checklg & Klaus
digiscoping is my ultimate goal. I know lots about this. After watching immature bald eagles learning to fly from 1/4 a mile away way up the Maine (US) coast using a swarovski AT80-HD, I've wanted to do it. My list of web resources is long and very helpful.
But that is serious additional money (US$1200+ for the scope/tripod/eyepiece.) I'm coming back to photography from a long time away, I don't know if it will stick. So it seemed reasonable to get something with a fairly good zoom and see if I use it and how much I enjoy it. It just happens that I can get a very good deal on a CP5700 (US$1000, including about $500 in extras.) My logic is that this will give me a decent reach for birds and wildlife and I'll see how I like it. Heck "A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors" was taken with 400mm lenses, if you believe the intro.
And now that scopetronicx (
http://scopetronix.com/) has a mounting system for the 5700, this investment can grow into digiscoping if I need it too. I don't know how well it works, the potential is there.
The wildlife I'm shooting can be fairly close up too. Thanks to groups like The Nature Conservancy, I've been 2 feet from cross-bills and 10 feel from long-billed(?) dowticher. Gotta love hiking in places where the animals don't see you as a threat.
Eric
ps. Maybe I should move this to somewhere more appropriate?
