Digiscoping V/S Superzoom.

I have been watching the photos coming out of these "super zoom" bridge cameras.
Lots of guys are using them these days, rather than digiscoping.

As a fella who started out with traditional photography gear, heavy, expensive, bulky.
I gave digiscoping a try. Worked at it. Practiced, figured some stuff out.
Then along comes the ultra small, ultra cheap, light, super zoom bridge cameras.

They have been out for a couple generations now.
Just about everyone has one. Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Nikon, ect.

I was again, interested to see what these small, cheap options were capable of.

I was impressed by the images others were getting, but the one thing they lacked was enough info to actually compare them to traditional photography and digiscoping.

So, with Christmas here, I decided the wife needed to get a super zoom for christmas.

Done.

Now, I could actually do a very good, side by side comparison of my own.

Well, I can see a lot of guys switching from digiscoping to these super zooms.
They are incredibly easy to use. So much easier than digiscoping. Its not even a close race when you compare the effort required to digiscope, to the effort needed to use a super zoom.

Plus, when you consider that most adapter and camera combos, for digiscoping, are going cost you the same as a super zoom, or more in some cases.
Ease of use and cost effectiveness, these super zooms are going to be hitting the woods with a vengeance.

So, for you to compare yourselves, I have provided photographs.

First the digiscoped image.



Not bad.

And the super zoom image.



Not bad. Considering that this is the cameras MAX zoom level.

Lets take a closer look.

The digiscoped image, cropped to enhance the comparison.



You can see, that when cropped, the digiscoped image retains its integrity quite well.

Now for the cropped image from the super zoom.



The super zoom did not fare as well when cropped, but that is not bad.
You can still see what you are looking at clearly. Yes, its a bit grainy.

But, remember it was SOOOOOOOOO easy. Just turn it on, point it, zoom it, click. Done.

That was not the case with the digiscoping set up.

Anyways, my conclusions that while the digiscopoing set up provided a higher quality image, the super zoom definitely has a market in the hunting community.

I can see a lot of guys dumping the old digiscoping stuff and going with the easier, much more friendly super zoom.

Me personally, I am going to stick to the digiscoping.
Its just my preference. But my curiosity has been satisfied and the wife is ultra happy with her new christmas gift.

You want my opinion, if you are looking at these super zooms, don't be afraid.
They are amazing little pieces of technology.

Great post.

I have been digiscoping for several years and decided to get a nice super zoom a few years ago when the first one came out (canon SX50). I have seen some amazing results at close range and great results at 50x Optical. I never use the digital zoom.

I think the biggest difference for me is the time. Most of the time if I'm driving around the winter range looking at bucks it takes me a while to get my gear all setup to digiscope. With my Super zoom, I don;t even have to leave the truck. It saves me a ton of time. Often times it's hard to get setup perfectly with digiscoping equipment and everytime you get out of the truck you risk scaring the animals off and not getting a pic at all.

I still pack my digiscoping equipment with me while hunting. It's always good for those 800-1000 yard videos you want to review in your tent that night. However, I love the super zoom camera.

I have been doing some shooting.
If you think its hard to get your digiscoping stuff all set up, and then get a good shot, without spooking animals, try setting up all this crap, getting them all focused, ready to go, then clicking off photos at the same time.

Its crazy.



I have been able to pull it off, and the results have been good.

I was going to post my findings, and the comparison photos, but I decided that the results were not accurate and fair.
I was shooting the traditional photography gear, and the digiscoping gear in full manual modes. The bridge camera was set to automatic mode for the comparisons.

The bridge camera did O.K. during well light conditions and at close range, but really fell short at long range and low light.


I feel that given the difference in sensor size, and the processor trying to compensate rather than me controlling the camera, the test was not completely accurate and truthful.

So, I have decided to do it again. It will be harder this time, having to dial in three cameras manually, but to be fair and accurate, it needs to be done.

Obviously, you can see that there are differences in size, and weight. Also, large differences in price.
For a guy with little available cash, or space limitations, the super zoom is going to be great.
For available range and quality, the digiscoping set up has been tough to compete with.

But for overall quality, when all is said and done, the traditional photography gear is going to be very hard to beat.

Either way, I have had fun playing with it.

What super zoom model did you use BHT

Yelum

YBU

LAST EDITED ON Mar-07-15 AT 02:13PM (MST)[p]Thats the sony.
I have been watching sony for a few years now.
Mostly in the DSLR market and wanted to try the image stabilization that they have.

Different than Nikon and Canon. Its an electronic image stabilization in the camera body, rather than an optical image stabilization in the lens like traditional set ups.

The image stabilization on the camera is terrible.
So glad I did not drop the money on a DSLR body.
The electronics are always behind. You find your subject, stop moving the camera, and the image on the screen finally catches up. Then you realize you went too far and have to reposition.
The electronic delay between the lens and the screen is too substantial.

Sometimes, the only way to figure these things out is to spend the money and play with them.

As a result, I would recommend the Nikon, Canon, or Panasonic bridge camera over the Sony.