What is Digiscoping?

Many photographers like to get close up pictures of their subjects. Close up pictures can reveal tiny details unseen to the naked eye. Many doctors take close up pictures of eyes, teeth and eardrums for this same reason. Using a digital camera to create close up pictures is called digiscoping.

Digiscoping was created in the 1990s when a birdwatcher wanted to get a closer look at a bald eagle. The bird watcher placed the digital camera on the lens of a telescope and took a picture. The picture was a perfect creation of what the photographer had seen through the scope.

Digiscoping allows a user to take close up pictures of any subject. It is more than just the zoom button of the camera. Digiscoping requires a spotting scope. This scope works like a magnifying glass to zoom in on the subject or area of the subject.

Many bird watchers use a digital spotting scope that is 20 – 60 times bigger than a traditional camera lens. Digiscoping with this type of lens would allow the photographer to see the small feathers, beak and eyes of a bird.

This type of photography is not limited to nature. Ophthalmologists are now using digiscoping on patients to detect enlarged blood vessels, glaucoma and diseases of the eye. Doctors take a digiscoped picture of the eye while looking through the eye equipment. The picture can be placed on a computer and evaluated. The pictures can remain in a patient’s file to observe problems or progress overtime.

What was once just a need to see the dark eyes of an eagle has now evolved into a way to help humans live a better life.