1st July Kowa TSN-PA7 camera adapter.

~~

The PA7 digiscoping adapter has arrived. Along with a T2 - 4/3 bayonet ring.  Triggered by absence of a recognised lens the Lumix G9 camera wanted to know what focal length I was using. I set it to the maximum of 1000mm. I had already set focusing to Manual.

The sky was rather overcast and the images in the viewfinder rather dark but nicely sharp. I snapped away as the tree tops swayed in and out of view in the wind. Just to have a record of the first exposures with the [lenseless] digiscoping system. I may have to raise the ISO. To 3200.

The images above and right show the TSN-PA7 adapter in place over the zoom eyepiece. The tubular adapter is a surprisingly large, but light and sturdy bit of kit. Magnesium alloy?

First a grooved, locating ring screws on in place of the decorative ring at the tail end of the telescope body. Then the zoom eyepiece goes back in. The adapter is slid over the previous two components. The large, captive, chromed thumbscrews on the adapter itself provide a secure hold while allowing easy, camera rotation. It all feels very sturdy and the lack of a relay lens means that the image should be even sharper.

The previous DA10 adapter thumbscrew was not captive and frequently fell out! Not clever for an outdoor accessory likely to be used in the wilds! 

At the camera end of the PA7 a bayonet ring screws to the T2 thread [42x 0.75mm] to hold the camera. A range of these bayonet rings is available for popular camera makes.

There are no lens contacts on the bayonet ring. The large cut-outs in The PA7 allow access to the Kowa zoom ring on the eyepiece. The PA7 contains a small filter glass to seal the camera body when it is attached.

Rain temporarily stopped play as I was about to take some pictures and explore the new camera/adapter set-up. Sunny periods are promised so I can start again later.


I tried a few shots with the new adapter. Mostly the results were too dark. While very distant shots were rather soft.

Somehow the G9 is fixated on 1/2000. Which is too fast for today's overcast conditions. I am using the Pixel wireless, shutter release for its very positive 2-step shutter release and lack of vibration. Now I need to go through the camera menus to see what I've done wrong.

I reset the camera to shutter priority and then took pictures of a coloured, printed, catalogue page from various distances up to 60 yards. An overgrown hedge and a slight curve in the drive made further range impossible. The legibility of the smallest text is easily improved with slight sharpening in image handling software. Enough to make it possible to read. This is at the equivalent focal length of 2,450mm! I could read the small print on both the camera screen and in the viewfinder.

~~