Advice for Tripod to use with binoculars

[TopperHenly]

I've been doing stargazing for a number of years using a pair of binoculars.  I have only taken an amateur interest in it  where I enjoyed it more as an activity of going outdoors on dark winter evenings. However I felt I had taken it as far I felt I could with the equipment I had. I took a break from it to decide whether I wanted to buy extra equipment to pursue it further. 

That was a year ago and with the current pandemic it has put me back in the mood to get out stargazing. This time though I am planning to buy a tripod for the binoculars to be mounted on so that I can get a better view of the stars without the 'shaking' when holding them. As I will be walking to the spot where I get best conditions for stargazing, I will be looking for a lightweight and portable tripod which can be easily carried short distances.

I have a pair of Auriol 10x-30x60 binoculars which I bought from Lidl years ago. I assume that I can buy a tripod adaptor for it so I can mount it on a telescope . I've tried doing an internet search for it but unable to find the companies website or any concrete information about whether it can be  mounted onto a tripod via an adaptor. Would I be right in saying that it will be okay to buy an tripod adaptor and therefore will fit onto a tripod?

 

[TopperHenly]

I wasn't sure as a new member I was allowed to post link but here is Amazon link to binoculars:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Auriol-10-30-60-Zoom-Binoculars/dp/B00I8PB0LC

[Tiny Clanger]

Hi and welcome,

first thing to check : do your binoculars have either a screw thread or a little cover you can unscrew to reveal one? It will be on the part that links the two halves of the instrument and lets you adjust the eye spacing, and will be the objective (not the 'eye') end ? Most binoculars sold recently do.

If so, there's thousands of simple L shaped brackets available . Camera tripods have a standard sized screw, so any will fit . I bought some new binoculars a few weeks back, I'll find a link to the bracket I got at the same time, it was about £10. If not ... well, there used to be adapters that clamped on the central bar, I had one from decades ago, it was all plastic and not good.

I own several photographic tripods, but choose to perch my binoculars on top of a monopod, which might suit you better : it's light to carry, easy to shift your point of view, simple and relatively cheap. You could get a monopod and a cheap ball head (which goes between top of monopod and bottom of the binocular adapter ) for under £30, which would only buy you a very basic (and probably too short to use standing up ) tripod

[wulfrun]

From the looks of those on the link, they have a plastic cover on the bridge at the front, as do most nowadays. Unscrew it and you should find a standard-thread screw hole for an L-bracket. For a budget option, a sturdy photographic tripod can probably be had second-hand off an auction site for very little, just be sure it has a pan-and-tilt. A monopod as mentioned above is probably a better option though. I have a decent photographic tripod and L-bracket that I've used mine on - it's ok but not the most convenient, the tripod legs tend to get in the way at times. Does the job when needed though.

Edited October 27, 2020 by wulfrun
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[Tiny Clanger]

OK, so this is the one I bought:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Opticron-Binocular-Tripod-Mount-Binoculars/dp/B005XXZCR0

if you search amazon for monopods for cameras I'm sure you'll get thousands of results, ranging from £15 to how much ?! . My personal preference is for click locks for the sliding sections, rather than ones where you have to tighten a rotating collar, and I'd go for one which has a grip so you can use it like a walking pole on your way to your stargazing spot . Do be sure that you choose a monopod long enough so you can comfortably stand with it extended to hold the binoculars above your eye level so you can look up !

Best reference I found when looking for information before buying my (modest £80) binoculars was

https://binocularsky.com/binoc_mount.php

Hope that helps

Heather

 

 

[Tiny Clanger]

1 hour ago, TopperHenly said:

I wasn't sure as a new member I was allowed to post link but here is Amazon link to binoculars:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Auriol-10-30-60-Zoom-Binoculars/dp/B00I8PB0LC

Yep, look at the photos on that page, see the one with the little black disc taken off, showing a metal threaded hole ? That's the tripod adapter socket.

Heather

 

[TopperHenly]

The binoculars I have does look like it has screw holes as mentioned. I've attached images of both front and back. I would assume the front screw hole is only needed

A monopod does sound like what I am after rather than a tripod so will go for that.

In terms of budget, I don't really want to spend too much but may need to for what I want to do. At this present time, I am just looking around the night sky identifying constellations and observing  individual stars. Therefore I will be changing positions and I'd assume I'd need to crouch to observe anything straight above me.  It sounds like I will need a monopod with a moveable head as mentioned in link provided by Tiny Clanger.

Thanks to all who have replied. Much appreciated. It's given me a better idea of what I am after.

[Pixies]

Yep. The second image shows where the tripod adapter will attach

[TopperHenly]

Thanks Pixies.

[Louis D]

The pistol grip style tripod heads get recommended a lot for binocular usage on either monopods or tripods:

[Tiny Clanger]

24 minutes ago, Louis D said:

The pistol grip style tripod heads get recommended a lot for binocular usage on either monopods or tripods:

They do, and I spent ages trying to find one a couple of months ago ... if I recall correctly , the only one I found was about £50 , Manfrotto make a travel tripod for around the same price which incorporates such a head, but the head is not detachable from the short and thin legs, which make the thing too low for binoculars.  I decided I'd try to keep my expenditure down, and just used a cheap far eastern mini ball head I already had for an action cam. atop an unbranded monopod.

I can see the trigger action would be easier to use in the dark wearing gloves than the little locking thumb lever on the ball head though. If anyone tracks down a trigger head at a bargain price please post a link, I'd be very interested .

[DaveL59]

I have one of these trigger grips and it works very well. Manfrotto #222 often comes up on the bay for sensible money, well before this pandemic that is. Easy to overhaul and well made so a good used purchase. You could also consider a small fluid head tho the adjuster/handles can be problematic unless you set it up so they are ahead of the objectives.

For a monopod try get one that will reach head height, I use a Giottos one that also has feet that can make it tripod-like tho holding a large bins it'd likely topple if let go. You can of course use the combo to stabilise while seated on a recliner which would relieve the neck ache.

Have you tried these zooms on the sky yet? Reason I ask and since nobody seems to have mentioned so far... zoom binos are usually very poor performers and more so looking at stars. You may find you will be wanting to move to a better, fixed mag pair once you spend time behind them.

[aderyn]

I bought an Amazon Basics 177-cm tripod with this identical trigger grip head a couple of months ago, for £58.00, which seemed quite a good deal, as the head was selling for about 42.00 on its own. The tripod was better than I was expecting, for the money, frankly – I thought of it as a freebie, more or less., for the extra £16.  Its more than tall enough for me (I’m on the short side) but also short enough to use sitting down.

Unfortunately, its not currently available, but could be worth watching for in future - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LQX0P8Q/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

Amazon sell the trigger grip head under the Dynasun brand - they were in stock very recently but today are showing as currently unavailable. Must be all those astronomers out there, chasing kit...🙄

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001B0C2S6/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A1MYXZTPY3MSOT&psc=1

I also bought the Amazon Basics 67 inch monopod – this is currently available for £14.99 and I have found it ok to use, although have no other monopods to compare with it for robustness and so on. Its easy to adjust for the height and fit the trigger grip. Also comes with a carry case, which is helpful. Its taken a bit of getting used to the weight with my Helios 15x70s, but has made a huge difference to being able to use them properly, and my much smaller 8x42s are a doddle. Really need a pair of 10x50s now to fit in the middle🤔

Monopod here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FAYL1YU/ref=dp_prsubs_2?th=1

 

 

[TopperHenly]

Apologies for late reply. I've been caught up with other things and  wasn't able to look into this until now.

Also, thanks to all who replied. Much appreciated.

I had got an binocular adaptor today and it fits my binoculars.

I have ordered the below monopod which has a delivery date of next week:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-70-Pan-Head-Tilt-Travel-Monopod-Adjustable-Digital-Camera-Lightweight-Stand/123940416443?epid=1673030643&hash=item1cdb6cabbb:g:QLQAAOSwG~Re2WpN

Price was a factor in this choice because I think I will be taking a more serious interest in stargazing and most likely will be upgrading to a telescope sooner rather than later so don't won't to spend too much money on this at the moment. For the time being, binoculars  will be sufficient.

Edited November 12, 2020 by TopperHenly

[Tiny Clanger]

You might find the handle of the pan tilt head on the monopod a bit inconvenient , and sometimes such a head will not allow you to set as steep an upward angle as you'd like for stargazing . I've used my telescope on my hefty pro photo tripod with a pan/tilt head just to see if it was feasible ... it was , but to get a high angle I had to mount the 'scope backwards on the head, i.e. with the horizontal handle not towards me as it usually would be,  but pointing away from me.

If it turns out the same for you with the binoculars on this monopod, you may be able to unscrew the head , and just mount the bracket straight onto the monopod and rely on tilting the whole thing, or substitute a cheap ball and socket head . The screw that attaches heads to tripods is (usually) standard assuming it is a removable one.

A final thought : if you don't need to extend the monopod completely to get your binoculars to eye height, the best section to leave retracted is the lowest, thinnest one, it will be the wobbliest part of the setup.

Good luck, hope you get to train your apparatus on clear skies soon !

Heather

[TopperHenly]

9 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

You might find the handle of the pan tilt head on the monopod a bit inconvenient , and sometimes such a head will not allow you to set as steep an upward angle as you'd like for stargazing . I've used my telescope on my hefty pro photo tripod with a pan/tilt head just to see if it was feasible ... it was , but to get a high angle I had to mount the 'scope backwards on the head, i.e. with the horizontal handle not towards me as it usually would be,  but pointing away from me.

If it turns out the same for you with the binoculars on this monopod, you may be able to unscrew the head , and just mount the bracket straight onto the monopod and rely on tilting the whole thing, or substitute a cheap ball and socket head . The screw that attaches heads to tripods is (usually) standard assuming it is a removable one.

A final thought : if you don't need to extend the monopod completely to get your binoculars to eye height, the best section to leave retracted is the lowest, thinnest one, it will be the wobbliest part of the setup.

Good luck, hope you get to train your apparatus on clear skies soon !

Heather

 

I've got a feeling the monopod could be difficult to operate in the colder nights where I may need to take off my gloves in order to change positions.

I had to get a 70" one due to my height but the spots I use to star gaze is local scrub land which has uneven terrain so hopefully I will be able to use this type of terrain to overcome it's possible deficiencies as well being able to star gaze comfortably as I have lower back problems where I can't stoop for long periods.

In the past, the best times for extended periods of clear skies in my area in the late evening has been usually between February and April. As mentioned in my other post, I can now go stargazing during the week even if it means in the early hours of the morning. If I can do that without being too tired the following day when WFH, I should be able to get out more.

[DaveL59]

you'd probably be fine gloves on as you free up the altitude by turning the handle. No need to undo the other axis as you can just turn the monopod itself 🙂

I'd also suggest handle at the objective side else you'll struggle to get your face up to the eyepieces. For sure tall is better than stooping else your neck is also more strained which really doesn't help much at all.

[Tiny Clanger]

I reckon the clip locks and the handle on the pan tilt ( you turn the end of it to unlock and lock the movement of the p/t  head) should be workable while wearing gloves (but probably not mittens !) , and  once you have the binoculars set for infinity there won't be a reason to take your gloves off .

To avoid tripping on that rough scrubland when there's no moonlight to watch your footing by, you might want to use a red light torch , red light will not wreck your eye's adaptation to low light as a white light torch would.

No need to buy a special expensive torch for nights when there's no moonlight to watch your footing, any one you already have can be adapted with sticky tape and judicious use of a few layers of red cellophane e.g from a sweet wrapper , great excuse to buy and eat some 'Roses' or similar ... Some headtorches have the choice of red or white beam , which is handy, or should I say, hands free ?

[TopperHenly]

6 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I reckon the clip locks and the handle on the pan tilt ( you turn the end of it to unlock and lock the movement of the p/t  head) should be workable while wearing gloves (but probably not mittens !) , and  once you have the binoculars set for infinity there won't be a reason to take your gloves off .

To avoid tripping on that rough scrubland when there's no moonlight to watch your footing by, you might want to use a red light torch , red light will not wreck your eye's adaptation to low light as a white light torch would.

No need to buy a special expensive torch for nights when there's no moonlight to watch your footing, any one you already have can be adapted with sticky tape and judicious use of a few layers of red cellophane e.g from a sweet wrapper , great excuse to buy and eat some 'Roses' or similar ... Some headtorches have the choice of red or white beam , which is handy, or should I say, hands free ?

I have a LED headlight that has both settings for white and red light which I had used for reading a star map when identifying constellations. I can see it will become useful when I am moving the monopod in different positions.

[TopperHenly]

I had got the monopod at the weekend. I had managed to connect it with adaptor and binoculars although I had to remove the adhesive plastic pad on the bottom of the adaptor to get it to fit.

I then tried it today successfully for practice . I dismantled it and tried it once again for practice but no matter what I did the adaptor no longer fits on the monopod. I've looked at the monopod attachment screw and it looks fine  but the adaptor screw-thread looks like it is slightly damaged which could explain why it is not attaching hopefully due to monopod screw not catching. This is the adaptor I had got:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Binocular-Metal-Adapter-Mount-for-Tripods-with-1-4-Inch-Screw-Thread/131955808401?epid=1189431431&hash=item1eb92dd891:g:RmcAAOSw9iNbW48u

I'm going to order a L-shaped adaptor which I hope will solve the issue.

I've attached a picture of the binoculars with the monopod head. I'm not entirely sure that the head is big enough to hold a pair of binoculars. If the L-shaped adaptor doesn't work then I have to accept that the particular monopod I have bought isn't suitable for binoculars.

[Ricochet]

You shouldn't have had to remove the pad from the bottom of the adaptor. How far does the screw protrude from the surface of the monopod head? I can only imagine that it isn't quite long enough. 

[TopperHenly]

24 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

You shouldn't have had to remove the pad from the bottom of the adaptor. How far does the screw protrude from the surface of the monopod head? I can only imagine that it isn't quite long enough. 

It only protrudes about half a centimetre. It looks exactly the same as the picture on the e-bay site which I had previously provided a look previously. I've included the image from the site:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/wa8AAOSwqK9e2Wp3/s-l64.jpg

The area around the monopod screw was hollow and I had stupidly cut it to see if more screw would be exposed but it doesn't so I can't send it back.

I've ordered an L-shape adaptor to see if that helps but I've got a feeling this particular product isn't suitable for binoculars. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[Ricochet]

Having had a look at some of my plates, the screw protruding by 5mm looks to be normal. I've also got the same binocular adaptor and there is an unthreaded section at the bottom of it, so there can only be a couple of mm contact to the screw head. If this has stripped at all it is no wonder that it no longer holds. As you have ordered another adaptor already, I suggest you just wait for that to arrive and see if you have more success. I suspect you will do. 

[TopperHenly]

I've just got a L-shape adaptor through the post and it fits the monopod perfectly.

I've included screenshots to show the L-shape adaptor fitting on the monopod and the monpod fully extended with hopefully will give an idea of it's height.

The weather has been pretty bad the past week. Hopefully it will clear up in the following days so I can get out and even if the conditions aren't good for stargazing, I can get an idea of how I would actually use it for that purpose. 

 

[Tiny Clanger]

That looks like a far more robust adapter, similar to the one I bought (mine has straight sides on the vertical bit, and was the one the binocular manufacturer recommended for my specific model)

Let's hope it does the trick , and you can get on with your observing !

Heather