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All images included on the site are resampled to a screen resolution of 640 x 480,
and have been jpg compressed to 25%, and saved at 200 dpi using Paint Shop Pro 4.12.
This only very slightly reduces image quality and allows me to present images of reasonable detail that can be easily downloaded by dial-up modems. A very small number of images have been
sharpened, and their brightness / contrast enhanced using Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.
The Fuji F610 Digital Camera
Most have been taken using a Fuji Finepix F610 6.3 - 12 megapixel digital camera
and most images are taken on the 6 megapixel setting. This is a small, very tough, compact
camera, which I carry around with me 24/7. This camera has four extremely good features for this type of photography, the camera is ready to take a photograph in just a few seconds, the auto
focus is superb, Fuji have almost eliminated camera shake, and it stores single shot images very quickly. This is a very versatile sturdy little camera, which I would I would hate to have to replace.
Fortunately this camera hasn't been given the acclaim of the Nikon 4500 and as a result can be purchased relatively cheaply, and now, for a lot less than the original recommended retail price when it was first released. Place to buy is at the Fuji Shop and refurbished cameras can be bought for a little over £120, and includes a six month warranty, so don't bother going to ebay for one.
One recommended accessory is a memory card of a minimum of 512Mb so lots of images of the subject can be taken, the best chosen and saved, and the rest discarded.
Really close-up macro shots are gained through either placing an additional
30mm hand lens on the fixed lens of the Fuji F610 camera, or by reducing the megapixel setting to 3 megapixel, or both. Being a fixed lens camera distant shots are very limiting and thus
before October 2005 everything featured has been captured at very close range.
The Fuji F610 is 'always' used in AUTO mode and the only other setting change
is perhaps to change the ISO to 400 if required.
The Fuji Finepix S9500 Digital Camera
Another camera being used for both the aphotoflora and aphotofauna project is the nine megapixel Fuji Finepix S9500 and this is proving to be a very good camera and unlike the Fuji F610 allows a range of accessories to be fitted e.g. polarising filters, so the camera can be used in a
marine environment or in areas where there is naturally a lot of glare or reflection.
This camera is very easy to use, it has both 'macro' and 'supermacro' settings,
which both work very well indeed with its x2 digital zoom. Minimum object distance
in supermacro mode is just one centimetre so extremely good close-ups can be obtained even in auto mode, as the cameras auto-focus is really second to none. It is a 28-300mm camera, focussing from 1cm to infinity and carries a massive 10.7X optical zoom lens with x2 digital zoom.
Unlike most other cameras the zoom isn't motorised and this is a great plus as it allows the user to setup shots more quickly, and with a simple twist of its fixed lens. Another bonus is that this
camera takes both compact flash and Fuji XD media, ideal for people like me who have both to hand and they can both be used at the same time, using the cameras settings to switch between one and the other. Like the F610, another great benefit is in its speed of operation, it's quick, there's no waiting around for the camera to save shots, and this means more time for composing and less frustration. I've read reviews about this camera and it has been stated that it is not a ''Point and Shoot'' camera, I completely disagree, on writing this I've had the camera for two days, I'm still playing around with it on AUTO and I'm already adding more images to the site, and improving on some that were already there. In time I'll get used to all its DSLR type functions, but I'll get there without the stress of some other cameras, thanks to the good AUTO facility that is provided. At £400 it was approximately £100 cheaper than the 8M Nikon Coolpix 8800, a similar style of
camera, and in my opinion 100% better, for it is far easier to use, lighter, and a lot less hassle.
Of course now Fuji have brought out the S9600 Zoom so I guess it's even better.
The Mothercare Camera Harness
On using the S9500 Zoom camera ''quite a lot'' during the autumn of 2006 I noticed that the weight of it was causing neck strain, because of this I decided that I needed a harness system for it and because of the number of miles I was covering with it per day. I covered various sites on the web to try and find what was available and after a considerable length of time I found that
Lowen Pro made a camera harness, in two parts; however at £50 it was out of my price range.
At least I now knew what one looked like and so went online again to see what I could buy cheaply that I could make into one. Again I was let down and couldn't really decide what to do, the following Sunday I decided to go to the local car boot sale and found a once used
Mothercare Baby Harness, haggled and got it for £3, the owner even threw in a few spare nappies.
On returning home, 'with bunch of flowers', I discussed the modification of this baby harness with my wife; well I had bought here a new sewing machine the previous Christmas.
Anyway we looked at it and soon realised it was absolutely perfect for the job, and it took less than a couple of hours to modify. The new Mothercare Camera Harness has clips for two DSLR / SLR style cameras and a pocket for a digital compact camera / camera accessories; and the
finished product now has zipped bags on its belt to carry yet more accessories. The camera itself attaches using the clips from the baby harness and of course you can still use the camera strap as a fail safe around the neck, but the harness supports the full weight of the camera. If the clips will hold a baby they'll certainly hold a camera, the camera can be used clipped at chest height, or
easily released and used as wanted, female clips are on the harness with the male clips placed on the camera strap, see image. I've used this in the field now a number of times and it's great, for anyone with a bad back or bad neck it's a must, it can also be used with binoculars.
Hyundai Camerascope HO-CS580
In September 2005 a Hyundai Camerascope HO-CS580 was purchased from ebay and an
adapter for the Fuji F610 has been designed and made by G.M.D. Eurotool Ltd., Plymouth.
Image - Hyundai Camerascope with Fuji F610 and adapter
Image - F610 and adapter with x2 Barlow Lens
This Hyundai scope is more like a traditional telescope to look at, it has a 80mm objective lens, 500mm focal length and comes with PL10 and PL25mm Plossl eyepieces. It also comes with T2 mounts for both Nikon and Canon EOS SLR / DSLR cameras.
The Fuji F610 may not be the best camera for digiscoping with, but it works fine if used in
conjunction with a 25mm Plossl eyepiece and an aluminium collar measured to fit both the camera lens and scope eyepiece. Strangely the best images are gained using the cameras 'macro' facility.
I leave the collar on the eyepiece whilst viewing the subject, get the subject in focus, place the camera on the collar, take a series of shots, and then repeat the process, in case the subject has moved or the scope has itself become out of focus for some reason.
When digiscoping the cameras POWER SAVE has to be OFF in SETUP.
The biggest drawback with this setup is that the Hyundai Camerascope HO-CS580 is very heavy and bulky to carry with its tripod, and because of its weight a sturdier tripod is needed than
normal. It's obviously fine if you don't intend travelling large distances by foot, but it gets very heavy otherwise. To get the maximum benefit from time spent in the field, a scope needs to be as versatile as the camera and be tailored to suit the intended use. It's OK to set up a heavy scope in a hide or under camouflage and wait for wildlife to come to you, but not OK if you're out like I, walking the dogs, intent on doing a few miles, and actively seeking wildlife to photograph, and at the same time attempting to maximise the number of species I get to see and photograph in any given day. Of course at the end of the day scopes are not cheap and finding something
lightweight and that will work well with the camera may take some time and research.
Night Detective Zodiac-8 Spotting Scope
A Zoom Telescope with 8x to 24x magnification with 40mm objective lens.
The ND-ZT824X40 is designed for observation of animate nature and terrain at an ambient
skylight or faint artificial lighting. Its visibility range depends on the intensity of ambient light
and nature of objects being observed, contrast between the object and background,
transparency of atmosphere. This scope weighs just 1.2lb and can therefore be carried around
all day, along with its F610 digiscoping sleeve and mini-tripod, and with minimal effort.
OK it's not high powered but used in conjuction with a bit of stealth it'll produce the goods.
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