I keep seeing ads for Accufire’s new Omnis spotting scope. Yet don’t find any information here on the hide when I do a search. It appears to be a bit wonky and just wondering if anyone has any experience with this item.
Omnis spotting scope
- Thread starter northshorelumber
- Start date
Took a look at the site - pretty cool has a built in screen and you can record.. Better than the sucky attachments that everyone makes for spotting scopes.
Ordered a mint condition Nikon 82ED spotter with angled eyepiece to complete my set. Wanted one with an angled eyepiece because my others are straight. The old 82ED-A is a hard scope to find in mint condition at a fair price. Don’t think people like to get rid of them very much.
I have a 75x fixed power wide angle eyepiece, the new eyepiece on the way that will give 50x wide angle view in the 82mm and a couple zoom eyepieces. One zoom is lower power and will do 25-56x and I think the other one will do 25-75x in the 82mm. Be interesting to see if the 82mm gives an advantage over my 78mm. Likely will see most of the difference in low light but will just have to wait and see.
I have a 75x fixed power wide angle eyepiece, the new eyepiece on the way that will give 50x wide angle view in the 82mm and a couple zoom eyepieces. One zoom is lower power and will do 25-56x and I think the other one will do 25-75x in the 82mm. Be interesting to see if the 82mm gives an advantage over my 78mm. Likely will see most of the difference in low light but will just have to wait and see.
I agree with you except for one huge caveat. The killer features of attaching a smart phone to a spotter for recording are simplified organization, easy sharing, low learning curve, and reduced digital clutter.
Note that even though I know my way around a still camera (digital and film), I have only made some brief dips into the (deep) end of the video pool.
The Omnis probably produces a better output than a phone…I would sure hope so. But then a user has to spent significant time learning how to deal effectively with digital files…camera settings, importing (usually large) files into a PC, getting enough fast HD storage, editing using something like Adobe Premiere (and learning it), having enough horsepower to run said editing software, managing backups, maybe reducing file sizes to import onto a phone for easier sharing, workflow in the field environs, etc etc etc.
And then there’s the copious paraphernalia that video cameras need…memory cards, large and numerous batteries, the delicate nature of the equipment, etc.
Even if you’re very savvy with a digital still camera, video is a whole new ballgame.
Whereas an iPhone 13 Pro Max, in my case, is dead nuts simple. There’s almost nothing extra to bring as I bring my phone along anyway. Perhaps there would be a burden to cart along a spotter, but I bet you’d bring it along anyway.
In a phone, I can organize files so easy, there’s zero importing and exporting woes, zero file size / storage problems, zero editing issues, zero problems sharing files (although I haven’t tried texting really big files, and of course email has a limit, perhaps around 25mb).
However, I can Airdrop any size files to another iPhone or Mac without regular wifi (must have wifi and Bluetooth turned on the phone) as it makes a secure encrypted peer-to-peer connection.
I can also set auto backups to iCloud and share any size collections of photos to anyone via a simple internet link.
And it’s easy to upload to youtube or wherever as dedicated apps make it simple.
Raw quality is usually the big advantage of a stand-alone video or still camera. And for the vast vast vast majority of users, the advantages pretty much end there.
But maybe you’re producing high quality content (maybe you’re a YT star), you are an ELR fiend, you’re an image quality stickler, or you have some other very specific use that a phone+spotter simply cannot handle?
Well then, knock your socks off and explore high(er) end video equipment with all its glorious image quality and extra complexity.
Maybe you’ve only used crap phone cam adapters? (Not saying you have)
Then you may be surprised how nice some are. I made a big overview here:
The Big Digiscope / Phone / Scope Cam Overview
So a lack of reviews about digiscoping with a phone and spotter (or binos) that uses both a critical eye AND are thorough led me to collect, organize, and write up this info. I have no biz or personal relationship with any of these fine upstanding manufacturers. I have hands-on experience with...
www.snipershide.com
TL;DL is I’m waiting for an upgraded Ollin. I was pleased with my PhoneCam by ScopeCam but it takes too long to attach.
Edit: one thing that didn’t occur to me is if you want to use a digital spotter just as a spotter (no recording pdog hits, for example). This is a better use case.
You’d still have potential battery woes, it’s still delicate, it eats batteries. But viewing bullet holes or spotting misses would be nicer than using a regular “one-eyed” spotter. But a Swaro BTX would also be an easy, if $$$$, option that admittedly wouldn’t (probably) give you the zoom range of a digital spotter…even with the Swaro 1.7x extender.
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