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Nikon D5200 Equipped with Spotting Scope at 2,625mm Focal Length

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Nikon D5200 with FSA-L2 and EDG VR Field Scope

I ran across this crazy setup at the Nikon booth at PhotoPlus 2013. This is a Nikon D5200 equipped with the FSA-L2 field scope adapter and the Nikon EDG VR Fieldscope 20-60×85 spotting scope.

This combo produces a 750-2,625mm equivalent field of view on the Nikon D5200 (taking into account the 1.5x crop factor).

Before you go thinking that this might be a cheap way to ease yourself into a supertelephoto kit, think again. The above spotting scope will set you back $6k and the FSA-L2 adapter runs $1k. Even worse, the aperture range starts at f/5.9 at the “wide” end and drops down to f/21 at the full telephoto reach of the scope.

A legit 500mm f/4 lens runs a little over $8k and a 2x teleconverter will set you back $500. While that won’t quite get you to 2,625mm, the DX crop factor puts you at a reasonable 1500mm at f/8.

 

Comments

  1. I have a very similar setup with a micro 4/3 camera (2:1 crop factor) so take that! It’s great for bird watching.

  2. Or you use an old 500 4.0 and a GH2 with a 1,4 converter. You get what you need für less than 2500! And with an hacked GH2 you gett an sony F100 kickass too! the perfect combination to film birds in high quality!
    Nikkor x Converter x M4/3 Crop x Pixelcrop -> 500 x 1,4 x 2 x 2,6 = 3640mm F5,6! Ok, you have to pull down to F8 at the Nikkor (F11 real) but it works fine. And without the TC you come up to 2600mm. With a good tripot and an fluidhead, you get fine and steady shots.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Eric Reagan of Photography Bay had the opportunity to go on this year's event PhotoPlus, where he brought quite specific photo – telescope EDG VR 20-60×85, which with the help of the FSA-L2 adapter are connected with the Nikon D5200. The kit is able to offer the user a focal length equal to 750-2625 mm equivalent for full frame. Author entry rightly notes that this is not the cheapest way to telephoto. Telescope itself costs more than 6 thousand. USD. Adapter – 1 thousand. USD. Do not forget also that the brightness drops down to F/21 on the long end, which is a value fit for use only in really great lighting conditions. Source: Photography Bay […]