GENERAL DIGISCOPING OVERVIEW - PLEASE CHECK SHOPS FOR LATEST OPTICRON KITS

SAMSUNG NV100 REVIEW - ANDY BUNTING

If you ever tried to photograph birds on your feeder or out on nature reserves with a small compact camera you’ll soon come to realise that everything is always too far away! Digiscoping is a technique which allows you to use the magnification of your telescope to produce something more than a tiny dot of a bird on a photograph.

The Samsung NV100HD digiscoping kit demonstrates the general principles behind most digiscoping techniques. These kits are continually changing (please checks shops for latest version) but they all considerably simplify the task of wildlife photography with your telescope.

It is somewhat a fluke of design that any compact camera works for digiscoping. The Samsung NV100HD works so well, that a simple mount has been designed which allows the ‘quick to fit’ lens adapter to be deployed on and off the telescope eyepiece in only one or two seconds. This feature alone make the kit the best on the market by some way, allowing you to decide quickly to grab a shot of your intended target and then carry on birding without the encumbrance of bars and screw mounts.

The camera shoots at 14.7 mega pixels which give the potential of cropping shots to improve composition without sacrificing image quality, especially if you intent to print.

It has a both programme and manual modes the later allowing the aperture to be set which maximises the light entering the lens.

The ISO ranges from 80 to 3200 although in practical terms ISO of 1600 and over will appear very grainy and perhaps only useful for capturing that mega rarity you’ve just found in fading light! The exposure compensation and white balance can be set quickly.

The camera’s controls are accessible via its touch sensitive 3 inch screen. If you’ve never used something like this before it can take a while to get use to it especially if you have big fingers. Once you’ve used it for a while you’ll wish all the electronic gadgets you own worked this way, as all of the essential settings can be quickly manipulated allowing the greatest chance of getting a good shot.

The camera has in built image stabilisation which can be useful if you are experiencing vibration when taking the shot. It comes with a rechargeable Lithium battery and a 2GB SD card which will hold approximately 260 shots at the highest 14.7 mega pixel setting. If you intend to do plenty of shooting it maybe worth investing in a spare battery which should insure a full days activities with running short of power. The Maxi kit version comes with an additional ‘in-car’ charger which means you can charge on the go, a 4GB SD card and remote control, although these can be purchased separately.

The High Definition Video mode is excellent giving anyone the chance to be the next Simon King!
Watch a 2-minute video here

The camera itself is an excellent all around snapper for general use. It has a series of modes for specific situation i.e. Fireworks, Snow etc. It also has a good Macro feature for shooting plants and insects.

The kit can be used on almost all telescope eyepieces, although Zeiss and Swarovski owners will have to purchase a different (and more expensive) eyepiece mount.

All in all the Samsung NV100HD kit is capable of producing excellent pictures. As with any set up, the better quality the telescope the better the end results.

Andy Bunting is the manager of the in focus shop at Martin Mere WWT and winner of the Nikon WWT Photography Competition in 2008. He also runs a Wildlife Photography and Digiscoping Workshop throughout the year at Martin Mere WWT Reserve Lancashire.