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DNTash
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/02/07
Posts: 635
Loc: New Delhi, India
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Anyone have a favorite travel tripod suggestion that would handle a pair of 15x70's reasonably well, is reasonably light, and would fit in a smaller sized suitcase?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Dale
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WO 66 Doublet
Meade ETX-90PE
WO "Crayford-ed" Orion 120ST
SkyMaster 15x70's, Meade Safari Pro 8x42's, Nikon Monarch 10x42's
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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How tall?
Bogen 3205 is 54" fully extended, without head, 21x4" collapsed. weight about 4#.
Bogen 3011 is 67" fully extended, no head, 24x5.5" collapsed. weight about 7.5#
Orion Paragon HD-F2 65" fully extended no head, 27x4" collapsed, weight 6#.
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
Edited by EdZ (05/31/08 06:32 AM)
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DNTash
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/02/07
Posts: 635
Loc: New Delhi, India
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I suppose I could sit and view, so it wouldn't have to be able to reach over my head, standing....so that 54 inch model would work. And it's on the lighter side. Thanks.
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WO 66 Doublet
Meade ETX-90PE
WO "Crayford-ed" Orion 120ST
SkyMaster 15x70's, Meade Safari Pro 8x42's, Nikon Monarch 10x42's
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EdZ
Professor EdZ
Reged: 02/15/02
Posts: 12581
Loc: Cumberland, R I , USA42N71.4W
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For light weight, I'd recommend a 3126 head.
That's about $175-$200 for 3205 + 3126
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Teach a kid something today. The feeling you'll get is one of life's greatest rewards.
member#21
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Rick
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/12/05
Posts: 2574
Loc: Tokyo, Japan
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I picked up this carbon fiber Velbon El Carmagne 538 last week for my spotting scopes. Very impressive! Tripod and head weighs only 1.95kg total, 66cm long collapsed and 167.5cm fully extended. Includes the FHD-51Q fluid video head with a load capacity of 2.5kg. Surprisingly, the head seems to easily handle my 20x80mm LW binoculars thru the full vertical range.
Not sure if it is sold outside Japan and it is not cheap at around $400.
clear skies,
Rick
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www.japanastro.com
Edited by Rick (05/31/08 08:08 AM)
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2098
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Anyone have a favorite travel tripod suggestion that would handle a pair of 15x70's reasonably well, is reasonably light, and would fit in a smaller sized suitcase?
My standard travel tripod is the Bogen 3001 with a 484 ballhead. It's reasonably cheap, and about as light and compact as you can get without either spending a ton of money for carbon fiber or sacrificing a lot of sturdiness.
But with binoculars, it's really only suitable for viewing from a seated position. Which is fine by me, since the only way I can tolerate using binos for viewing anything much above the horizon are sitting (in a chair with a back), reclining, or lying down.
Be aware that if you use it sitting, you'll end up tilting the tripod back on two legs a lot of the time. Works quite well for me.
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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DNTash
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/02/07
Posts: 635
Loc: New Delhi, India
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Rick, Tony -- many thanks for the suggestions.
--------------------
WO 66 Doublet
Meade ETX-90PE
WO "Crayford-ed" Orion 120ST
SkyMaster 15x70's, Meade Safari Pro 8x42's, Nikon Monarch 10x42's
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Jim Rosenstock
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/14/05
Posts: 2401
Loc: MD, south of the DC Nebula
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Quote:
Be aware that if you use it sitting, you'll end up tilting the tripod back on two legs a lot of the time. Works quite well for me.
Errrr....in that case, why not a monopod??
http://www.bigbinoculars.com/monopod.htm
This is what I routinely use with my 15X70s...especially when there are travel/baggage limitations.
Cheers,
Jim
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1612
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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Has anyone tried the Adorama version of the carbon fiber tripods. 1228 has a 17.6 pound load capacity and is less than 200 but also collapses to about 20 inches. Weighs three pounds. Not sure their head is so good but the tripod looks attractive. I am hunting also so we can mount 16x70s when we need to. Roland
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2098
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Quote:
Be aware that if you use it sitting, you'll end up tilting the tripod back on two legs a lot of the time. Works quite well for me.
Errrr....in that case, why not a monopod??/quote]
Several reasons. First of all, a monopod gives you two supports: you and the monopod. A tilted-back tripod give you three: you plus two legs. Three is inherently stable; two is not. I've tried both; the tripod is vastly superior.
Second, this tripod is not significantly bigger, heavier, or more expensive than many monopods.
Third, it also works as a tripod -- which I need anyway, for other purposes. Including supporting telescopes and cameras.
Finally, with the tripod, you can lean it back, locate an object, lock down the ballhead, and look for a while. But if you want to refer to your starchart or whatever, just rock the tripod onto three legs, and look as long as you like. Then when you rock the tripod back onto two legs again, voila -- there's your target right back in the center of the FOV again!
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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