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Nikon announces digiscoping adapters for 1 System cameras

Nov 23, 2012 at 11:44:42 GMT

ACCESSORY NEWS 1-SYSTEM DIGISCOPE NIKON

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Nikon has announced two digiscoping accessories for its 1 System cameras, allowing them to be used to take pictures through telescopes. The DSA-N1 can be used to connect a Nikon 1 system camera directly to a telescope eyepiece. Meanwhile the DSB-N1 is a bracket that holds the camera behind the telescope, and includes a mechanical cable release adapter. Both will be available in December, with RRPs of £219.99 and £169.99 for the DSA-N1 and DSB-N1 respectively.

Press release:

NIKON EXTENDS NIKON 1 RANGE WITH DIGISCOPING BRACKET AND ADAPTER

Nikon Digiscoping Adapter DSB-N1

London, UK, 23 November 2012: Nikon UK is pleased to announce the DSA-N1 digiscoping adapter and DSB-N1 digiscoping bracket, specifically designed to attach to Nikon 1 cameras with interchangeable lenses.

Popular among birdwatchers, digiscoping is a form of super-telephoto shooting using a fieldscope attached to a camera. Having been created exclusively for the popular Nikon 1 system; the digiscoping adapter DSA-N1 and bracket DSB-N1, making digiscoping simple, easy and enjoyable.

Key features:

Digiscoping Adapter DSA-N1

Can be used together with the Nikon Fieldscope, an eyepiece and a Nikon 1 body
Can be attached directly to the Nikon 1 mount
Since an optical axis adjustment is not required, it can be easily attached to Nikon Fieldscopes
Auto or Manual exposure mode and centre-weighted metering are available*
Easy to carry compact size
Can be attached to various eyepieces, and is capable of super-telephoto shooting at various focus range settings

Key features:

Digiscoping Adapter DSB-N1

This digiscoping bracket connects the Nikon 1 with 1 NIKKOR lenses and Nikon Fieldscopes with an eyepiece, enabling super-telephoto shooting
The cable release socket is attached to the Bracket. The supplied cable release (approx.. 50cm) is useful for preventing camera shake when shooting
Use the supplied light-shielding rubber sheet to prevent external light from entering

*Incompatible with Smart Photo Selector mode and Motion Snapshot mode
*Incompatible with Scene Auto Selector in Still Image mode of Nikon 1 J1 and V1

Further images


DSA-N1	DSB-N1

Nikon Digiscoping Adapter DSA-N1

Comments

Total comments: 33

Birds are not happy about this. Would you want old people peeping pix of you all day long?

2 upvotes

Could someone clarify whether this combination of camera and adaptor is usable with other manufacturers' scopes? I ask because whilst I'm not not a dedicated birder I've yet to see anyone using a Nikon fieldscope, as opposed to, for example, Swarovski. And, in relation to the "crop factor", how does this relate to fieldscope FL's as opposed to photographic lenses in this application?

1 upvote

Thank you Nikon for expanding the 1 system !

0 upvotes

I think many who rate birdwatching, for example, above photography, and who already have invested in a good scope to enhance their hobby, will welcome the idea that their sightings (and please remember that 'twitchers' love to gather proof of rare bird sightings) can be well and accurately recoded by adding a small portable camera to their birdwatching kit. Viewed in that light, Nikon have taken a logical step here to promote both their own telescopes and add sales to their compact camera range. Looks fine to me.

1 upvote

Digiscoping is an area where Nikon sets the standars on it. Very well made solution. and with that crop factor you alreday have a built in zoom...

Very well Nikon

0 upvotes

Great! - This adapter can use auto exposure without any information from the lens. Shouldn't it be easy than to "reverse engineer" this to allow non-Nikon lenses to meter? Or will I have to buy one of these and cut it off and bolt a Pentax mount on?

.... or is there finally a firmware update to get rid of this stupid "no lens mounted" message if you are in A mode with a 3rd party adapter?

0 upvotes

The Nikon 1 can't stop-down meter with a legacy lens? Why do companies insist on crippling their S/W for no good reason? I hope the V2 fixes this.

0 upvotes

It can with Nikon lenses and the Nikon FT-1 adapter, that works quite well.
With adapters for other lenses it can only be used in M mode- not even auto-iso works. If you put it in A mode it meters but you can not take a picture since there is an error message on the screen.

Comment edited 16 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

One can buy third-party "scope" adapter that converts a standard (or tele) lens into a telescope or monocular field glass by adding an inverting prism and an eyepiece. Add to this the new Nikon adapter and you can fit practically any lens to a Nikon 1 camera. Of course, image quality will be somewhat degraded, but for many of us, cost savings will be reason enough.

Coupling vintage lenses to the Nikon 1 series is not just a matter of software - old lenses used mechanical coupling for exposure and focus, whereas new ones use electronic coupling. Only the more expensive Nikon DSLRs support both.

0 upvotes

Now that's what I call telephoto!

1 upvote

my god! this is amazing! you can beat up people with this!!!

2 upvotes

Yes, but if you're only looking to beat people up there are much cheaper alternatives available.

11 upvotes

true that and a monopod/tripod is a better option...good catch man

5 upvotes

These leading companies introduced mirror-less DSLR camera to reduce the camera size (with compromising real-time view), but with this kind of huge attachments why anyone will go for low quality mirror-less DSLR camera, instead he/ she may prefer the DSLR!......

3 upvotes

Because with the crop sensor you get a huge multiplication factor so, for example, on a Nikon V1 with it's 2.7x factor, a fantastic lens like the 300 2.8 VR becomes an 810 2.8 VR! And the EVF, while not quite as nice as a FF OVF, is more than usable.

3 upvotes

The crop factor is certainly a good thing, and is one of the reasons why I bought a crop-sensored camera myself. But this accessory goes against the ethos of a compact mirrorless system.

I can see why in some situations it my advantageous to use something like this, but for the price that this type of setup probably costs, and the bulk that it has, I wouldn't put a small Nikon 1 in that equation.

0 upvotes

The article is talking about telescopes, not DSLR lenses. Telescopes have much lower image quality than camera lenses. So it doesn't make any difference in image quality if you use a full frame dslr or a mirrorless camera.

3 upvotes

Gosh, PLEASE don't believe that the "crop factor" is what gives you that apparent magnification. It does not. I explained "duck pixels" a decade ago: high pixel density does the trick (else once could simply crop a full-frame if need be, and therefore have it all!)

2 upvotes

Ken, you are of course right, but show me the DSLR which have the same pixel density as the V1 or the V2... The D800 isn't even up to the D7000 yet it has already a huge 36MP FF sensor.

1 upvote

What's the end result of setups like these - a very long focal length with a very small aperture?

0 upvotes

The end result is a very long scope ...

2 upvotes

And serious replies? What's the difference between this and, say, attaching a long lens via a converter?

0 upvotes

Scopes are meant for birdwatching etc. This will make it easy to capture some of the action, but it's not its main purpose. A photographic lens would likely be much better. I don't think it even has autofocus. Imagine binoculars, take half, make it really long and good, then put a lens mount on it. This is what you get.

0 upvotes

That first picture almost made me spit coffee at the screen with laughter.

0 upvotes

...and why would that be? You have any idea what this setup is used for?

2 upvotes

Yes I do. And I'm sure it's a perfectly serviceable, if not very good accessory.

But I have this pair of things, called eyes, and when my eyes compare the miniscule size of the Nikon 1 with the digiscoping accessories attached, it looks, quite frankly, a bit ridiculous, and goes completely against the ethos of small and compact mirrorless systems.

Does that mean it's a bad accessory? No. Does that mean that some people won't appreciate this accessory? No. I just think that coupling the two things together looks a bit silly.

And since you have to throw portability out of the window, when you think of a setup like this, why not use it with a larger sensor camera with better image quality?

That's my point of view.

2 upvotes

In fact it looks pretty nice. It is a spective with a compact sensor instead of an ocular. Those who complain about the mismatch of size are confusing tele-lense with tele-scope. Having a telescope you see things different ;)

0 upvotes

When it comes to this kind of application a smaller sensor with a high pixel density is often preferable to a large low density sensor. I wouldn't shoot pictures of people with a small sensor, but if I did telescoping, this is what I would want. It's still more portable, and far cheaper, than an 800mm lens. It looks odd only since we are used to the look of a camera. But, if you are used to the look of a scope, it doesn't really matter the size of what you put on the back - as long as it performs. And given the burst speed of the Nikon 1 series, I suspect it will perform great.

2 upvotes

You have never been around serious birders, that's for sure, thewhitehawk! Guys can read the number off the rings on the birds' legs with this kind of gear, from a very long distance - not possible even with my Nikon 400/5.6 lens, plus Kenko 1.4X, on my that's for sure!

And it would look even more weird with my D600, or a D4 attached!

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Yes, Area256 is right. Most of the benefits of larger sensors are cancelled out when it comes to digiscoping. Add to this the fact that a larger camera on the back of a scope tends to decrease stability (which is crucial at these kind of equivalent focal lengths) and it's easy to see why a smaller sensor can be preferable. Also, digiscopers are usually birders first and foremost. They tend not to be that bothered if their set-up might look 'ridiculous' to people like you, thewhitehawk.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

This is what you need to get a similar result, but at a far higher cost: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50351973

0 upvotes

i first thought it´s a dust filter....

4 upvotes

Give it a rest.

4 upvotes

Total comments: 33


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