Jeronimo Cruz
super member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 141
Loc: Tucson, AZ
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Hi all,
I love using my binoculars. One of the major drawbacks, though, is that the image tends to shake a lot when HANDHELD (even when held with experienced hands). This becomes more distracting at night when stargazing. To that end I use some stabilization methods.
They include:
1) Holding the very end of the barrels while resting the eyecups against my brow
2) Forming a tripod by holding the eyepieces where your thumb meets your palm while pressing your outstreached index fingers together to rest them against your forehead (e.p.'s resting on brows+index fingers resting against forehead=tripod)
3) Controlled breathing
4) For daytime use or objects low on the horizon, resting one's elbows against the sides of one's chest
The first is what I came up with to help me, the other ideas were offered here and there as friendly advice.
What works for you?
Thanks for your responses!
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Jeronimo
TeleVue 101 + Gibralter
Celestron NS11 GPS/wedge + Hyperstar
Photon Instruments 127mm + SV F50W2
Lunt Solar Systems LS60DS Ha + Celestron CG-5
Naglers, Panoptics, Radians, Nikon binoviewer
Fujinon 10x70 FMT-SX, 7x42 CD; Canon 15x50IS;
Pentax 7x50 PCF WP, 10x50 PCF WPII, 10x50 DCF SP
Work
20" R/C RCOS on Paramount + Tak FSQ
16" R/C RCOS on Paramount + TEC 140
16" Meade LX200 SCT + TV 76
Ethos, Naglers, Panoptics
Coronado Solarmax 90mm Ha
Coronado Solarmax 70mm Ca
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KennyJ
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 12895
Loc: Lancashire UK
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What works best for me is attaching the binoculars to a very lightweight tripod , keeping the tripod legs folded together to their shortest possible length , then laying back in a chair with solid arms rests , my face inclined at approximately 45 degrees to the sky , then holding and moving the binoculars around by means of the tripod legs , with my arms maintaining my hands at a level BELOW that which may cause them to ache or tire , with backs of elbows firmly rested against the chair's rock solid arms .
A bonus is being able to wear warm gloves throughout if necessary .
A picture paints a thousand words , so with apologies for repeated illustrations :
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xmeecosmic
member
Reged: 10/04/09
Posts: 13
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Up to what magnification would your stabilization technique(s) be successful?
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Mark9473
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 3209
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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Jeronimo, your nr. 1 works only with large binoculars, 70 mm and up. Nr. 2 works only with small binoculars.
You missed the most important one, IMO, which is: sitting down.
The method that Kenny illustarted so well, works fine with larger binoculars by the way. I've done that with 20x80s with good effect.
An additional method that works well with my 15x60, is the following:
hold your hands so that your thumbs point back towards your face and your finger point forward. The binoculars rest on the hand palm and fingers, and the thumbs are pressed against your face right next to your eyes.
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Vixen 8x42; Swift 8.5x44, 10x50 and 20x80; TS 7x50; Orion 15x63; Docter 15x60
WO Megrez II 80 FD + Baader 90° T2 Amici
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Mark9473
Post Laureate
Reged: 07/21/05
Posts: 3209
Loc: 51°N 4°E
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I forgot, a classical variation of nr. 1 is to hold the binocular with both hands around one of the objectives, the other barrel resting on your arm (need to lift your elbow up).
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Mark
Leica 8x20; Vixen 8x42; Swift 8.5x44, 10x50 and 20x80; TS 7x50; Orion 15x63; Docter 15x60
WO Megrez II 80 FD + Baader 90° T2 Amici
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3468
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Obviously, the very first tip is: sit down! The second is: sit back in a reclining chair. The third: Use a reclining chair with armrests, and rest your elbows on them whenever possible (may require slouching).
If no chair is available, lie down on the ground and put something under your head for a pillow if you want to view far from the zenith.
Holding the ends of the barrels is very helpful, and is more useful the bigger the bino. I wear eyeglasses, so resting the eye cups against my glasses is a critical component of holding binos steady for me.
It's cheating, but attaching anything long to the binoculars works wonders -- inertial damping. I found this out when trying to extend my usual tripod technique -- tilting the tripod back on two legs -- all the way to the zenith. It turned out that having the tripod simply lying on my body provided excellent steadiness.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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RichD
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 564
Loc: Derbyshire, UK
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It's all about the elbows!
For the stars, it's got to be a lounger type chair with high elbow rests.
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Clear skies
Rich
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Erik D
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 3196
Loc: Central New Jersey, USA
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For me steady binocular holding technique follow the same principles I learned 30+ years ago target shooting: Position, bone support, breathing control, and mental image.
1. Sitting is steadier than standing. Reclining in a beach chair with armrests is even better. Lying flat on a mat with my head and neck cradled by a U Shaped buckwheat travel pillow works best for me.
2. I use my 20X80 LW on mat with a buckwheat pillow for support often. I grasp the binos near the objective end in each hand. Rest the EP end against my eye sockets. The weight of the binos are supported entirely by the contact against my forehead. My head is supported by the buckwheat pillow. My hand and arms are there for guiding . They do not support the weight of the binocular.
For day time terrestrial viewing with 20X80s I sat with my back supported. My elbows are braced against my upper chest. Works quite well.
I can probably handle binoculars up to 25X with my elbows braced for day time viewing. But my hands are not large enough to wrap around 100 mm objectives comfortably. Purple fringing borders annoying in my ~F3.5 25X100s so I don't use them much.
Breath control is the same as target shooting. Take a few deep breath. Let out half and slow my body and mind. The best Olympic shooter can not hold rifles motionless. You don't have to do that with binoculars to discern details either.
15X/18X IS binos introduce minor swaying/flaring too but are enjoyed by many.
I have shortened the legs of my tripod and use it as a bipod before. Holding the two pan handles of my 501 head while seated in a reclining arm chair makes very steady viewing and comfortable head position too.
Don't do it if hand holding of high power optics sounds like too much work. It can be for some; impossible for others. Do it if you have the desire and enjoy the view. We are Not in competition.
ERik D
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Rich V.
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/02/05
Posts: 1393
Loc: Carson Valley, Nevada, USA
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RichD's mention of a lounge chair with high arm rests made me recall a thread in the past with an attached picture.
Someone had made armrest extensions that clamped to the original armrests but made the new position around a foot higher. These new, higher armrests made the lounge chair perfect for elbow supported viewing.
Sorry I can't get any search results to point you to the picture!
Rich V
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Binoculars:
33/50/75/150x100 Saturn III, 16x70 FMT-SX, 10x50 PCF-V, 10x43 DCF-SP, 10x35 E2, 7x35 E, 8x30 E2, 7x26 Custom, 8x23AS Diplomat, 8x23 Travelite
Scopes:
C9.25, 6" f8 reflector, SV80S
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KennyJ
Reged: 04/27/03
Posts: 12895
Loc: Lancashire UK
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Hi Rich ,
I too remember that suggestion of raising the height of the chair's arms by about a foot .
I'm sure it was one of the " regular contributors " here who posted the idea .
Kenny
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If everyone is thinking the same thing , no-one is thinking - General George S.Patton
Zeiss 7 x 42 BGAT
Captain's Helmsman 7 x 50
Nikon 10 x 42 Superior E
Swift Audubon Kestrel 10 x 50
Helios 15 x 70 Observation
Strathspey 20 x 90
Televue 76 APO
Zeiss 85 Diascope
Helios 102 f5 refractor
Various eyepieces barlows tripods mounts etc.
Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ5 digital camera
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Patrik Iver
sage
Reged: 07/29/03
Posts: 259
Loc: Kaarina, Finland
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About the chair with the raised armrests:
I have a feeling I saw something about that here also, but the first time I saw the idea was in an article in Sky and telescope.
Just now dug out the March issue och 2002. Starting on page 113 is an article called "A selection on bino mounts". And the chair with the additional (raised) armrests is by Alan Adler.
Regarding holding techniques, for all hand-held astro viewing I prefer a lounge chair. For terrestrial daytime viewing (with "narrow" roof prism binos mainly) I keep my elbows resting on my chest, which tends to mean that I have to bend my neck forward a bit if I need to do any focusing, as otherwise I can't reach the focusing wheel. For focused extended views to be as stable as possible I tend to rest my elbows on my chest and hold the binos high on extended fingers (not giving me enough reach to refocus, which really isn't a problem with binos with good DOF). Occationally I further rest my bent thumbs on my cheekbones for additional stability (I wear glasses so I can't easily and efficiently use my eye socket upper ridges)
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Best regards,
Patrik Iver
60°N, 22°E
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plyscope
sage
Reged: 11/23/06
Posts: 327
Loc: Perth, West Australia
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A lot of good tips on this thread. This is my home made handle that I find helps a lot.
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Andy
6" f15 refractor
90mm f16.7 refractor
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plyscope
sage
Reged: 11/23/06
Posts: 327
Loc: Perth, West Australia
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This is the fiddly bit. It is a small section of aluminium tube held on the wood with wire and epoxy.
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Andy
6" f15 refractor
90mm f16.7 refractor
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MacRoberts
sage
Reged: 08/25/05
Posts: 421
Loc: Redlands, CA
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Agree with all the foregoing.
Here is a link to a page with some tips for more stable handholding techniques.
Hope this helps.
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Jim
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" Psalms 8:3-4
TV Refractors
Fuji Binoculars
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StarStuff1
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 979
Loc: South of the Mason-Dixon Line
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Here is my small effort on this. The first one, on the top, seemed to work. But, immediately, I noticed the rod started bending/flexing while observing. This kinda defeated the purpose of the project.
The second effort using an aluminum tube worked even better and there was no flexing.
With 8x and below binoculars I would not even consider using such an attachment. For these 15x70s I find this stabilization method reduces the "shakes" by 50% or more.
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Tools that make objects very far away appear much closer than they actually are.
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