Thread: Nikon P1000 vs Spotter and digiscope

Originally Posted by Mr300WSM

Well you’ve taken a photo so you’re more advanced than the on/off button

Lmao

Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

Camera Zoom isn't equivalent you are right. In BC the shitty 15-45 x50 spotter was better at range by a mile than my sx60. My SX60 was not noticeably any better than my 10x Binos as the binos are perfectly clear where as the camera is somewhat blurry. One benefit it has is you can rewatch things. So if you can only see in for a few seconds. I ended up buying a 15-45x55 Kowa spotter thanks much superior and weighs less than a p900. So I'm happy. The p1000 is a big SOB. Getting into 60mm spooter weight range if I remember right.

Hey mate.

For a quick assessment of an animal in the distance a decent camera will tell you if it's worth getting closer or not quite quickly. I also take several photos near max optical zoom, then zoom in on that using the camera. Rather than use a digital zoom.

You need to have a decent tripod and take the photo with a remote or on self timer (otherwise you'll never get a crisp shot of anything over several hundred metres away. I use a Canon SX60 for this. Simple and I've found them very reliable.



This was a stag we spotted on a slip 2.6kms away. With this one photo we could tell he was worth a closer look. We chased him for three days but he was old and smarter in that country than us.



This chamois buck was 1.8kms away, and we could immediately see he was good, but couldn't tell how good. We put the spotter on him and made our decision very easily. He ended up going 11 inch.

For more detail and trophy assessment once you've closed the gap a bit, the spotter is the better option in my opinion - but it has to be a decent one.

Phones have greatly improved the versatility of a spotter I think, prior to our modern phones which can attach to them and record and photograph extremely easily, a spotter was a pain in the arse to sit looking through. Very single use back then. But not now.

We do normally carry both, as I enjoy photography and filming stuff, but Glen loves his Swaro spotter and needs to justify spending the coin on it For me personally, a camera serves both purposes well, is a fraction of the bulk and weight, and I've not forked out several thousand on a spotter that I find hard to justify to be honest.

Nine times out of ten, if you see a mature & big trophy of any species, you will know immediately if it's worth pursuing. If you're not 100% sure in the first instance of spotting it, then it's probably not.

Originally Posted by JoshC

Hey mate.

For a quick assessment of an animal in the distance a decent camera will tell you if it's worth getting closer or not quite quickly. I also take several photos near max optical zoom, then zoom in on that using the camera. Rather than use a digital zoom.

You need to have a decent tripod and take the photo with a remote or on self timer (otherwise you'll never get a crisp shot of anything over several hundred metres away. I use a Canon SX60 for this. Simple and I've found them very reliable.

Attachment 135186

This was a stag we spotted on a slip 2.6kms away. With this one photo we could tell he was worth a closer look. We chased him for three days but he was old and smarter in that country than us.

Attachment 135187

This chamois buck was 1.8kms away, and we could immediately see he was good, but couldn't tell how good. We put the spotter on him and made our decision very easily. He ended up going 11 inch.

For more detail and trophy assessment once you've closed the gap a bit, the spotter is the better option in my opinion - but it has to be a decent one.

Phones have greatly improved the versatility of a spotter I think, prior to our modern phones which can attach to them and record and photograph extremely easily, a spotter was a pain in the arse to sit looking through. Very single use back then. But not now.

We do normally carry both, as I enjoy photography and filming stuff, but Glen loves his Swaro spotter and needs to justify spending the coin on it For me personally, a camera serves both purposes well, is a fraction of the bulk and weight, and I've not forked out several thousand on a spotter that I find hard to justify to be honest.

Nine times out of ten, if you see a mature & big trophy of any species, you will know immediately if it's worth pursuing. If you're not 100% sure in the first instance of spotting it, then it's probably not.

All good points and better pics at distance than I ever managed.
I will do some online research in the next few weeks so I maybe can improve my abilties with my sx 60. But only if I can ever find the time

You're right. Even at distances up to 2-3km you know if you're looking at a good animal with just binos.
Probably not important to most kiwis but age and sex are important assessments that can only be done with serious optics. I personally like big heads but most appealing to me is age. A 13 yr old 12 1/2" bull with broomed off tips is way cool to me. He has lived and bred.

Got a 14 3/4" bull last year that was dead even all over. Perfect sharp tips and just stunning to look at. However he didnt even make the NZ book for thar. He was young.
I have spots that if you see a promising young animal I know if left, there is a fair chance that I might see the animal again in a year or so.
Strict regulations in other countries that I work, ageing and sexing is important that if a mistake is made it can be very costly.
Also sexing some of their animals can be difficult at distance.
Mountain Goats are a prime example.
Again probably not important to your everyday hunter (should be to wapiti ballot holders) but it's why I carry both.
I will eventually get a phone or camera attachment for spotter when I settle on one so I can have the best of both worlds.





Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by JoshC

Hey mate.

For a quick assessment of an animal in the distance a decent camera will tell you if it's worth getting closer or not quite quickly. I also take several photos near max optical zoom, then zoom in on that using the camera. Rather than use a digital zoom.

You need to have a decent tripod and take the photo with a remote or on self timer (otherwise you'll never get a crisp shot of anything over several hundred metres away. I use a Canon SX60 for this. Simple and I've found them very reliable.

Attachment 135186

This was a stag we spotted on a slip 2.6kms away. With this one photo we could tell he was worth a closer look. We chased him for three days but he was old and smarter in that country than us.

Attachment 135187

This chamois buck was 1.8kms away, and we could immediately see he was good, but couldn't tell how good. We put the spotter on him and made our decision very easily. He ended up going 11 inch.

For more detail and trophy assessment once you've closed the gap a bit, the spotter is the better option in my opinion - but it has to be a decent one.

Phones have greatly improved the versatility of a spotter I think, prior to our modern phones which can attach to them and record and photograph extremely easily, a spotter was a pain in the arse to sit looking through. Very single use back then. But not now.

We do normally carry both, as I enjoy photography and filming stuff, but Glen loves his Swaro spotter and needs to justify spending the coin on it For me personally, a camera serves both purposes well, is a fraction of the bulk and weight, and I've not forked out several thousand on a spotter that I find hard to justify to be honest.

Nine times out of ten, if you see a mature & big trophy of any species, you will know immediately if it's worth pursuing. If you're not 100% sure in the first instance of spotting it, then it's probably not.

Thanks for that really good detailed write up @JoshC question? Do you carry a spotter? Sorry I could not quite tell....my bad. How do you find the battery life with all the zooming in? Thanks

Edit also what size binoculars do you use if not a spotter? Cheers

Originally Posted by LMcNab

They claim 125x but a they have a different start point than a spotter from what I understand. A spotting scope assumes your naked eye is the baseline, about a 50mm lense whereas alot of cameras rate zoom from a 24mm meaning the labeled zoom is not directly comparable eg 60x50mm vs 60x24mm. I'm not sure if that's exactly how it works but hopefully you get the idea. I'm not an expert but this is just the jist I have picked up from my research, open to being corrected.

Hey what do you think the cameras optical zoom would be in spotting scope (optical)terms then.

I recently did a trip with a mate who had a Sawrovski 65mm 60x. I had my Sx50. We both reckoned the Swaro did a better job of assessing the animals compared to the camera.

Originally Posted by Rem260

Hey what do you think the cameras optical zoom would be in spotting scope (optical)terms then.

The p1000 has 125x optical with a base of 24mm = 3000, the equivalent of a 60x spotter, I believe. The Canon Sx60 has 65x optical which is about a 30x spotter.
The Sx70 which has replaced the Sx60 has 4k video which you can capture stills form and apparently will get better images than the older models.

The P1000 and P950 also have 4k video and better zoom, but at the expense of being heavier. In saying that, neither of them weighs any more than a 65mm spotter.

Im trying to figure out if I'm careful enough with my gear to not wreck a camera though...

Originally Posted by LMcNab

The p1000 has 125x optical with a base of 24mm = 3000, the equivalent of a 60x spotter, I believe. The Canon Sx60 has 65x optical which is about a 30x spotter.
The Sx70 which has replaced the Sx60 has 4k video which you can capture stills form and apparently will get better images than the older models.

The P1000 and P950 also have 4k video and better zoom, but at the expense of being heavier. In saying that, neither of them weighs any more than a 65mm spotter.

Im trying to figure out if I'm careful enough with my gear to not wreck a camera though...

Thanks for that. I'm not careful enough and i bought one. Haven't had a real good chance to use it yet,.

Originally Posted by Sideshow

Thanks for that really good detailed write up @JoshC question? Do you carry a spotter? Sorry I could not quite tell....my bad. How do you find the battery life with all the zooming in? Thanks

Edit also what size binoculars do you use if not a spotter? Cheers

My mate Glen carries the spotter, and we do all of our "proper" hunting trips together. If I went on a trip without him and needed the spotter I might borrow it, have done twice in the past.

I carry 5 batteries for my camera and that easily lasts me a week. I use 10x40 Geovids for binos.

I had a P900 and changed to a SX70HS as was trying to lose some weight.
I find i can get good enough photos and video to assess from distance if its worth chasing.
I haven't sat down and compared side by side but we were on a trip one party had a spotter with iPhone attachment and i had my camera at the end of the day we reviewed footage and found that there was hardly any difference between footage quality