Fluid or geared head for small mak?

[johnnyp]

Hi all

Just having myself abit of a dilemma regarding a mount for a 90mm or 102mm mak i shall be shortly purchasing.

I currently have a horizon 8115 tripod. the tripod itself is solid but the head is awful, too much play and backlash, which is really frustrating. so im looking to replace it with either a fluid head or some sort of geared head.

The mak will mainly be for planetary and lunar.

Will the fluid head be easy to use at high mags? or is a geared head more suited for this?

Cheers

J

[rowan46]

At high mag a geared head is better

[johnnyp]

At high mag a geared head is better

Cheers....any tips on which one to go for?

[rowan46]

There's not that many affordable ones this one is the most affordable I don't know off hand what the load weight for it is

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-410-Junior-Geared-Head/dp/B000JLI4Q2

[johnnyp]

There's not that many affordable ones this one is the most affordable I don't know off hand what the load weight for it is

http://www.amazon.co...d/dp/B000JLI4Q2

ah yes,ive already looked a the manfrotto junior geared head. Looks solid enough. Although its abit pricey for what it is i think. If i dont come up with anything cheaper ill take the plunge.

This one looks ok from skies the limit, anybody used this ?

http://www.skysthelimit.org.uk/telescope%20mounts.html

[E621Keith]

For the price of a Manfrotto 410, I'd go for a mini Porta. The pivot point of the 410 can cause some balance issues at higher elevations, as would any Alt Az mount pivoted under the scope.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-mounts/page/2/

[Stardust]

I've got the Manfrotto on a 055 tripod, very solid bit of kit. I've also got a Bresser head similar to the STL which is just as good for astro work. In some ways better as the 410 head is quite stiff on the controls, but that's because it was designed for studio/landscape photography rather than panning around the night sky.

[Peter Drew]

I use a geared head similar to the VSMO5 for mounting a PST. It is a very good nicely controlled and smooth moving unit. It has a limited range of movement though and cannot be slewed so you need this facility already on the tripod.