tripod choice

[lup]

gday guys and gals.

ive got the orion 20x80 binoculars. weighing in at 2.1 kilos i am struggling to keep them still on my admittedly rather flimsy cheap photographic tripod. so i need to spend some money on something better. any recommendations?

cheers
Craig

[Kunama]

I use a Manfrotto 055CX3 Pro for my camera gear and also used it with the Vixen Porta II and small scopes. Excellent but not real cheap.

[Decimus]

I can second Matt's comments, Craig. I have an old Manfrotto 055B tripod which used to take considerable loads (5x4 large format camera, any SLR +lens configuration you could mention). I haven't used it for many years, but it's a quality tripod (though not as good as the newer 055CX3 Matt refers to). A good Manfrotto tripod should cope easily with heavy binoculars.

Cheers,
Richard

[lup]

cheers guys. il start setting some aside and look at the manfrotto. i dont mind paying the prices if its quality.

[janoskiss]

When it comes to binos it's not so much the make of tripod (I have an old German Linhof, which is great for cameras), but the fact is that binoculars on a camera tripod will just not work if you want to look up. Not without being a contortionist or excessively straining your neck. And up is where you want to look for the best views.

So I recommend getting (or making) a mount specifically for binocular stargazing. An oldie but a goodie:

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/cn-reports/mount-reports/binocular-mounts-tripods-mounting-r1305