.S. The pic is a Hairy Woodpecker having breakfast at my bird feeder. The shot was taken by digiscoping. See my article, Digiscoping Update for info on how to get set up for digiscoping.

People new to telescopes and astronomy are often amazed at not only telescope prices, but also telescope eyepiece prices. When I tell people how much I paid for some telescope eyepieces, I get the “you paid that much just for a single telescope eyepiece?” look. Yes, I know it is hard for some beginners to understand why some telescope eyepieces cost more than the beginner’s telescope they just bought. Okay, so what are you paying for on those premium and expensive telescope eyepieces?

On an eyepiece, you are paying for two things: first, how sharp and bright, not only in the center, but at the edge of the field and second, how wide a field. Eyepieces which offer a combination of both excellent sharpness and a wide field of view use sophisticated, complex and very expensive optical designs. Getting both image sharpness and that wide field of view does not come cheap. See my article for more helpful eyepiece info at, Ten Top Telescope Eyepiece Questions

Do you need such expensive eyepieces for astronomy in a beginner's telescope? No, and, keep in mind that these wide-angle, premium eyepieces are typically BIG and HEAVY - adding one to a small beginner telescope is going to cause some serious balance problems. You can get many very good eyepieces for a fraction of that price. They won't have that big spacious field of view, but they can be quite sharp. An excellent eyepiece design that offers good image sharpness, though only but an average field of view is the Plossl (a Plossl is a design, not a brand and all manufacturers make a Plossl model eyepiece). I’ve had good luck with the Televue Plossls, the Meade Series 4000 Plossls and, even better, the Meade series 5000 SuperPlossls.

So why spend the big bucks to get a Televue 22mm Nagler? (I just did) Visit your local astronomy club and you will probably find someone who is using this eyepiece. Ask them if you can take a look. You’ll quickly understand what a “spacewalk experience” is ... and all without leaving the earth.

Got my Nikon F3 film camera set up and rolling with a Nikon AF 85mm, f1.8 lens. I really didn’t want an AF lens, since AF lenses are not really made for manual focus work. The manual focus feature is simply a back-up to the AF and the manual focus on such a lens is always way too lose in order to keep the resistance down for the AF system. The older Nikon AI and AI-S manual focus lenses are so much nicer for manual focus work, but the price was right on this Nikon camera lens and took it home to get started. I plan to add some Nikon AI-S lenses by doing some shopping on EBay and a few of these are still offered new. Guess some camera lenses never go out of style.

Also got some batteries for my Sears (aka Ricoh) TLS, screw mount camera and have started to take photos with it. Almost forgot about the stop down metering, but that just brought back memories of my old Pentax SP. Okay, the Sears TLS is no Nikon F3, to be sure, but I have to say it shares the same kind of heavy-duty construction you get with cameras of this vintage. Those old manual focus, film SLRs were made to last - not something I am brave enough to say about most of todays DSLR cameras. Best of all, those old film SLR cameras will take excellent photos, if you know how to handle a camera that expects you to do all the thinking and make all the settings. Of course, that’s the fun for an old film camera user like me. I have plenty of modern digital cameras and all that automation has its uses, too, but there is nothing like getting back to basics with the old manual film cameras.

Next step is to get some t-adapters and t-rings to add these two film cameras to my telescope for some astrophotography or some prime focus bird photography

Personally, I’d like to thank all those folks who dumped their old film cameras on the market for a song in their rush to go digital. They are making my return to film all that much more fun and affordable.