How to successfully take photos through your binoculars - the digibinning technique

Digibinning shot of a Steppe Marmot taken in the steppes of Kazakhstan. completely unedited.

So a lot of people have asked me about taking photos through binoculars, and I tend to write about digibinning fairly often. But the thing is, I still don't think that very many people ever do digibinning even though I am convinced it is a fantastic tool/resource for the average birder and field naturalist (butterflies, dragonflies, giraffe eyes). So while I was in Kazakhstan, I made a short YouTube video introducing digibinning and showing how easy it is to do in the field.

I use the Swarovski Snapshot Adapter with whatever pair of binoculars I have with me at the time (at the moment it is normally the Swaro EL 8x32). The procedure for using the snapshot adapter is as follows:

1. Slide the snapshot adapter on to the eyecup of the binoculars until it is firmly in place.
2. Screw the eyecup back in as far as it will go
3. Switch your compact camera on so that the lens extends out of the camera body
4. Now if you play with the swarovski snapshot adapter, you will see that it is made of two plastic rings. if you twist these two rings, the three plastic feet on the inside of the snapshot adapter will extend and retract. you want to retract these as far as possible by rotating the top ring anticlockwise. you now have a great big opening to insert your camera's zoom lens
   
5. Insert your camera's zoom lens in to the opening. If it does not fit in to the hole, then the snapshot adapter will not work for your camera (but I have only seen this with very few standard compact cameras)
6. Slowly rotate the upper ring of the snapshot adapter clockwise so that the holding feet come out to grip lightly against the camera's lens (you will have to holding the camera in place on the binoculars while you do this)
7. You camera should now be semi-fixed to the binoculars to form one fairly stable unit. Note: be careful that the snapshot adapter is not very tight against the zoom lens and that your camera does not turn itself off and try to retract the lens. I tend to have the connection firm but not too tight, and I usually turn off my "lens retract" automatic power off.
8. With one stable unit, you can now hold the binoculars in a vertical position, and adjust the focus on the binoculars until the subject is clear
9. Let your camera autofocus to fine-tune the image (macro mode is invariably best for both digiscoping and for digibinning), and
   
10. Take the photo!

Because I tend to expend most of my bird photographic energies digiscoping with a regular telescope, I only tend to use digibinning through my binoculars when I do not have my birding scope with me. This is especially so when I am out hiking or birding in areas where I know the going will be tough (long, long hours; climbing/scrambling; thugs about; trudging through deep snow; torrential rain...). But at these times, it is really great to have a means to get some nice bird photos.

A rather confiding steppe marmot. Digiscoped using a Swarovski ATM80, 25-50x wide-angle zoom eyepiece, the DCB digiscoping adaptor, and my little Canon A590IS

I would love to see YOUR DIGIBINNING PHOTOS, so if you have some, send me a link or write a comment...

Happy birding
Dale Forbes