[Steven Essex]

Good day to one and all - I've just signed up and been prompted to introduce myself. I've just bought a k-01, primarily for digiscoping. The attraction being that the camera offers focus peaking. I already have a samsung gx10 (pentax k10d ish) and a Swarovski ats scope plus a TLS 800 adapter (800mm focal length before crop adjustment). The dslr is a tad heavy attached to the scope and doesn't offer focus peaking and video. Anyway, I had my first session with the brick and the images seemed a little bit soft (in comparison to gx10 and samsung nx11), although higher iso looks cleaner and allows faster shutter speed. I notice from reviews that RAW is recommended, plus some sharpening. All I've tried thus far is jpeg, but will start shooting RAW in due course. Video was pretty impressive; especially the image stabilisation ( I hope focus peaking in video mode will be added via firmware). I guess camera motion may have contributed to slight softness. That said, the subjects were at long distance, in an estuary, so I'll try closer (frame filling) photos to see if they look sharper.

I'll post some photos in due course for interest. Thought people may be interested in k-01 from a digiscoping point of view.

Cheers and good luck.

[Na Horuk]

Wow 800mm! With that thing, even a slight movement will show up, so you probably want to use tripods and 2 sec timer or remote. Or a really fast shutter, if you have enough light. Be sure to post some of the photos on these forums

[Kerrowdown]

for digiscoping

Welcome to the forum, I had to go look that one up.

[luizpaulo]

Interesting, I'm looking forward to seeing some of you images. Might sell me the idea of trying some digiscoping with my K-01

[Steven Essex]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that am using a tripod and remote. I've also attached a delkin screen shade, which works pretty well....So that's enough of the hardware mumble. It's time to get out there and try to get some decent images. Just hope that spring hurries up and makes an appearance. Cheers for now.

[audiobomber]

I can't imagine how a K-01 could contribute to the softness. If you look at Photozone, the 16mp cameras have significantly more resolution than the 10mp bodies. I wonder if you're comparing at equal resolution? What I mean is, if you crop to pixel level, you are cropping much harder on the 16mp image. What looks sharp at 10mp may not maintain sharpness at 16mp. To level the playing field, you need to print to the same size, or view at the same resolution on the monitor.

I was researching this yesterday, the K-01 seems like an ideal camera for digiscoping. What lens are you using on the camera? I'm trying to sort out what a K-01 with DA 40mm + spotting scope would look like versus a K-01 with DA*300 with 1.5 and 2X TC's, versus a Q with DA*300 and K-mount adapter. The advantages of the Q would be size and fast aperture. The big advantage for me with the K-01, DA*300 and TC's is no added cost, I already own the gear.

I'm having trouble understanding digiscoping. For example, for the Pentax PF-80 ED, they spec aperture as 80mm, and magnification depends on the eyepiece. With a K-01 and 40mm f/2.8, what is the final aperture? What sort of equivalent focal length would you end up with? I can calculate these things readily for the other extreme tele options:

1. K-01 with DA*300, 1.5X and 2X TC = 1350mm (FF equivalent) @ f/12
2. Q with DA*300 = 1650mm @ f4

[Steven Essex]

Hello Audiobomber - I may well be a tad harsh in my initial evaluation ( I certainly he so) as I was photographing small waders at approximately 400 yards and subsequently blowing the image up on the cameras LCD screen to its maximum magnification.

With regard to your general comment about digiscoping it got me thinking. I use the TLS 800 adapter on my swarovski scope. It is a fixed focal length lens which replaces the scopes eyepiece and connects the camera body to the scope body. The alternative approach is to leave the scopes eyepiece in place and use a different type of adapter with a point and shoot type of camera. I believe the second approach is the more conventional approach to digiscoping.

Whilst I'm at it I think a brief summary of how I arrived at buying the k-01 may be useful to people thinking on embarking down the digiscoping route.

1. Originally a birder with scope and binoculars.
2. Purchased dslr (samsung gx10/pentax k10d clone..ish).
3. Purchased sigma 70-300, but decided I needed more reach. Then didn't like the idea of spending serious money on long lenses. Indeed, pentax k mount only up to 300mm at the time, but still £900.
4. Decided to buy adapter and make use of scope.
5. Picture quality good, but lack of live view and video mode meant difficult to focus, plus also heavy. Maybe buy balance rail
6. Decided to buy mirroreless, as lighter and electronic shutter. Toss up between sony nex5n or samsung nx11. Liked samsungs amoled screen, but didn't realise I needed focus peaking, plus sensor not so good above iso 800.
7. Saw k-01 heavily discounted so thought why not. Only disadvantages are non articulating screen and still relatively heavy. However, I already have t mount adapter for scope and additional k mount lenses.

More generally, I would say digiscoping is ok if you set yourself up in a stationary location. Dslr is better for wandering around. If you already have a cope then cost effective. But probably wouldn't buy a scope as a primary way into longer focal length photography. Infact. I would suggest da300 and cropping on a high resolution sensor.

[vonBaloney]

"100%" is around x9.5 (I think) on the LCD, so anything beyond that will look soft, and there is no true 100% view on the LCD ever, so that's for quick eval only. But once stuff gets too far anything there is always atmospheric and heat distortion so it is tough to get anything really sharp. But mainly for super-telephoto, your setup has to be rock-solid, a remote to trip the shutter is mandatory (even 3 second delay may not be enough for vibrations to calm), and if there is any wind whatsoever you had better be on an actual rock as even the best tripods will still vibrate a bit. Also, shake reduction in a setup like that should be OFF as it will only add its own shake and it is designed for hand-holding...

[Steven Essex]

Yes, I wondered about switching off the shake reduction. I will take your advice. Although, I will say that movie shake reduction works well on the tripod, when in video mode. I tried both on and off the other day. I guess movie mode SR is electronic versus mechanical on standard in body.

The proof will in the pudding as they say. So will upload some images in due course. Thanks for your advice and I must say you are a friendly bunch.

Cheers for now.

[K(s)evin]

Just FYI...I was speaking with John Carlson (PentaxUSA poobah) at a recent event and he said that focus peaking during video capture is not available ( on the K-01) due to processor limits. So would not be looking for a firmware fix.

[Steven Essex]

That's a shame, but thanks for the info.

[Steven Essex]

Taken today. Rather overcast, but pleased with the image quality. It is better than my old gear.I tried to sharpen slightly using snapseed software. So would recommend k-01 for digiscoping.

[audiobomber]

Yes, I wondered about switching off the shake reduction.

SR should not be used on a tripod, as it may cause blur.
(I edited the statement above. If one is using a tripod without a remote and without the timer, i.e. pressing the shutter release at the time the shot is taken, I suppose SR may be advantageous.)

Taken today. Rather overcast, but pleased with the image quality. It is better than my old gear.I tried to sharpen slightly using snapseed software. So would recommend k-01 for digiscoping.

Did you forget the link?

[Steven Essex]

SR must not be used on a tripod, as it will cause blur.



Did you forget the link?

Hi- I'm afraid I can't work out how to add photos to this thread. I have uploaded the images, but they don't appear anywhere?

[Steven Essex]

Flickr: Steven_Essex's Photostream

Defeated by the pentax forum's software, so I've added a link to Flickr...they are the four images at the top of the page. Kestrel and Mute Swan ( original and cropped). I can see that the Kestrel's head is slightly out of focus. Guess to do with shallow depth of field on long focal lengths. Nevertheless, I am encouraged by the k-01's potential. Now will have to improve my technique. Cheers.