Do you use a high end tripod for glassing?

vancouverbc

Regular
Rating - 99.5%
802   4   6
Location
BC
Hey there. Looking for a sturdy tripod for a large ish spotter but also need something lightweight for packing around. Probably not quite a Gitzo Carbon Fiber yet but something in between? What do you use or have any recommendations?
 
I use a monopod sometimes with binos when I want to pack really light. Works well. Looked at those Neewer's but want a fluid head and didnt know if they were compatible. Also looking at the Vortex Skyline. Seems a tad heavy though. Maybe a Manfrotto 290 carbon fiber
 
The 3 & 4 section Carbon Fibre Manfrotto 190 series are nice. The 55 series are noticibly more stable/sturdy but are pretty heavy and bulky for a field tripod that gets packed around. I like Manfrottos lever locks for the leg extensions vs. the twist style locks.
I also prefer a compact video fluid head or compact pan/tilt head to a ballhead. They are way nicer to scan with in the field than a floppy ballhead. Ball heads do tend to be slightly more compact though.
 
I use a monopod sometimes with binos when I want to pack really light. Works well. Looked at those Neewer's but want a fluid head and didnt know if they were compatible. Also looking at the Vortex Skyline. Seems a tad heavy though. Maybe a Manfrotto 290 carbon fiber

I will be honest when I ordered it I was thinking it would probably be a junk head..........but to my surprise the head that comes with this tripod was way smoother then my ball head on my manfrotto. Very smooth and silky operation

Here is a close up
ew8TZvV.jpg

2WUqXxi.jpg


Here it is with binos attached
FMrfLqC.jpg

GLJnwU5.jpg


Hope this helps
 
Well...... this is the first year trying to use binos on a tripod. I had read about it but had not tried. I have a manfrotto 190 Aluminum tripod that I used for my 80mm spotter. This tripod and spotter would always stay in the truck. Once I tried my binos on the tripod I was blown away how much better it was. So I knew if I wanted to pack a tripod I would have to be lite. Hence the carbon fiber cheapy I bought. I can say that this coming year will be the real test as it was late in the year when I came to the conclusion binos on a tripod is a good system.
I can see me using this to look at large clear cuts to find deer laying down that we just don't see while glassing free hand standing.i will give it a full season to see if it's just a fad for me or if it will be a system I always use. At that point I may upgrade to a high end tripod. For now the neewer CF system will work great.
 
I'm curious to know how you find it after some long term use. I've considered a 15x to do that very same thing....although 10x Swaro EL's would be more than sufficient ;)

I use Zeiss Victory and they are the best bino's I've ever looked through. Have not had the privilege of owning EL binos yet as they are the same price as my Swaro spotter! Trying to figure out which tripod would work best for stability and portability. Nothing like a gust of wind blowing your $3000 optic over to really make your day.

May have to look at a smaller options like that SLIK as well.
 
Too bad you weren't in Powell River......otherwise you could try mine. I find it easier to look long term with binos on the tripod rather then standing. Reason is you can stop on an area and really look at every detail in the whole field of view. You can lift your head look around with the naked eye and put your eyes right back to the binos and return to looking at exactly what you were seeing minutes before. Then a person simply moves the tripod head to a new area and look some more. I find the spotter only comes out when I'm looking at goats after I have found them using the binoculars. The Neewer tripod is tall enough to use standing for both my El's and Swaro 85mm. If i am driving where we look for goats I bring both tripods. set the spotter on the more rigid Manfrotto and bino's on the Neewer.
 
Took your suggestion and picked up a little bino adapter to try out on a light weight tripod I ordered. Also ordered a carbon fiber on sale (Oben CT2491) for the big spotter so I can do both. Looking forward to trying them both out. If I lived a bit closer would love to compare the EL's to the Victory just for fun
 
Please post up some pics when u get your stuff. I always love seeing other set ups. It gives everyone following the thread ideas or motivation to try new setups themselves.

I've never looked through Zeiss victory glass. I too would be into side by side comparison. I'm sure the victories are awesome !!
 
I've got some Canon 10x42L IS binos. These are the image stabilization model and you don't need a tripod. Amazing what you can resolve when the image is rock steady.

Sounds impressive. So if you are say 200 yards looking at the back end of a slash and you stand as still as possible, there is absolutely no movement in the whole field of view?
 
Back
Top Bottom