Consider the time it takes to set up your spotting scope for optimal viewing. Whether you’re birding or gazing out into the vastness of space, it would be nice to be able to make such moments last. Finding the right spot, setting up the tripod, focusing the lens and simply waiting patiently to find what you’re looking for all take time and effort. I won’t argue if you feel the work and journey are half the fun, but it would be nice to have more to show for your efforts than memories.

That’s where digiscoping enters the picture. Pun intended. Digiscoping is when you take a picture with a small digital camera of the image from a spotting scope, telescope, or binoculars, and it’s a great way to preserve your experience. While the results are generally pretty good, the more stable and consistent your setup is, the better the picture quality will be.

It was only a dozen years ago that a birder by the name Laurence Poh popularized digiscoping. Since then the technology used has gone through some improvements, but the premise remains the same.

Swarovski spotting scopes are some of the best scopes for digiscoping, with a number of different attachments and options available for taking crystal clear pictures. The Swarovski UCA Universal Camera Adapter fits all Swarovski spotting scopes and firmly attaches your camera quickly and easily, so that you can go from spotting a bird or celestial body to taking a picture in almost no time. When combined with a good tripod such as the Swarovski CT 101 Carbon Tripod there will be almost no shaking and your photos will look fantastic.

For more information on digiscoping with Swarovski, check out our how to article on Connecting a Digital Camera to a Swarovski Spotting Scope.