sheeny
22-10-2006, 11:43 AM
I've had this binocular mount for a while now, and a couple of months ago I took some photos to write a review. Well I sat down this morning to do just that, but while getting all my info together found that these mounts are now no longer supplied. See http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_binm.htm. (http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_binm.htm. This)This is such a shame because this mount does it's job very well.
When I purchased it a few months ago, it cost US$100 plus US$22.25 international postage. It arrived within a week, and it was very well packaged. The service I received from Jim at Scopestuff was nothing short of excellent. From placing the order via the web, it was less than 24 hours for Jim to advise me of postage costs and it was on it's way.
The principle of the mount is that the binoculars mount to a swinging cradle which is adjusted to suit the centre of gravity of the binoculars. Two adjustable clutches provide friction adjustment to the altitude motion to compensate for any unbalance between the centre of gravity and the altitude pivot of the mount. Obviously, the better the balance, the less friction is necessary to prevent the binoculars from swinging off target, and also the easier and smoother the motion will be.
It is simple to adjust the mount to balance the binoculars, though changing the height of the swing cradle requires the use of an allen key and 10mm spanner. The cradle has three height positions. Presumably the default position is for 100mm objective binoculars, the next position I would guess if doe 80mm binoculars and the third for say 60mm binos. I found my 20x80 binoculars worked fine with the mount in the default cradle position. It was only when using the mount with binoculars near vertical that the unbalance caused the binoculars to drift of target. Once the mount was correctly adjusted, however, this did not occur.
The mount does not allow the binoculars to reach zenith unless the head of the tripod is tilted. This is of little consequence. Viewing near zenith is not easy or comfortable with straight through binoculars unless the observer is in a supine position and using something like a parallelogram mount. With the mount set up on a level tripod head, the mount allows views up to about 50 degrees altitude. Simply tilting the tripod head when required will allow viewing to zenith.
The motion of the mount in both altitude and azimuth is smooth and free of spring back, making it a pleasure to use. On a number of occasions I have sighted an object then adjusted the height of the tripod to suit another observer and found the object still in the field of view.
Of course, anything with a 1/4-20 mounting block can be attached to this mount. I regularly use my PST on the mount for a quick and convenient push to mount. As I have the mount set up for my 20x 80 binoculars, the balance when using the PST leaves a bit to be desired basically because the PST doesn't have provision to adjust the scope position in the forward/back direction for ideal balance. For low to moderate altitudes it is not a problem, but during the midle of the day (at high altitudes) the scope tends to want to drift off target. Tightening the clutches can compensate for this however.
My initial impressions were that this mount might be a bit expensive for what it is, but after using it, I soon realised that it does it's job very well and it IS good value for money! It is an excellent mount for large binoculars for astro work up to 50 degrees altitude, or for terrestrial viewing like whale watching. I see no reason why it wouldn't also make an excellent choice for the mount head on a parallelogram mount! It's a shame it's no longer available new.
When I purchased it a few months ago, it cost US$100 plus US$22.25 international postage. It arrived within a week, and it was very well packaged. The service I received from Jim at Scopestuff was nothing short of excellent. From placing the order via the web, it was less than 24 hours for Jim to advise me of postage costs and it was on it's way.
The principle of the mount is that the binoculars mount to a swinging cradle which is adjusted to suit the centre of gravity of the binoculars. Two adjustable clutches provide friction adjustment to the altitude motion to compensate for any unbalance between the centre of gravity and the altitude pivot of the mount. Obviously, the better the balance, the less friction is necessary to prevent the binoculars from swinging off target, and also the easier and smoother the motion will be.
It is simple to adjust the mount to balance the binoculars, though changing the height of the swing cradle requires the use of an allen key and 10mm spanner. The cradle has three height positions. Presumably the default position is for 100mm objective binoculars, the next position I would guess if doe 80mm binoculars and the third for say 60mm binos. I found my 20x80 binoculars worked fine with the mount in the default cradle position. It was only when using the mount with binoculars near vertical that the unbalance caused the binoculars to drift of target. Once the mount was correctly adjusted, however, this did not occur.
The mount does not allow the binoculars to reach zenith unless the head of the tripod is tilted. This is of little consequence. Viewing near zenith is not easy or comfortable with straight through binoculars unless the observer is in a supine position and using something like a parallelogram mount. With the mount set up on a level tripod head, the mount allows views up to about 50 degrees altitude. Simply tilting the tripod head when required will allow viewing to zenith.
The motion of the mount in both altitude and azimuth is smooth and free of spring back, making it a pleasure to use. On a number of occasions I have sighted an object then adjusted the height of the tripod to suit another observer and found the object still in the field of view.
Of course, anything with a 1/4-20 mounting block can be attached to this mount. I regularly use my PST on the mount for a quick and convenient push to mount. As I have the mount set up for my 20x 80 binoculars, the balance when using the PST leaves a bit to be desired basically because the PST doesn't have provision to adjust the scope position in the forward/back direction for ideal balance. For low to moderate altitudes it is not a problem, but during the midle of the day (at high altitudes) the scope tends to want to drift off target. Tightening the clutches can compensate for this however.
My initial impressions were that this mount might be a bit expensive for what it is, but after using it, I soon realised that it does it's job very well and it IS good value for money! It is an excellent mount for large binoculars for astro work up to 50 degrees altitude, or for terrestrial viewing like whale watching. I see no reason why it wouldn't also make an excellent choice for the mount head on a parallelogram mount! It's a shame it's no longer available new.