27.06.2020 Musings on yet another restart.

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Now I am waiting for the new DSN-PA7 adapter to arrive. Meanwhile I spent some time practising digiscoping on the sunlit, garden flowers. Fortunately I was able to shelter in the shade of a large tree as the temperature reached 82F.

Flowers are good for detail and discovering something about useful depth of field. These were mostly as near as I could get and remain within close focus. On the ponds I am often between one and two hundred yards away from my subjects.

I have been experimenting with the wireless shutter release v manual button pressing. Just to see if there is any obvious effect on image sharpness.

Perhaps I am ignoring the incredible image stabilization provided by the G9 camera? Because there isn't much difference to see. Almost regardless of my clumsiness when releasing the shutter. None of these images used fast shutter speeds. Quite the reverse. 1/150 - 1/200 second was average. F2.5 with ISO400 and Single Focus.

Interestingly, the "mirror-less" G9 camera shakes visibly even at the half press, wireless release. If one's hands were on the camera it might damp out this involuntary movement. When they are not, the screen shows a distinct  but rapidly damped wobble of the image on the camera screen.

After that discovery I was very careful to wait the extra second for the camera to still itself before finally taking the shot. A cynic might ask why several hundred pounds worth of Manfrotto's finest video support kit would be highly susceptible to such obvious shaking. It is only a mechanical, camera shutter, after all. Not a large hammer.

I have a potential solution to this problem on its way. Hopefully by early next week. Only my ignorance of such matters had me buying a Manfrotto 500 head in the first place. I saw a top wildlife photographer using one on YouTube. Presumably he is rewarded for promoting the product. As a base for digiscoping I would argue that it is a complete, non-starter. We shall see when its replacement arrives. When I shall be able to make valid comparisons from direct experience.

My launch into digiscoping was hampered primarily by wanting to severely limit expenditure. So I bought equipment which hindered any real progress. Resulting in some duplication and lots of wasted time. Albeit, valuable time spent on the beginner's slopes of the learning curve.

Fortunately the Vortex Razor 85mm was accepted back. To be replaced by the optically and mechanically exquisite, Kowa TSN-884. I can still use the other associated kit which I've bought, but for other purposes. It is certainly not money wasted. Just time wasted on unsuitable equipment. When I really wanted to forge ahead with enough sharp images to impress even myself.

I have had some fun but was deeply disappointed by my still images of distant water birds. As was my wife. Whom, like myself, was also expecting much more from me as a lifetime [very] amateur photographer. The real struggle was trying to keep the camera still enough at the foolishly long equivalent focal lengths of a digiscoping system. While it is possible to feed the birds it just seems like cheating somehow. I seriously doubt that Grebes would respond anyway.

Another early mistake I made was aiming for lightness in everything. I was originally intending to walk to the local ponds. That meant carrying literally everything I needed. A couple of miles there and back!

Fortunately, I quickly rediscovered that my touring tricycle was a handy, low impact way of getting about. No parking problems in narrow lanes.

It takes a fraction of the time to cycle there than it would have taken me to plod. Particularly  when well loaded down. Moreover, I was able to lighten my load by distributing stuff into my large, saddle bag. Even leaning forwards onto the "racing" handlebars made the tripod and telescope carrying bag seem almost weightless. I am still glad I bought the Viking Optical tripod carry bag.

I started off digiscoping using the tiny Canon Ixus117HS. Simply because that was what I had as my reserve camera. The problem was seeing anything useful on the tiny, heavily pixelated screen. I, quite literally, could not tell whether I was properly focused or not!

The Lumix G9 replaced the Ixus but at the cost of considerable extra weight, bulk and hideous expense. I calmed myself with the knowledge that I hadn't bought a decent camera in over 40 years. It was eleven years since I bought my Lumix TZ7! Which has gone literally everywhere with me whenever I left the house. Including travelling over 50,000 miles of cycling since I retired. The Lumix TZ7 has rewarded me with hundreds of thousands of images with very few disappointments. Other than a lack of reach for those more distant birds with "only" a 12x zoom. It is totally unsuitable for digiscoping though.

The new G9 camera needed very different support structures from the Ixus. Telescope adapters at this quality level are foolishly expensive for what they are. A lump of alloy run through a CNC machine and then anodized. It is certainly not rocket science. The trouble is they aren't easy things to copy with just any old lathe in the shed. The very fine threads are better made in a factory. Even at the cost of selling several, still useful kidneys.

I have spent a lifetime penny-pinching on my countless hobbies. Mostly by doing and making most things for myself. The taxman will only strip me of my modest savings whether I live or die.

Going into a home would be the same. Robbery with menaces. Just because I run a very old car to save money for better things. I haven't had a holiday away from home for 35 years. Being sensible with one's meagre income is not remotely rewarded. The world largely runs on debt.

The pandemic finally made me realise that my years are probably numbered. However fit and and active I pretend to be. Fortunately [?] we live in a tiny, detached rural hovel with a tiny mortgage. With almost no visitors and fewer neighbours. But plenty of big, garden trees and shrubs for the birds to play in.

Digiscoping rural ponds is a solitary pastime and all the better for it. Particularly in these very difficult times of social distancing. Which, ultimately, is probably why I chose to do it. I am not a great joiner and could never see myself standing in a row of digiscopers or twitchers beside a lake. Nice toys and my own company are fine by me. It is probably why I enjoyed cycling so much. Sharing a common interest online means it doesn't really matter where you live, nor why. 

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