Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Telephoto deer hunting DSLR set up

I've tried camcorders, deer hunting. I'm not too impressed.

I think I would like a telephoto DSLR set up, but that can get pretty expensive. I have an old Nikon FM, SLR camera, which is 35mm and obsolete. But, I do have 4 lenses that fit that body.

I was told that these older lenses would work on a digital Nikon body, but I would not have the focus feature. I guess I could focus manually.

I would like to hear opinions on this situation and how you guys shoot photos of deer.

DF

I do some digiscoping with a simple Panasonic point and shoot. For this I have a mount that clamps down on the eyepiece mount on the spotter, and has a swing away arm where the Lumix screws into via a screw like a tripod adaptor. I like the swing away because you can pivot the camera out of the way to make sure you're focused, then swing it back in and snap a pic. It takes a little farting around with to get used to it, but when you do is rather simple and quick.

I also have been using one of those adaptors for an Iphone that just presses onto the eyepiece of the spotter. I've found I need to keep the spotter on 20x for best results. You can crop and enlarge from there. Hope that helps some, Dirt.

Great info, JG.

Where does one find those adapters. That would be a lot cheaper that all that DSLR gear.

My spotter is a big 80mm Bushnell Elite. I'd hate to tote that thing everywhere I went. I carry enough stuff to the stand as it is.

What's a good, more portable spotter than will work with these adapters?

DF

Sent you a PM Dirt.

DF,

Do yourself a huge favor and buy a Canon SX 40HS.

I wanted to get into longer range pics of game and tried the digiscoping route, but it was hit or miss and kind of a pain to set up and actually find the animal for me. The pics weren't all that great either.

This little buck is 300 yards and I shot the pic free handed. I know the pic is not good, but it's not bad for that distance considering I shot it free handed. It does better when rested:

That's really good Reloader. You ought to see my free handed stuff.......you'd swear I have Parkinson's.......

LOL! I hear ya man, you couldn't even tell if it was a deer or big foot if I tried that with the digiscoping method. I guess the image stabilization feature really works cause I can assure you I aint all that steady.

The thing I like most about the 40HS is that it's not near as big as my DSLR. Not to mention the lens for the DSLR are monsterous if you want long range and they cost far more than the little 40HS. Heck, I paid less than 400 for mine from Doug and got an extra battery(I think he gave me a SD card as well). I bought a case for it at Walmart.

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS would be even better.

I like the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 as it has a fast f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range (Canon has f3.4 - f6.5). Unfortunately, it only has half the optical zoom of the Canon (600mm instead of 1200mm).

To my eyes, the pictures are soft with Canon. For either, a good tripod and mount would be recommended.

Some of that stuff is costly and I was trying to not spend a few grand.

I'm trying to use my Nikon lenses that fit my old FM, 35mm camera. The 80-200 zoom should fit a digital Nikon body, although I wouldn't have the auto focus feature. With the FM, which is manual, I hand focused anyway.

Still thinking it over.

Appreciate all the help.

DF

The Canon PowerShot SX50 HS is only $359

80-200mm is going to be too short. For wildlife, 400mm is really the bottom end. Bigger IS better. However, the big fast primes for Canon and Nikon (and everyone else!) are extremely expensive.

The P&S bridge camera's as already mentioned is your best option for relative low cost.

How about shooting in dim light at high power? Does the light fade, or can the camera compensate?

DF

You will have to bump up the ISO. And IQ will indeed suffer.

When it comes to wildlife photography, if you want it all.... IQ, range, etc. it comes at a steep price.

There are a couple things to watch for when planning to use manual focus lenses from the film era on current digital bodies. Nikon usually supports the use of manual focus lenses but on lower priced bodies the metering system will be disabled.

I believe the D7000 allows the use of manual focus lenses and auto exposure (aperture priority). The D3100 will require you to use manual mode and I believe the meter will be disabled requiring you to guess at exposure.

Thanks for the info.

I'm leaning toward FOst's recommendation on the Canon SX 50. That sounds about like what I'm looking for in a price range I could be comfortable with.

DF

There's a new Sony Digital Point & Shoot Camera out now that blows everything away as far as optical & digital zoom. 196X total zoom, F. 1.8, Carl Zeiss Lens, and 20+ megapixels

All the latest reviews that I've read, claim it beats some of the SLR Digitals.
Not cheap @ $750.00 but you get what you pay for in Cameras & Lenses.
Also beats lugging along my Nikon Professional SLR & all the extra lens when out hunting. Also takes awesome movies.
Here's a link to the new Sony at Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyber-shot-dsc-rx100m2-20-2-megapixel-digital-camera/1420007.p?id=1219051767919&skuId=1420007&st=categoryid$abcat0401001&cp=1&lp=2

It is indeed a nice camera, however, there's a big difference between optical and digital zoom.

The Sony's 3.4x optical zoom is equivalent to 100mm. The Canon referenced previously is a 50x optical zoom (1200mm).

The Sony is capable of taking some wonderful pictures, however, IQ suffers tremendously when utilizing the max digital zoom. For reaching out there, the bridge cameras like the Canon that have powerful optical zooms are much better.

FOst,

I would assume that you have a Canon SX 50. Have you shot photos of deer, etc.?

I like to record racks that I see, some out to 3-400 yds. and occasionally at the edge of shooting light, both early and late.

I'm wanting to know how it performs in that setting.

DF

I had one briefly, but sent it back as the images were too soft. I've been waiting to see if either Canon, Panasonic, or Sony comes out with a new bridge camera.

Like I mentioned earlier, I like the fast aperture lens on the Panasonic, but wish it had more optical zoom. The pictures taken with the Panasonic/Leica are sharper IMHO than Canon.

This link will give you a good idea of what the Canon is capable of producing:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1237317

FOst,

Enjoyed the link.

I'm not a photographer, per se, just want to record WT racks that I see while deer hunting. I think the SX 50 may be all I need.

Will keep on studying options.

DF

DF,

I think you'd be well satisfied with what you're after with the SX 50 as Fost mentioned. I would have went 50, but it wasn't out yet when I bought the 40. I bought it after seeing some pics on the fire of distant deer and PMing the author. Found out he had the 30, but the 40 had come out, so I bought it.

Here are some more examples from the 40. This camera is most likely capable of so much more, but I'm no photographer by any means, I set the thing on AUTO and shoot free handed. That said, I'm completely satisfied with the pics I've gotten thus far. It is so much easier than digiscoping or toting my DSLR.

This doe was shot at around 160-170yds through my dirty dining room window free handed:


These pigs are about 200ish:


This buck is maybe a mile or more. I couldn't tell squat at 14x other than it was a deer, but the cam revealed it was a buck:


This guy was at around 700+, I got him at 150yds 3 days later:


3 days later:


I believe if I toted a light tripod, I could really get some decent pics with this cam. I didn't buy it for magazine quality, I bought it to share a few things I'd seen in the field with friends.

Have a good one,

loder