To use the firefly 8SE adapter what model of Sideshot should I buy to start with? GoPro version or can I get away with the cheaper camera version?
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Sideshot hawkeye firefly 8SE adapter
- Thread starter Elis5173
- Start date
Funny story, I originally saw this message on my phone while I was busy in the shop and thought "I need to answer that guy" When I had a chance a day or two later I could NOT remember where I saw the message! Spent an hour looking at YouTube comments, lol. Did update a few comments there so not a total loss... Now on to the question.
I am also a fan of Orion's adapter, even did a YouTube video on it. What I discovered during my experiments is that anything that creates misalignment between the camera sensor/lens center and the optical axis of the side shot will affect image quality. Take your time on the installation and make sure your image ends up as centered as possible when you begin to setup the focus. I will also inject that using the ocular focus to "tune" the camera will VERY likely inject parallax error into your scope setup. The ocular focus is meant to be used to tune the scope to the shooter so go in with your eyes open.
Back to potential causes of misalignment I have observed working with this setup. Screw head interference causing the camera box mount to cant one way or the other. Variability between the outer box and the optical axis of the camera sensor/lens assembly. This product, the 8SE, is NOT designed to hold those references, its meant to put on your kids bike and playback the fun when he faceplants...Or something like that... I'm certain that no one at Firefly gives a rats butt about a bunch of cost conscious guys filming through their scopes. To that end, I bought a few cameras and found 1 in three was really good, 2 out of three where usable, one was crap. I bought some from Haji, some from AliExpress no correlation, beggars choice I guess, luck of the draw.
Beam splitter design and what that means to you and the camera:
I'm pretty sure the mirror on the Side Shot that splits the image is sending ~75% to your eye and 25% to the camera. If you understand cameras, especially cheap cameras, they need a LOT of light to work well. I found the higher transmission rate of Orions splitter in the OrionCam to be vastly superior in my testing ( believe it was 50/50 or 25/75 the other way. That being understood, the amount of light you are gathering in front of that beam splitter makes a big difference to both you, the shooter, and the chunk of electronics your going to bolt on to record with. So, scope quality becomes a large component of image quality AND how much light is left for the shooter to do his job, which is why your flying pellets in the first place. Bigger lenses, bigger image tubes, better optical coatings are NOT marketing hogwash. They cost money to design and manufacture and that cost will be passed down to you, the consumer. When it comes to glass, spend till it hurts, then go a bit further, especially if you want to share that light with a camera.
Bill @ Target Forge
I am also a fan of Orion's adapter, even did a YouTube video on it. What I discovered during my experiments is that anything that creates misalignment between the camera sensor/lens center and the optical axis of the side shot will affect image quality. Take your time on the installation and make sure your image ends up as centered as possible when you begin to setup the focus. I will also inject that using the ocular focus to "tune" the camera will VERY likely inject parallax error into your scope setup. The ocular focus is meant to be used to tune the scope to the shooter so go in with your eyes open.
Back to potential causes of misalignment I have observed working with this setup. Screw head interference causing the camera box mount to cant one way or the other. Variability between the outer box and the optical axis of the camera sensor/lens assembly. This product, the 8SE, is NOT designed to hold those references, its meant to put on your kids bike and playback the fun when he faceplants...Or something like that... I'm certain that no one at Firefly gives a rats butt about a bunch of cost conscious guys filming through their scopes. To that end, I bought a few cameras and found 1 in three was really good, 2 out of three where usable, one was crap. I bought some from Haji, some from AliExpress no correlation, beggars choice I guess, luck of the draw.
Beam splitter design and what that means to you and the camera:
I'm pretty sure the mirror on the Side Shot that splits the image is sending ~75% to your eye and 25% to the camera. If you understand cameras, especially cheap cameras, they need a LOT of light to work well. I found the higher transmission rate of Orions splitter in the OrionCam to be vastly superior in my testing ( believe it was 50/50 or 25/75 the other way. That being understood, the amount of light you are gathering in front of that beam splitter makes a big difference to both you, the shooter, and the chunk of electronics your going to bolt on to record with. So, scope quality becomes a large component of image quality AND how much light is left for the shooter to do his job, which is why your flying pellets in the first place. Bigger lenses, bigger image tubes, better optical coatings are NOT marketing hogwash. They cost money to design and manufacture and that cost will be passed down to you, the consumer. When it comes to glass, spend till it hurts, then go a bit further, especially if you want to share that light with a camera.
Bill @ Target Forge
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I just made a case for GoPro Hero 4 to fit in existing Side-Shot scope cam
You can see installation video as well with below link.
You can see installation video as well with below link.
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