Digital Photography Hacks

Get Close with Digiscoping

Chances are, you already have the tools to get close to your subjects, even if they have little beaks and are perched way across the yard.

Wildlife photos taken with consumer-level digital cameras are often disappointing. To get a better shot, you must inch forward slowly, hoping to get close to the animal, or have powerful optics that make it seem like you’re closer than you really are. Since most birds won’t tolerate you standing next to them while they peck at their dinner, most enthusiasts find themselves longing for telephoto camera lenses they can’t afford.

To address this situation without maxing out the credit card, birders have turned to innovation. The most common hack is known as digiscoping. In its simplest form, digiscoping simply means using a spotting scope to zoom in on the subject and then holding the camera to the eyepiece to record the image.

Many consumer digital cameras have lens diameters that are similar in size to the lenses on birding scopes (or any other optical device), so they are a natural fit. Digiscoping can be used to get impressive, high-quality wildlife photos, to help prove and document what you’ve seen, or simply to give you a fun way to share and record your informal observations.

Warning

Never let the lens of your camera touch the lens of your other optics, such as your spotting scope. You want your camera and scope in alignment, but no kissing!

Surprisingly good results can sometimes be achieved by simply holding the ...