Nikon Fieldscope FSA-L1 Digital SLR Attachment

Eagle Optics had the lowest price on this expensive item and their delivery time was much quicker than expected. No issues there thank you. I decided to purchase the Nikon FSA-L1 attachment since high magnification Nikon lens, unfortunately, are not within my budget. Using this fixed adapter rather than my old digiscoping adapter over the Fieldscope’s zoom eyepiece eliminates several of the issues I used to struggle with- poor camera support and vignetting. Using this attachment with my existing Nikon D90 and 82 ED Angled Fieldscope can yield magnificent results but not without some new issues… First, without the zoom eyepiece I find myself moving a lot more to compose the picture- either that or compromising with less than full profile shots. But I do like the 1,500mm focal length! The other issue is with the fixed ƒ13 aperture you really need good light. I routinely shoot until just before sunset successfully as long as I don’t need to freeze movement. The other reason for good lighting is for focusing. Manual focusing has been a challenge! You can manually focus until you see the green confirmation light in the viewfinder but I found that approach gave inconsistent results. Now I’m using a Cinevate Cyclops on my LCD monitor in Live view (mirror fixed up) along with the remote shutter release. The other issue is the DoF is so small and the scope’s focusing ring imprecise enough that I’m still perfecting my focusing skills. To help with this I’ve ordered a D|Focus V3 follow focus system which is affordable, adaptable and should provide a higher degree of precision focusing when mounted on the scope. I've never seen this application before but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

If you can afford it (or even find one for sale) go with the Nikon 600mm lens for about $11,000. Enjoy the auto focus capabilities, simplicity and even get some great birds in flight shots too. But I did feel pretty good the other day next to the guy with the 600mm Canon who couldn’t get any shots since the birds were too far out in the marsh. The Sandhill Cranes filled the frame on my camera ;-).

The FSA-L1 adapter is a great tool to add to your bag. I have the Nikon Fieldscope 82ED Angle body spotting scope, the Nikon D40X DSLR and wanted to connect the two for digiscoping. The FSA-L1 does this however without the zoom capabilities of the fieldscope. You are fixed to the fieldscopes highest power for that 1000 mm focal length. Not to be diminished, the pictures are great as long as there is enough light. The restricted F13 limits light options but shoot shutter priority at ISO 200 to 400 and adjust your levels in Photoshop or some other picture editing program. This may cause some graininess, so another option is to use over/under compensation to achieve similar results with less graininess. A good tripod and a remote shutter release are a must to reduce vibration. Nikon price is expensive but Eagle Optics beat all other sellers prices by at least $50, included free shipping and I received it the next day.