telescopes?

[Stefen]

Has anyone used telescopes before? any good places to check them out in singapore?

I went to K13 that day and they recommended a Bushnell Discoverer at 60X.

I went to the internet and realised that it is possible to attach it to your slr camera as well. how is the quality of such shots?

Thanks!

 

[nokin]

Has anyone used telescopes before? any good places to check them out in singapore?

I went to K13 that day and they recommended a Bushnell Discoverer at 60X.

I went to the internet and realised that it is possible to attach it to your slr camera as well. how is the quality of such shots?

Thanks!

There's a shop behind the Omnimax Theatre Ticket counter, Singapore Science Center. Sells many various types of telescopes and adapters for cameras.

 

[blurblock]

There's a shop behind the Omnimax Theatre Ticket counter, Singapore Science Center. Sells many various types of telescopes and adapters for cameras.

Singapore Astro? You will be nuts to buy from there, all the scopes there a very very expensive. For the price they charge, I could buy two of the same model and import it into Singapore >.

 

[blurblock]

Has anyone used telescopes before? any good places to check them out in singapore?

I went to K13 that day and they recommended a Bushnell Discoverer at 60X.

I went to the internet and realised that it is possible to attach it to your slr camera as well. how is the quality of such shots?

Thanks!

What type of scope are you looking for? Bird Scope? Astronomical Scope? Terrestrial Scope? What Aperture and Focal Length?

 

[nokin]

Singapore Astro? You will be nuts to buy from there, all the scopes there a very very expensive. For the price they charge, I could buy two of the same model and import it into Singapore >.

Hey man sorry, did not know about their pricing :dunno:

 

[Stefen]

I am looking for a decent telescope, possible to attach for taking photographs, and not for celestial viewing.

Its for mountaineering, where you are able to see human figures on the mountains from up to 3-5km away.

Therefore, I probably just need a standard model with decent optics.

;p

 

[Stefen]

I know nuts about telescopes, but can you also advise if pictures taken with these are actually okay?

 

[blurblock]

Not very sure of those type of telescope, it's best if you ask the bird watchers. but I think they will ask you to buy a Sigma 50-500 Zoom Lens instead of a telescope. The Lens at f5.6 is definitely better then any telescope.

 

[Stefen]

hmmm,

cos the priority is viewing first, cost second, photography third.


Thanks for your advice anyways...

 

[Stefen]

:complain:

 

[RemAcuTetigisti]

Terrestrial scopes go by the name of Spotting scope. Nikon, Leica, olympus (and everyone else) make scopes with really good optics. Check their respective websites out. Of course, appropriate mounts can be purchased to fit them into your cameras. These scopes are designed to be used primarily for viewing and hence are very ergonomically built. You can also find weatherproof and waterproof versions at appropriate costs. Well... do a google search first.

 

[Wai]

low end spotting scope are below $1k if u buy from oversea, but the CA is bad so u will see purple fringe

APO are colourfree but cost a few thousands, an alternatives is to get china made APO, although the QC a bit lousy, at least it is colour free and cheap! about the price of $1k also, with correct adapter u can mount a SLR/DSLR to take picture

 

[djork]

Not very sure of those type of telescope, it's best if you ask the bird watchers. but I think they will ask you to buy a Sigma 50-500 Zoom Lens instead of a telescope. The Lens at f5.6 is definitely better then any telescope.

i wouldn't exactly say ANY telescope, but the sigma's definitely better than that bushnell crap.

there are scopes that can blow the sigma out of the water, but their price ranges are often out of budget. furthermore telescopes are dedicated instruments... think twice before sinking more money. some of the clubsnap members have telescopes i'm sure, perhaps they can give u some good advice to your needs.

 

[denniskee]

saw a pentax spotting scope at fotografix, if you attach it to a slr, you get 1200mm with f12plus, with dlsr 1.6x, you get 1920mm with f12plus.

 

[Wai]

There's a shop behind the Omnimax Theatre Ticket counter, Singapore Science Center. Sells many various types of telescopes and adapters for cameras.

prepare to pay sky high price if u want to get there

better go import yourself or buy used from oversea, may be u can go to www.singastro.org and ask around

 

[Ian]

Has anyone used telescopes before? any good places to check them out in singapore?

I went to K13 that day and they recommended a Bushnell Discoverer at 60X.

I went to the internet and realised that it is possible to attach it to your slr camera as well. how is the quality of such shots?

Thanks!

Too much experience with telescopes

Firstly you need to really work out your observing and photographic criteria. Do you want to see the people on the moutainface as small moving 'blobs' or do you want to see more, such as the climber with some surrounding detail or right in close for clothing or facial detail etc?

What you decide from the question above will have enormous rammifcations on the type of scope required as well as it's optical quality and hence cost.

Secondly you need to consider the mounting for the telescope, do you require it to work from a base camp location or are you intending to use it on a mountainside, etc? Also what weather conditions will you be operating the telescope under? Storms? Wind conditions? How critical is portability and weight.

Once you have evaluated the above get back to the thread with some fairly definite answers and accurate help will be forthcoming.

Ian

 

[blurblock]

i wouldn't exactly say ANY telescope, but the sigma's definitely better than that bushnell crap.

there are scopes that can blow the sigma out of the water, but their price ranges are often out of budget. furthermore telescopes are dedicated instruments... think twice before sinking more money. some of the clubsnap members have telescopes i'm sure, perhaps they can give u some good advice to your needs.

I agree with djork's sentiment. I myself is not a sigma user as well, but I must say the 50-500 is pretty good, excellent for bird watching and long range shots.

A good apo will cost at least 2k, a "semi-apo" like William optics's Megrez II will cost at least $1350 . So I guess it is really up to you. A William Optics's Megrez II can double up as a normal telescope for your requirement as well, interchangeable eyepieces, etc etc.

 

[MooEy]

avoid that busnell la. toy telescope lai de.

most telescope can work with camera. all u need is a t-ring for ur camera and a photo adapter for ur scope. minolta users seem to have problems with t-ring.

i think for photography uses, get something faster, maybe f/6-f/8. the megrez2 which blurblock mention about quite gd choice oso, lightweight, well built, rather gd optic.

at around same price got borg 76ed, quite similar to megrez, but even lighter and have a helical focuser, easier to use with cameras.

another thing to avoid, astro scientific, the shop at science center. their prices are outrageous, currently there are 3 other dealers in sg, u can try them.

http://www.harlequinastronomics.com/
http://www.star-matrix.com/

~MooEy~

 

[Stefen]

Thanks alot for all the responses.

Firstly you need to really work out your observing and photographic criteria. Do you want to see the people on the moutainface as small moving 'blobs' or do you want to see more, such as the climber with some surrounding detail or right in close for clothing or facial detail etc?

What you decide from the question above will have enormous rammifcations on the type of scope required as well as it's optical quality and hence cost.

Secondly you need to consider the mounting for the telescope, do you require it to work from a base camp location or are you intending to use it on a mountainside, etc? Also what weather conditions will you be operating the telescope under? Storms? Wind conditions? How critical is portability and weight.

Once you have evaluated the above get back to the thread with some fairly definite answers and accurate help will be forthcoming.

My requirements from this telescope is that you are able to people moving up the mountain. facial expressions, minor details are not necessary but color of jacket worn 5km away is definitely useful.

The telescope will probably be mounted from basecamp, and not near the mountainside where its exposed to weather elements. portability and weight is definitely kept to a minimum as this item is not considered as an essential item.

The primary purpose of this telescope is not to take sharp pictures, but to allow people from below to be informed of the team's realtime movements.

Being able to take pictures will definitely be a bonus, esp if the pictures taken are of consideerable quality.

Using long zoom lens have never been in the consideration as I doubt they are able to match up with telescopes in terms of magnification and cost.

Thanks!

 

[blurblock]

Thanks alot for all the responses.




My requirements from this telescope is that you are able to people moving up the mountain. facial expressions, minor details are not necessary but color of jacket worn 5km away is definitely useful.

The telescope will probably be mounted from basecamp, and not near the mountainside where its exposed to weather elements. portability and weight is definitely kept to a minimum as this item is not considered as an essential item.

The primary purpose of this telescope is not to take sharp pictures, but to allow people from below to be informed of the team's realtime movements.

Being able to take pictures will definitely be a bonus, esp if the pictures taken are of consideerable quality.

Using long zoom lens have never been in the consideration as I doubt they are able to match up with telescopes in terms of magnification and cost.

Thanks!

Not necassary, zoom lens are sometime cheaper. Fix Mirror lens even more cheaper and somewhere lighter then telescope. But from your description, you do not need a telescope, you need a spotting scope. A william optics Pheonix 80 Semi-APO photography (f6) will do good for you. You can purchase a camera adapter for it as well . I think the price is around $1200 for that scope, if I am not wrong.