Emergency Telephoto

<p>I was at the beach yesterday with only my Canon A540 & a pair of 7x50 binoculars. Unwilling to dislodge myself from my lofty & comfortable position under a shade tree to move in close for some shots of my family, I held this P&S wonder up to the eyepiece of the binoculars & took a few frames. While no substitute for high end glass the results were surprising. I offer a normal view (35mm FF equiv) and the view through the binoculars. Anyone else try this? Best, LM.</p><div></div>

<p>Oops! Forgot about the 700 px limit. Subjects are near dead center in the wide view. Best, LM</p><div></div>

<p>It's known as digiscoping ... see here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digiscoping">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digiscoping</a></p>

<p>You made this hand held, Len? Pretty decent results, I would say. </p>

<p>I've not tried eyepiece projection with binoculars but have done it with telescopes and microscopes. Camera stability was usually a big problem due to greater magnification requiring special clamps for the camera or mounted on a separate tripod. </p>

<p>Actually quite amazing considering.</p>

<p>Not bad! Not bad at all! Did you prop the binoculars on something to keep them steady? I have some old binoculars I inherited from a relative and I can barely hold them steady enough to <em>see</em> through them, let alone take pictures through them.</p>

<p>Michael & R.T, These were hand held (not propped - I'll hold that thought for the next time) though the shutter speed was 1\320 sec. I set the camera to take a burst (2 or 3 frames per second) and when I had my subjects loosely framed, held the shutter button down for a few frames. This was the one where my subjects were centered in the frame. At that magnification it's hard to find your subjects let alone keep them in the frame. I'm not recommending this technique as a regular one but where there are no other options at least one can get a recognizable image. The experiment was a pleasant surprise. Michal M., thanks for the link & Barry, thanks for taking the time. It was a fun exercise. Best, LM.</p>

<p>Len, you are a mad man. You do know that is impossible.<br>

:o)<br>

It only works if you glue a door-peephole-viewer to a P&S camera for the faux fisheye look.<br>

Kudos for the insight and creativity, well done!<br>

Jim</p>

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