Digiscoping - photographs with a telescope and binoculars

Digiscoping with binoculars, spotting scopes, telescopes, or even a microscope turns your camera or smartphone into a powerful optical device. Digiscoping means taking photos or videos through a telescope, for example.

Digiscoping with a camera

Digiscoping with camera and Swarovski telescope
Digiscoping with a camera and a Kowa TSN-770/880 series telescope
Digiscoping with a camera and a Kowa TSN-600/660 series telescope
Digiscoping with a camera and a Kowa TSN-550 series telescope

Digiscoping with your phone

Phonescoping with a phone and a Swarovski telescope
Phonescoping with a phone and a Kowa telescope

Seeing a rare bird is perhaps the most exciting moment in birdwatching. But how do you prove that you have seen a rarity, or how is it possible to check afterwards that the observation was what you saw through a telescope, for example? Digiscoping (or phonescoping, a term used in connection with smartphones), helps with identification, checking the observation afterwards, or completing your own collection of observations.

How do I attach a camera to a telescope?

There are several different ways to attach a system camera and compact camera to a telescope.

You can attach the body of your SLR camera directly to the telescope body instead of the eyepiece
You can attach the camera body with the lens to the telescope eyepiece
You can connect just the camera body to the telescope eyepiece

How do I attach a smartphone to a telescope?

Smartphones are everywhere, so a wide range of different adapters have appeared on the market that allow you to attach your phone to the eyepiece of a telescope.

The easiest options for phonescoping are universal adapters that can be used to attach almost any smartphone. Adapters range from simple versions that you place on the eyepiece (e.g. Hama Smartphone Mount ), to more advanced options (e.g. Celestron NexYZ ) that allow you to precisely position the phone on the eyepiece for the clearest possible image.

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How do I take pictures through binoculars?

Digiscoping is not limited to large telescopes, as it can also involve shooting through binoculars. This is also known as digibinning.

Let's imagine that you are going on a long hike and you want to travel as light as possible without any extra gear. Digiscopin significantly lightens your load, as you can only take the binoculars, the digiscoping adapter, and the smartphone that you usually carry with you. The adapters are the same universal adapters as with telescopes.