Little MAK Digiscope

Probably the simplest (and certainly the least espensive) of my attemps to match a digital camera and a telescope. I took a 28-37 stepup ring and removed the 37mm portion. I then glued this ring to the back of a Little Mak scope. Now it attaches directly to the Nikon 995. Notice that scope does not weight 'down' the lens section.
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The Little Mak is produced by Lomo America. It is a Maksutov Gregorian 10x30 Telescope. One of the advantages of this design is that no prisms are needed to correct the orientation of the image. It has a 30mm aperture, 152mm Focal length, 5.1 focal ratio and a suggested retail price of $39.95. The step ring was another $5.00.
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So how does it work ??? The subject matter is not very interesting, but these pictures will give you an idea.

Shot with the Nikon 995 at full open (wide angle).
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Shot with the Nikon 995 at full zoom (4X). (Click on the image for a larger picture)

Shot with the Nikon 995 and the Little Mak at full open (Wide Angle).
Lots of vigeting, but a whole lot closer.
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Shot with the Nikon 995 and the Little Mak at half zoom(2X).
Almost a full frame, but the focus is soft.
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Shot with the Nikon 995 and the Little Mak at full zoom(4X).
Full frame, no vigetting, but the focus is Lousy.
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The focus problem I have with all combinations of scopes and this camera. One reason is my OLD eyes and that tiny little LCD on the back of the 995. I am hoping to fix that with with an Extend-A-View. I got the Extend-A-View, but alas it did not solve the problem. It seems there is a limit to what can be achieved with this Combination. That is a shame ... it really did make a handy package.

Jay Turberville made a similar conversion with the Little Mak's big brother The Captain. The captain is a 10x40 Maksutov Gregorian Telescope. His results were better than mine, but still a bit short of optimum. That being said the results are very good for the money invested.