Mounted 10x50's

[MaHa]

Hi all, 

So after being really lucky with some great clear skies the past few nights, and having enjoyed being outside as much as work commitments would allow, with a few great views in -7C temps, I decided to buy a mount for either my Olympus DPS-I's or Opticron Adventurer T WP 10x50's, to secure them snugly on to my tripod. 

I've read in various places that even though most adults will generally be able to hold a pair of 10x50's relatively steady, and certainly 8x's - that they will still benefit greatly from being mounted onto a tripod when looking at nebulae, and for splitting stars and the likes. 

How much of an improvement am I to expect using my binoculars of this mag/aperture when mounted rather than being handheld? 

Cheers! Mark. 

 

[Klitwo]

23 minutes ago, MaHa said:

Hi all, 

So after being really lucky with some great clear skies the past few nights, and having enjoyed being outside as much as work commitments would allow (with my three new pairs of bins?) , I decided to buy a mount as well, to secure them snugly on to my tripod. 

I've read in various places that even though most adults will generally be able to hold a pair of 10x50's relatively steady, and certainly 8x's - that they will still benefit greatly from being mounted onto a tripod when looking at nebulae, and for splitting stars and the likes. 

How much of an improvement am I to expect using my binoculars mounted than being handheld? 

Cheers! Mark. 

 

Once it's mounted...you'll know right away how much of an improvement a sturdy tripod makes.

Klitwo

[MaHa]

9 minutes ago, Klitwo said:

Once it's mounted...you'll know right away how much of an improvement a sturdy tripod makes.

Klitwo

Thanks, looking forward to giving it a go tomorrow evening, fingers crossed for another clear night ?

[Size9Hex]

7 hours ago, MaHa said:

How much of an improvement am I to expect using my binoculars of this mag/aperture when mounted rather than being handheld? 

My 10x50s are fairly light. Even so, they are miles better mounted. The stability increases the resolution enormously, which is beneficial for anything requiring it - lunar, double stars, clusters, phase of Venus, Saturn’s rings, etc. Less important on nebulae and general Milky Way scanning etc.

Enjoy the new kit! ?

[NGC 1502]

 

For what it’s worth I’ve found that all binoculars ( except image stabilised bins ) give a better view when mounted.

The benefits are much less with my 7x50s than with my 10x50s.  However, I always prefer to hand hold them to give freedom of movement to any area of sky.  I find viewing overhead with tripod mounted bins very difficult, the tripod legs just get in the way of my own.  There are other ways of reducing the shake, I sit on a chair, lean back as much as is safe, and tuck my elbows into my sides.  Standing is less satisfactory, it increases the shakes.  Some use a sun lounger, it means your neck doesn’t have to twist in ways that are uncomfortable.

For viewing lower down closer to the horizon, perhaps to observe the phases of Venus ( make sure the Sun has set or stand so a building is covering the Sun ) tripod mounting works fine.

Of course, what suits me may not work for everyone, it’s a matter of finding what works best for you.

HTH,  Ed.

 

[MaHa]

6 hours ago, Size9Hex said:

My 10x50s are fairly light. Even so, they are miles better mounted. The stability increases the resolution enormously, which is beneficial for anything requiring it - lunar, double stars, clusters, phase of Venus, Saturn’s rings, etc. Less important on nebulae and general Milky Way scanning etc.

Enjoy the new kit! ?

Hi Size9Hex, 

That's great news, I'm really happy that there's yet even more potential from my kit! 

I'll be testing this out for myself as soon as I get the chance, so I'll keep you updated with how I get on. 

I'm the mean time, enjoy the weekend and thanks for the advice ?. 

Mark. 

[MaHa]

5 hours ago, NGC 1502 said:

 

For what it’s worth I’ve found that all binoculars ( except image stabilised bins ) give a better view when mounted.

The benefits are much less with my 7x50s than with my 10x50s.  However, I always prefer to hand hold them to give freedom of movement to any area of sky.  I find viewing overhead with tripod mounted bins very difficult, the tripod legs just get in the way of my own.  There are other ways of reducing the shake, I sit on a chair, lean back as much as is safe, and tuck my elbows into my sides.  Standing is less satisfactory, it increases the shakes.  Some use a sun lounger, it means your neck doesn’t have to twist in ways that are uncomfortable.

For viewing lower down closer to the horizon, perhaps to observe the phases of Venus ( make sure the Sun has set or stand so a building is covering the Sun ) tripod mounting works fine.

Of course, what suits me may not work for everyone, it’s a matter of finding what works best for you.

HTH,  Ed.

 

Hi Ed, 

Thanks for taking the time to give me your advice - much appreciated!

That's interesting you prefer to handhold even though you see an improvement in image quality when mounted - but I absolutely see your point regarding ease of movement and just generally having that 'point and shoot' aspect to observing sessions. 

Since I'm lucky enough to have a couple of nice pairs of 10x50's, I'm going to mount one and keep one around my neck when I get the chance, and see what I feel is best for me personally - like you say each to their own.. Although I'm hoping to enjoy both equally! ?. 

Enjoy the weekend. ?. 

Mark. 

 

[NGC 1502]

4 hours ago, MaHa said:

That's interesting you prefer to handhold even though you see an improvement in image quality when mounted - but I absolutely see your point regarding ease of movement and just generally having that 'point and shoot' aspect to observing sessions. 

 

Hello again Mark.   The main problem for me with tripod mounted binoculars is that when viewing at a high elevation the tripod legs get in the way of my own legs.

Of course, there are other ways of mounting binoculars. Some parallelogram mounts have the legs offset from where the bins are attached, sounds like a good idea, but never tried them myself.

Ed.

[Taz777]

From a total newbie's viewpoint, I found an old camera tripod at home and I received my binoculars (25 x 70) this week. A tripod makes a a very big difference, although I've only set them up in a basic way and haven't done any observing using them yet (snow, clouds last couple of days).

I'm also pondering on how easy it will be to use them when viewing objects at high elevations - just need a clear night now!

During the initial setup, I was able to view the QR-code on a street lamp light around 80 feet away with no issues using the tripod. Hand-holding them, it was impossible to even keep the QR code sticker in view.

[Helen]

If you are hand holding you'll see less wobble if you hold the lens end of the binos rather than the eyepiece end ?   Other options are a broom held the wrong way up and rest your arms on the broom head.

Helen

[ollypenrice]

Test yourself. Find some distant text just or not quite readable hand held. Try to read the letters of the text one by one backwards. Now try with the bins mounted. I strongly suspect that this will answer your question.

Olly

[Steve Clay]

I have Opticron 11x70 and use a cheap monopod with a manfrotto 222 trigger grip. Makes shifting the bins about very easy. The grip can be found On EBay for less than £30 which is a real bargain when you see it.  Also its easy to use seated as the grip takes the weight of the bins even at high elevation. 

[MaHa]

5 hours ago, Steve Clay said:

I have Opticron 11x70 and use a cheap monopod with a manfrotto 222 trigger grip. Makes shifting the bins about very easy. The grip can be found On EBay for less than £30 which is a real bargain when you see it.  Also its easy to use seated as the grip takes the weight of the bins even at high elevation. 

Thanks Steve, 

Funny I've actually been pondering a monopod trigger grip head setup recently - looking at possibly buying a pair of helios apollo's 15x70.. Obviously too big to hand hold. I had a look through them the other day and the views were fantastic. I've been using my Opticron adventurer T WP 10x50's on my velbon tripod and it certainly makes a huge difference.. I'm thinking my astrophotography venture could maybe wait until next winter, it'll give me time to save up enough for some decent kit. I have no doubt a pair of 15x70's with a decent mounting system and my 10x50's will keep me more than occupied for the next year or so. 

Cheers, 

Mark. ?