You

You'll need:

A digital camera - the most popular model from the start of digiscoping has been the Nikon Coolpix 9xx or the 4500 model (all out of production/available on eBay). At present there is no advertised plans to continue with this shape. The Coolpix 5000 & 8400 both appear to be good for digiscoping though they do not have the "swivel" shape. The advantage of a swivel body is that it enables easy viewing. Contax/Kyocera have swivel bodied cameras which also have the advantage of allowing much faster picture taking. Other models are used but I have no experience of them and so recommend one of the links below for more info.

Scope - the most popular scopes are the Swaro HD or Leica Apo. Angled works a little better when attaching the camera. For digiscoping the best eyepiece would probably be a 20x wide angle. Leica users would go for this while Swaro users would go for the 20-60 zoom [used at 20x]. Whichever scope/eyepiece combination you go for (or already have) low magnification will always give you a "better" shot [and more light]. Other scopes also give good results although those with "ED" glass suffer less from colour fringing.

Adapter - to join the camera to the scope. You can hold them together (a cut out 35mm film plastic film box can be used to center the camera in the eyepiece] but this method is only really any good for bright conditions and high-ish shutter speeds. Even then I've not seen many pics that don't show some camera shake. There are now quite a few makes of adapter including Nikon & Swarovski. They all work! There are two species - the sort which screw into the filter thread of the Coolpix and the sort which use the tripod mount on the camera to hold the camera and scope together. The latter are more expensive. Check the links below for ideas - expect to pay £80+. There weren't any commercial adapters available when I started and so I made my own, below. Only works for Swaro ;o)

I had to buy a filter adapter and cut the Swaro eyepiece protector up but it does allow very fast change and I can still use the (eyepiece) zoom.

Tripod and head - a solid combination is a must to avoid vibrations. Carbon fibre is both rigid and lightweight but the choice of head is also important. Attaching the camera to the eyepiece makes the scope "back-heavy" and so the head will need to be very well tightened if it's not to move when you attach the camera to it - the bird will no longer be in view and it is much harder to "find" the bird through the lcd screen of the camera. So it's important to be able to balance the scope with the camera attached. Some kind of plate is needed to move the centre of gravity back over the tripod. One way of doing this is to use a video head and attach the scope to the front end. So-called "balancing plates" are available for some heads. One solution is to get a head with a Arca-Swiss QSD and get a 8-10" plate

Accessories - the electronic cable release for the Coolpix is about £100 - a total rip-off! The alternative is an adapter + cable - £30. You really do need one or the other. A poor alternative is to use the timer on the Coolpix - two presses gives you a 3 second delay. Bright conditions and a steady hand is also a possibility but in the UK at least the light is not often good enough

I always have a roll of cling film to cover the camera in wet conditions and put the Coolpix in an airtight bag with loads of silica gel afterwards!

Compact flash memory is MUCH cheaper than it was - about 20% of its original price so do make sure you have enough. 512KB (£20) for a full day [with no editing in the field]

Sunlight on the LCD screen can make focusing very difficult and so some kind of shade is useful. This can be your hands or a DIY job. Nikon makes one but you can also buy them from other manufacturers.

Links

Adapters:

http://www.eagleeyeuk.com/digiscoping/Type%20Selection%20Lists/digimount_compatability_list.htm

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/home.php

[for London camera exchange - find a local branch (from the link) and phone]

http://www.lensadapter.com/products/2plus-le-adapter.htm

http://www.scopetronix.com/digitalcam.htm

http://www.swarovskioptik.at/english/news/index.asp?cat=News+%26+Events&type=News%20Overview&do=Detail&ID=209

http://www.birdnet.co.uk/digiscoping.html

http://www.leica-camera.com/sportoptik/produkte/televid/digiscoping/index_e.html

Tripod and head

http://www.gitzo.com/products/metric/tripods/rightscreen.php3