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[dewayne]

a binocular tripod for Christmas.
I have two pairs of bino's - a 10x50 and a 7X35.
I'm looking for opinions about whether this is what I want to do.
Neither pair of binos can be screwed onto a tripod.
Adorama Camera sells a bracket that will allow you to mount using velcro for $15.
Their adapter bracket screws into the tripod.
We have several sporting goods stores in town that sells binos and mouths.
With the mnoney I get for Christmas I could probably get a $100 or so tripod.
Will that be good enough to do the job.
Or is getting such a tripod a waste of money?
I ask because I bought a $100 4.5" reflector a few years ago. It's a nice scope, but I outgrew it quickly and wonder if it was a waste of money.
All the bino tripods I see adveritised are $200 and up to $500.
I'd like to use my binos more, especially on nights I don't feel like lugging my scope out.
Anyone out there who would talk me out of this?

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Do it!

You won't be sorry. And for $15.00...well worth it!

Now, myself...I never throw anything away, well practically never. I made my own bracket to hold down my 10x50's, and it works great. Now, use your minds eye here:

I had an old "Tri-axis" tripod that I had laying around and thought I would convert it solely to a binocular tripod. I used a six inch piece of metal with slots in it that rests on top of the binos, thru which I inserted a bolt that goes past the hinge and fits into the tripod head, at which I tighten it all down. All touching surfaces are covered in felt and is quite secure.

I see the other set ups with the accordion or folding joint assembly, nice but is that overkill? Some one here has that set up, and I would like to hear more about that. Granted my set up is kinda tough when observing at zenith, but thats ok.

And I see a manufacturer that has the binoculars pointing down at a mirror, reflecting back up into the sky. I'm gonna try that as well and see how it works. It will mean relearning the sky sdrawkcaB!!

You don't need a great tripod for this DeWayne. Fluid head, hydraulic legs, rolling dolly and cushioned levers are fine and are cool. But those are for video/still image captures. All you want is to have the tripod hold your binos nicely, solidly and to move it smoothly. Really...$25 to $50 is all you need. And when you move up to really big binos (20x80's!), then you can move up to a more steadier tripod, but by then you will have figured out if your like the tripod/bino set up.

As for the 4.5"...never a mistake. Yes, the light gathering capability is limited, but by gosh...didn't it show you wonders of the sky and did it without much complaint? It's a good scope to take with on trips or have others look thru, while you reserve your own scope to fit your own needs. I don't care what anyone says, I still like my 4.5".

Do it...do the Binoc/tripod combo now!

[jglover]

dewayne said:

With the mnoney I get for Christmas I could probably get a $100 or so tripod.
Will that be good enough to do the job.
Or is getting such a tripod a waste of money?
I ask because I bought a $100 4.5" reflector a few years ago. It's a nice scope, but I outgrew it quickly and wonder if it was a waste of money.
All the bino tripods I see adveritised are $200 and up to $500.

You don't need a special bino tripod. All you need is a good solid camera tripod with a decent pan head. Check out Bogen/Manfrotto tripods, they are usualy really solid, well built and should be right at your price range. I use a Bogen 3021 legset and have been very happy with it. However, I don't have a pan head but use a ball head instead. A ball head is great for photography but not so great for astronomical use. Check out B&H Photo's website and you can see all the Bogen/Manfrotto options available.

I've also heard good things about Slik tripods. They are usually a bit cheaper than the Bogen's as well.