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Monday, July 19, 2010

Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 & FSA-L2 Adapter

19th July 2010



Busy with my new born baby, I took the opportunity to test my new scope, the Nikon Fieldscope EDG85, Digital Photo Adapter FSA-L2 for my Nikon D300s and the EDG 20-60x zoom eyepiece.

Shooting range with DX format is from 750mm - 2625mm (500mm - 1750mm in FX format) on f5.9-f22 at the same time I could use my zoom eyepiece for normal viewing. Changing between zoom eyepiece with the FSA-L2 adapter took me less than 5 seconds because it uses bayonet type mount rather than thread in the Nikon Fieldscope ED82 and shooting is done in manual focus. This is very important considering the unpredictable behavior of birds. Changing eyepiece and adapter on the field is much faster and convenient.

The Field Of View (FOV) of the new EDG 20-60x zoom eyepiece is considered the widest in the market available for its range in magnification compared with the older MC II 25-75x zoom eyepiece. Viewing birds, other wildlife, moon and stars as well for security purposes is a pleasure with the eyepiece offering edge-to-edge sharpness hence the concept of EDG by Nikon.

I have been digiscoping with compact cameras for few years with Nikon Fieldscope ED82 plus the FSA-L1 adapter on Nikon D300s. But with the introduction of Nikon Fieldscope EDG and the elusive FSA-L2 adapter, my picture quality has improved a lot and Nikon has taken Digiscoping into higher level for birdwatchers. It means that, I could shoot in faster frame per second with my Nikon D300s and also recording videos of birds and wildlife in HD format.

For more info regarding Nikon EDG products, check their website at http://nikon.com/products/sportoptics/edg/top/index.htm

Intensive tests done by Italian team :





Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 with FSA-L2 Digital Photo Adapter connected on Nikon D300s and external microphone via C-shaped bracket (top photo) attached on the tripod mount.


Digiscoped photos on 500mm processed with Nikon Capture NX2.



Wandering Whistling Duck in flight



Great Egret



Stork-billed Kingfisher considered the biggest Kingfisher in Borneo



White-breasted Wood-Swallow, one of my favorite bird



Yellow-vented Bulbul



Scaly-breasted Munia



Black-headed Munia juvenile



Black-headed Munia



Dusky Munia, common Bornean endemic found at the paddy field



Eurasian Tree Sparrow





Asian Glossy Starling


Happy birding and my birding tours will start by next month with Japanese group at Kinabalu National Park.

16 comments:

Stuart Price said...

Enjoy your new toy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

digdeep said...

Very impressive results Jason!

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

Thanks Stu and Dave heeee :)

Unknown said...

Just added to your list of followers lovely sight and very high quality of photos.

Kimberley Wakelin said...

Beautiful images!

charles mawan said...

wahh..hebat!!

mamomoondok said...

hi jason!
ka rene here of the wild bird club philippines.

i tried your fieldscope at the asian bird fest in davao city the other day. it's a great lense!

how much is that, and do we have that in the philippines?

thanks for the info. enjoy your tours and shooting.^_^

theconstantwalker said...

Great pics. You have been very busy my friend.

Unknown said...

I went to Nikon shop in Seoul,
It was exactly what I want to
except price.

Unknown said...

How long do you wait to take a photo like a sparrow?
It is very difficult to take a photo such small and busy bird!
By the way I just bought same EDG as you are!
Good luck!

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

Thanks a lot !

It depends mostly on luck for bird with manual focusing lens. The Nikon EDG Fieldscope has fast focusing so it is easy to get the image in focus for taking pictures :)

Do you like your new EDG ?

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

Mamomoondok,

You can get it from my friend's shop in my place. Go to http://sandakanfotoblog.blogspot.com/ and email Irene Chong.

She will email you the current price for Nikon Fieldscope EDG85, 20-60x zoom eyepiece and Nikon FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter :)

Cheng See Yuan said...

It seem like you are using Manfrotto 701 HDV head?
I am considering it too, mind to share where you bought it and how much it cost?

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

Cheng,

I bought it from my friend's shop and you can get it online at www.shashinki.com or www.yamiya.com.my

Unknown said...

Great photos! I am interested in getting the 85 with FSA-L2 for my D3s, but I am concerned about sharpness at full size. Do you have full size crops of your photos somewhere that shows the resolution of this setup?

Thanks,
Mike

Jacqueline Deely said...

I have never considered using a fieldscope for bird photography, but after seeing your images am considering this instead of investing in a much more expensive lens. I use a Nikon D300, so any advice would be great.