Red Dot Laser for Birds in Flight
Oct 8, 2017 09:36:59 #
Just a knowledge type question. I have read that some Birders have used the red dot laser on their DSLR. I see there are many made to fit on the hot shoe starting around $30 and going up above $500. My question is, is this a true workable sight for birding or is it just a cool thing to have. It seems to me that trying to keep that dot on the bird could be just as hard as through the viewfinder. Never really been into birding and never used a red dot laser, is this practical and is there other uses for it. (I have also seen a single beed on the end of a long lens that you line up to your hot shoe. Now that to me seems a good way to follow the bird)
Oct 8, 2017 09:41:54 #
And have a target sight on the bird will not be visible? This reads and sounds really weird. Why would anyone a laser to find a bird that when you can simply look through the range finder?
Oct 8, 2017 09:43:38 #
Oct 8, 2017 09:45:26 #
Oct 8, 2017 09:47:00 #
Schwabo
Loc: Florida
It works a lot better, most of the time you will not find the bird in flight through the view finder or it is to late by the time you zero in. Through the red dot you have a much larger view and it is easier to find and line up the bird. Hope this helps.
Oct 8, 2017 09:49:18 #
Interesting question, it would take a super person to keep the dot on a hummer. The first part would be getting the dot to be at the same spot as the center focus.
Oct 8, 2017 09:52:25 #
Szalajj
Loc: Salem, NH
Lasers are going to become harder to obtain.
There were just 4 different airliners sited with lasers at Logan Airport in Boston last night, 3 were landing and 1 was taking off flights.
Because the general consumer doesn't understand the dangers of using lasers, and when NOT to use them, they will cause more and more crackdowns on the manufacture of lasers and just how strong they can be.
There were just 4 different airliners sited with lasers at Logan Airport in Boston last night, 3 were landing and 1 was taking off flights.
Because the general consumer doesn't understand the dangers of using lasers, and when NOT to use them, they will cause more and more crackdowns on the manufacture of lasers and just how strong they can be.
Oct 8, 2017 09:59:27 #
Oct 8, 2017 09:59:55 #
I am starting to think that you folks are talking about an illuminated scope sighting, not a laser which is something else entirely. Scope sighting used in some photography? Indeed they are.
Oct 8, 2017 10:09:06 #
troutbum wrote:
Interesting question, it would take a super person to keep the dot on a hummer. The first part would be getting the dot to be at the same spot as the center focus.
I never plan taking up Birding like others here but I have read others doing it and I agree with you with the hummers. It’s hard enough to follow them with your eyes😜 let alone with a camera. But sighting in would be easer than sighting in a gun in that you can see the dot through the lens so you would get instant feed back.
Oct 8, 2017 10:22:15 #
Rongnongno wrote:
And have a target sight on the bird will not be visible? This reads and sounds really weird. Why would anyone a laser to find a bird that when you can simply look through the range finder?
I agree with you on the laser sight “why”. To me it seems like trying to catch a mouse by its tail in a furnished room.😳 I have no interest in Birding but I have read here on the UUH of others using the Red dot sights and just wondered how practical they were. I watched a YouTube of a well known Birder and he mentioned the beed on the end of his lens for when he looses the bird in flight in his viewfinder and when he is back on the bird he just drops down to the viewfinder. I now there are a lot of birders out there that have a good reason for the red dot sight.
Oct 8, 2017 10:29:43 #
There's a huge difference in a Lazer beam sight and a Red dot sight, sometimes called a holographic sight. I can't really see how a Lazer sight that projects a beam could be of any real help catching birds in flight, however, the red dot, that projects no beam, could be very effective by providing a wide field of view and a target dot to line up to in that field of view. Good luck and good shooting to all.
Oct 8, 2017 10:38:56 #
Bison Bud wrote:
There's a huge difference in a Lazer beam sight and a Red dot sight, sometimes called a holographic sight. I can't really see how a Lazer sight that projects a beam could be of any real help catching birds in flight, however, the red dot, that projects no beam, could be very effective by providing a wide field of view and a target dot to line up to in that field of view. Good luck and good shooting to all.
Thanks Bud that makes a lot of sense. I couldn’t grasp a laser on the camera where a view finder does the same thing.
Oct 8, 2017 10:48:19 #
I have abandoned the photograph of birds. I am now 86 yo. But I have always used a red dot and indeed, this is not a laser.
I have used the BSA Red Dot, model RD30 during nearly ten years.
I have used the BSA Red Dot, model RD30 during nearly ten years.
Oct 8, 2017 10:50:01 #
Olympus makes a red dot sight just for cameras. It is NOT a laser. Nothing projects or shines on anything. It works on any brand camera with an empty hot shoe. I have one and consider it a favorite accessory. It's brilliant! I won't go into the details about why it might be better than the many from $30 to $500, but I think it is perfect for photographers. As far as I know, all the rest are made for guns and then adapted to cameras.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1116753-REG/olympus_ee_1_dot_sight_for.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1116753-REG/olympus_ee_1_dot_sight_for.html
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