Digiscoping is a neologism for afocal photography , using a ( digital ) camera to record distant images through the eyepiece of an optical telescope .

Digiscoping usually refers to using either a digital single-lens reflex camera with lens attached or, more often, a fixed lens point and shoot digital camera to obtain photos through the eyepiece of a birdwatcher 's spotting scope . ^[1] The term has also been associated with the use of a digital camera and spotting scope equipped for prime focus photography. ^[2]

Origins [ edit ]

The portmanteau term " digiscoping " (= digital camera + telescoping) was coined in 1999 by French birdwatcher Alain Fosse . Less notable neologisms for this activity are digiscope birding , digiscopy birding , digi-birding , digibinning (using digital camera with binoculars ), and phonescoping ^[3] (using a digital camera phone with a spotting scope or binoculars).

The origins of the activity called Digiscoping has been attributed to the photographic methods of Laurence Poh , a birdwatcher from the Malaysian Nature Society , who discovered in 1999 almost by accident that the new generation of point and shoot digital cameras could be held up to the eyepiece of a standard spotting scope and achieve surprisingly good results. ^{[ citation needed ]} He spread his findings through birding internet discussion forums and one member, French birdwatcher Alain Fosse, coined the name "digiscoping" to describe the technique. ^[4] Laurence Poh is sometimes credited with " inventing " the technique ^[5] although his contribution may be more along the lines of popularizing the idea and refining the technology.

Using a camera with its lens attached at the eyepiece of optical devices such as microscopes or telescopes, creating an afocal system (technically called afocal photography or afocal projection ) had been used for nearly 100 years ^[6] and digital camera afocal photography was already being employed in the amateur astronomical community. ^[7] This form of afocal photography became more common in general photography in the 21st century with the spread of point and shoot digital cameras ^[8] because of the ease of use of this type of setup. ^[9] Several companies sell couplers and other devices for mounting digital cameras afocally. ^[10]

See also [ edit ]

• Wildlife photography

References [ edit ]

Further reading [ edit ]

• "Digital Photography Hacks" by Derrick Story, pages 272-276 " Hack #94 - Get Close with Digiscoping "

External links [ edit ]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to digiscoping .

• laurencepoh.com, website of the man attributed as the developer of “Digiscoping”
• Website of Alain Fosse who coined the word “digiscoping”
• German website about digiscoping with very inspiring images