Hi Khen,
I didn't respond initially because I don't haven anything that I use as a
spotting scope... but ...
If you're after a camera lens, I wouldn't recommend a spotting scope. You
won't be able to stop down the aperture!. Your focusing has to be perfect.
I have a good variety of catadioptric lenses. Personally I wouldn't count on
any of them that are slower than f6 to deliver a picture of a bird. I have a
Celestron 750mm f6 and a Tamron 350/5.6 which I seem to be able to reliably
focus. The f8 lenses are just too slow to accurately focus.
If I want to get photos of birds rather than just enjoy walking around
trying to take pictures, I take my Tamron 400/4 with a 1.4x teleconverter.
On the other hand I was at Mono Lake trying to take a picture of an Osprey
nesting on a tufa column in the lake. It was quite far away and the photos
were only okay. A ranger stopped next to me with a Kowa spotting scope. He
had a much better view of the birds but didn't get any photos. Five years
ago or so I looked into spotting scopes. There was a then new Pentax 80mm
that got great reviews. The Kowa has been around a long time and is well
regarded by bird watchers. The gear that bird watchers use is much different
from that used by bird photographers.
Good luck,
-jeff
On 5/10/07, khen lim <castanet.xiosnetworks@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> Well Chuck,
>
> It's not entirely my exclusive decision on this matter. I have to discuss
> this with my better half, who is primarily the one who wants one. She is
> after all the one who has a strong photographic preference for all things
> to
> do with birds and the undersea. My inclination right now is to focus on
> the
> Kestrel 60mm and then spread the search a little wider to look at the
> viability of the Leitz and Nikon equivalent products, which I must admit
> to
> be surprised no one in this forum mentioned anything about. But I'm still
> all ears to see if any of you have experiences - direct or indirect - to
> do
> with these two.
>
> I just want to make it clear though I'm not a brand maniac though I freely
> admit that Leitz glass is very nice. I've always loved their lenses
> especially during the days when I used to have the M4P. Pity I really
> couldn't stretch my budget any further to do it justice but everytime I
> think back to those days, I just wished I kept it. Sad. <sigh>....
>
> K.
>
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