The Coolpix 4500 was specifically designed for the digiscoping market in the late 1990's. The twisting body made it comfortable to use when attached to a telescope and produced a quality image that had been previously well out of reach of many birdwatchers pockets. It did the job well enough, but with gradually lowering prices of DSLR cameras, digiscoping has gradually declined and rare bird images obtained by this method, are now accompanied by the almost apologetic caption "digiscoped record shot". Amazing how quality bird images many could only dream of ten years ago, are perhaps now regarded as something representative of the Polaroid Instamatic camera of the 1970's.

Digiscoping never really caught on world-wide as it had in the UK, so Nikon called all its remaining Coolpix 4500 stock back, to sell on the UK market.

One downside of the 4500, is its four million pixel capacity. Ten years ago this was pretty much top of the range, yet is easily surpassed now by the camera on many mobile phones. Despite this, we find that the Coolpix 4500 still has some advantages over more expensive DSLR cameras. It generally produces a better depth of field, the twistable camera body makes for easier viewing through the screen in awkward situations and its very tough and durable. Ours have been dropped many times with no ill effects! Two disadvantages of this camera though are the automatic focus, which can be a nightmare when photographing something on a grass stem, when the camera continually focuses on the background and the often slow shutter speed.

Basic options and camera settings

Before going any further, it is worth quickly mentioning the basic camera settings we use. Having the camera set on Auto mode gives us the best results, but if photographing a white subject against a dark background (avoid if possible, or use a lighter background) then having the camera on Manual mode works better. Use a fairly high ISO setting, as this will improve shutter speed to a degree in low light situations. Image quality is best set to FINE and image size to 1600 x 1200pxls. Images larger than this, will soon fill the memory card that comes with the camera. Have the Flash disabled.

When using the zoom, the Coolpix 4500 only allows focusing on the subject when the zoom bar is somewhere between the two points between wide (W) and telephoto (T) in the camera monitor screenshots D and E. How much to zoom in on the subject depends on the proximity between camera and subject.

Photographing any dark coloured invertebrate will invariably produce this problem, unless on an almost equally dark substrate or background and getting the camera to automatically set the correct exposure can lead to disappointing results.

Wherever possible, we always try to ensure that our photographs are taken whilst out in the field, but this is not always a feasible proposition due to the rarity of a species (and wanting to secure at least one image), being a very active subject, or generally poor lighting or photographic conditions etc.

A sensible approach then, is to take the subject home and try again. If photographing moths after an overnight trapping session, then there is no other option but to wait for daylight anyway and micromoths caught during the day, are nearly always best taken home for photographing. A benefit of taking specimens home is that the whole photography process becomes more controllable, even with the more difficult of subjects and in most cases, will ensure more pleasing results. We don't really use photographic set ups as such, often just a few leaves or a patch of bare soil etc, but always try to ensure as natural a background as possible to the resulting image.

Patience and persistance are always the key factors needed if useable images are to be obtained anywhere and sometimes results are poor, even if everything looked OK at the time. Don't also think that all of the many excellent images found in books or on the internet, were obtained with just one click of the shutter at the first attempt. Quite often, good results can always be improved on and many of the images we have, were actually taken over the course of several years when further opportunities arose.

Photographing outside using natural light, even when at home, always allows the possibility of escape. Yet despite this, there have been only two occasions when we have lost the subject and the opportunity to photograph it, and just one occasion, when we gave up trying to get a photograph after a full day of effort and let it go. Having two specimens of the same species acts as a little security in the event of one escaping. Each subject matter will vary in cooperation. Even different species within a single order (coleoptera, lepidoptera etc) will also vary in how long they will take to settle down, and for long enough to photograph well, so we will try to help you save valuable time and explain the variety of techniques we employ.

When photographing ground beetles, we believe that a dark background or substrate is beneficial to the resulting image, even though the shutter speed will be lower. The technique we employ is to find a compacted area of soil and keep the pot over the subject until it stops moving, have the camera ready and plenty of patience. Ground beetles and many other species stop moving for only a few seconds at a time, so you have to be quick (but avoid sudden movements) in order to get a decent image. And be prepared to take many images, and from all angles. Compacted soil is better to use as a substrate, as it lessens the chance of losing the subject down the smallest holes or cracks in loose soil. Placing a single leaf on the soil can provide temporary cover for your subject to go under and give you those vital few seconds to get the image you want, when you lift the leaf. This technique is also useful for photographing rove beetles (Staphylinidae) but don't expect to identify many from images alone.

Staphs are probably the most difficult beetles of all, only occasionally remaining still long enough to photograph and it can take several attempts and hours, to get just one decent image. Some of the smaller Staphs such as Sepedophilus, Tachyporus and Stenus etc, are certainly easier than most, but on the whole, these still remain a challenging family to photograph.

Despite being slow movers, Aphodius dung beetles are quick to become active once out of the fridge. Sometimes blowing on them will stop them moving briefly, allowing suitable images to be obtained. We usually photograph all our Aphodius at home. Other beetles are not so bad and patience is generally rewarded with decent results. However, there will always be exceptions and some species will continue to frustrate for years sometimes.

Taking pleasing images of spiders in their webs is usually trouble free, but the auto focus on the Coolpix 4500 will usually mean that it is best to place your hand behind the web, to allow the camera to focus on the subject rather than background. Ground dwelling spiders are best photographed using the same techniques as we outlined for ground beetles.