At the end of March I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Largely untouched by the logger’s chainsaw Bhutan is the place to see a classic array of Himalayan specialities. We organised a private trip with a local ground agent and hired a local bird guide who also managed to find us a ‘bar cum shop’ during the periods we spent camping, so ensuring the bird log was never beer free!
The trip started in Paro and we travelled east across the country to the lower part of the Lingmethang Road. On the return journey we also took in the Sengor Road.
The
trip’s birding highlights were topped by a displaying male Satyr
Tragopan early morning on the Limethang Road, but closely followed by
a pair of Ward’s Trogan, Beautiful Nuthatch, Himalayan Monal, a
flock of Fire-tailed Myzornis, White-bellied Heron, Sikim Wedge-billed,
Long-billed and Bar-winged Wren Babblers, 13 species of Laughingthrush
and Rufous-necked Hornbill. In total we record 288 species in Bhutan.
This trip was also the first sustained chance of using the new Samsung NV3 digi-scoping kit in ‘field conditions’, and what follows is a basic review of the kit.
The Samsung NV3 is a 7.2 mega pixel compact camera, with
an internal 3x optical. It uses SD cards for memory, which meant that
even in Bhutan I was able to purchase spare cards. The battery for the
camera is a rechargeable lithium type and the in-car charger proved
very useful as we spent 9 nights camping away from mains electricity.
The battery life was good, on average two batteries would last one days
worth of birding and photographing.
The kit comes in two main parts the camera and the mount system. The camera slides into the clam mount and is held in place with two tightening screws.
This
system worked well and allowed the camera to be quickly removed for
‘holiday snaps’ and quickly slotted back into place if a digi-scoping
opportunity arose. I had no trouble tightening the clam mount, but if
your grip isn’t good I would recommend a small screwdriver.
The
clam mount has a cable release bar connected to it and the cable release
allows vibration free shutter control, which in low light situations
proved essential. To my mind the shutter release cable was a tad flimsy,
and it maybe worth investing in a more solid version, if like me, you
tend to jam the whole unit in and out of your pocket when birding.
The
DCC adapter screws onto the clam mount and it is this part that slips
over the eyepiece. The DCC adapter has a series of inserts. The diameter
of the inserts can be increased or decreased by simply twisting the
DCC adapter. This allows the adapter to fit a whole series of different
eyepieces. I used one of the new 20xWW (eyecup unit removed) on my old
Kowa TS613* and the insert provided allowed me to slip the adapter on
and off the eyepiece in less than 2 seconds, in fact with a bit of practice
I could switch the camera on as I took it from my pocket, slip it solidly
onto the eyepiece and take a shot in less than 5 seconds.
The
speed of this operation meant that I was able to grab shots of birds
in the time that my previous camera would take to start up, let alone
connect to the eyepiece.
The
NV3 has a broad ISO range 80, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1000. In good light
or if the bird was not moving then an ISO of 80 was usable. However
prime time birding tended to be in the first few hours of the day, so
an ISO of 200 or 400 was better for blur free result. The compromise
with 400 is obviously grainer images compared to 200 but if the light
was poor you could still get that shot.
The
NV3 has a video setting which produces small pixel sized films which
can be used to good effect in poor light for example with the displaying
Satyr
Tragopan MEGA!
The NV3 has an excellent macro facility focusing down to 1cm.
The
LCD screen is 2.5”, and like most compact digital camera’s
it’s difficult to monitor in very bright conditions, I made do
with my hat as a screen shade which was adequate.
On
my eyepiece there was no vignetting, and in my experience the camera
works well on the vast majority of fixed low magnification eyepieces
and zooms.
Conclusion
All in all I found the Samsung NV3 very easy use. The
exposure compensation and ISO rating could be changed very quickly as
condition dictated. The cable release was simple and effective, and
the DCC mount was very quick to fit onto the eyepiece.
As with all digi-scoping I had my fair share of blurred and birdless
shots but my success rate with this camera system has been the best
yet.
A
big thanks to my colleagues on the trip: Andy Deighton, Jon Hornbuckle,
Keith Turner and Richard Hoff. 
Blue
Poppy Tours for logistics of the trip, Rinchen Singye for some sterling
guide work, Yeshey Dendup for never looking like he would crash the
vehicle and Paul Holt of Sunbird for some ‘in the field’ help
on the Lingmethang Road.
Andy Bunting