A new tripod selection

[Florin Ciuciu]

Hello,

I am new here and this is my first post. I need help in chosing a tripod. I chose the binoculars, but if you have any comments regardind them, please let me know what you think about them. They are the 25x100 FB pair of binoculars from AOE.

So I am also looking for a tripod for them. As I don't want to go above 200AUD (at least not much), I only found one suitable tripod to fit the price. It is a Velbon DV-7000. It can be seen here: www.camerastore.com.au/Velbon+DV-7000+Tripod-details.htm (http://www.camerastore.com.au/Velbon+DV-7000+Tripod-details.htm).
Do you think it is suitable for these binoculars?
Will the handle get in the way when trying to get to the binoculars?
Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks!


Florin

[DobDobDob]

Hi Florin, welcome and good on you for your first post. I've only been here a couple of weeks myself and recently purchased a nice pair of binoculars. I went and purchased a cheap $130.00 tripod, used it less than an hour, and took it back the next day and paid $260.00 for the strongest tripod in the shop - I can't tell you it's name because it doesn't have one. There are no markings on it whatsoever, but it's built like a tank. I started reading past threads in this forum and they all point towards having a sturdy mount, in my case the mount cost as much as the binoculars but I don't care, I learnt my lesson in under one hour.

[snowyskiesau]

Hi and Welcome to IIS
The listed tripod has a maximum support weight of 4.5 Kgs but the binoculars are stated as weighing 4.9 Kgs.
I'd agree with tailwag, get the strongest tripod in the shop.

[acropolite]

If you can afford a few extra dollars buy a Manfrotto, it will double for photography and you'll never regret it.

[erick]

Florin, I have AOE's 30x100 binoculars, and I have balanced them on my Velbon CX-540 once - from the comfort of my office and then to look horizontally into the distance. Never outside, or at night, or to any elevation. If you have your 25x100s, you'll know that these are big, heavy, bulky items and using them on any standard tripod is a challenge - 1) will it hold them up and steady?, and 2) can I get any decent elevation of the binoculars without getting tangled up in the tripod or pan-handle, as you suggest? That is one hefty tripod you are looking at, but without trying, you won't now how it performs.

Now I have seen a review of big binoculars which does talk about tripod mounting. I don't have the URL, but the article I have printed is "100mm Binoculars - What Can You See" by Ed Zarenski and it seems to have come from Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews in 2004 - so I'm sure you can find it.

Ed talks of using the Bogen 3246 tripod with the heavy duty Bogen 501 head. I have a suspicion that "Bogen" is what we know as "Manfrotto".
He quotes the 3246/501 combination as being $350 (US dollars I expect - Eeeeek!)

I'm sure you'll benefit from a search of this site and other sites, eg Cloudy Nights binoculars forum:-

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/binoculars

for information on mounting big binoculars.

Good luck!

Eric :)

[erick]

OK, I found an article by Ed on mounts and tripods:-

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1344

I'm going to read it with interest!

(Oh! and when you see "#", I suspect it has been substituted for "lb" - OK, for you youngsters, 1kg = 2.2 lb)

[okiscopey]

One advantage of the Manfrottos is that they have short, stubby handles and don't get in the way so much. However, you can mount binoculars 'back-to-front' on a standard tripod so the pan/tilt handle is pointing away from you. I've always found this arrangement to be relatively easy to use.

The big problem is of course trying to see higher than 45deg. altitude. I'm still wondering what to do about this myself - a home-made parallelogram device is probably the way to go.

[DobDobDob]

Me too, I just skimmed it and it looks great, thanks for the link. :thumbsup:

[erick]

I just found an Australian $ price for the Bogen/Manfrotto 501 head by itself - $297.

[snowyskiesau]

Check out eBay, there is a Manfrotto tripod and head for sale at $300

[There is also a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod for $500! Head is an extra $450...]

[jjjnettie]

Someone at Astrofest borrowed my Velbon 586 to try out his new 25x100's.
It was not robust enough for the job.

[Florin Ciuciu]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I wanted to have the tripod by the end of this month, but I'll probably wait for one (Manfrotto) to appear on ebay. I've already seen a couple that look promising.

I saw the Manfrotto tripod with a ball head on ebay suggested by snowyskiesau. Are these types of head suitable for binoculars? I asked the seller what would be the maximum load and he said it handles easily 3kg, but he didn't know the maximum load and I couldn't find the specs for it on the net.

To erick:
You said you also own a pair of binoculars 30x100. I believe they are from AOE? How would you rate them? Nice article, thanks. I still have to finish it.


Florin

[erick]

Yes they are AOE's. I've only had them a short time and only had a couple of viewing opportunities.

Unfortunately I ran into a problem - the knob on the central support bar locked up. Raff and Dan at AOE arranged prompt inspection and repair - and looked after me very well - thanks guys. They have just arrived back and I had a very quick look between clouds the other night. Now I'm interstate and cannot get back to them for a week or so.

I suspect they've had a bit of a bounce on the way back and are a little out of collimation. AOE tried - the box was covered with Fragile stickers!

Now I'm no expert (I haven't looked through any other binoculars apart from my own - except a pair of Andrews triplet 20x80s) so I'm hopeful that I can soon set them up for some more expert opinion to advise me - at a star party night. I must admit, I expected Saturn's rings to really jump out at me compared to my relatively cheap 20x80s. But they didn't - though I haven't really had good seeing or low/no wind or higher altitude the times I've tried.

If I understand correctly, brighter objects are probably not where they perform - mind you the Moon looks very impressive through them. The night I went searching for the Crab nebula (and finally looked in the right place!) it really did jump out, it was so clearly observable. But I need more experience and viewing time to pick out the texture in the nebula.

So Florin, I'm sorry it remains a "work in progress" - in a few more months I may have a better opinion and some more expert opinions.