Idiot's guide to mounts?

[Marc1964]

Hi

I have (hopefully) an 80/560 ED refractor coming my way in March. I need a mount for this. 

Now in the UK sensibly priced AZ mounts seem to be non-existent and I therefore am contemplating using a purchasing a photography tripod (Neewer or Arctise). Trouble is how to connect a vixen mount to the thing. 

I am frankly confused by the wealth of adaptors etc. that are out there and I have no idea what I should be looking for. I am therefore throwing myself at the mercy (and the probable amusement) of the forum to guide a hapless, hopelessly confused individual as to how this might be achieved, preferably without extracting too many £££s' from my weeping wallet... 

[banjaxed]

I am not in to photography but I am fairly sure that photographic tripods have a 1/4” fitting and telescope tripods have a 3/8” fitting. You can obtain adapters for  a pound or so which would enable you to use the photographic tripod with your AZ mount.

[Tiny Clanger]

OK, so, a good photographic tripod will have a removable head . The leg section of the triopod has a centre column that can slide up and down, at the top of that column will be a 3/8" threaded screw. That is the standard photo tripod top fitting.

On top of that simple 3/8" screw, photographers put a head of some kind, maybe a ball and socket, maybe a pan/tilt ( typically the ones with handles) The photo head has a socket which screws onto the 3/8"screw of the tripod.

On TOP of the photo head there will be a 1/4" screw, which is the standard that (almost) all normal cameras have a threaded hole for in their base.

Some small, short,  lightweight 'scopes have a threaded hole (or a few, to allow you to choose the best balance) drilled into their vixen dovetail bar.

If not, then this adapter https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dovetails-saddles-clamps/baader-vixen-style-dovetail-clamp.html

screws to the tripod, and provides a clamp to hold a dovetail.

A few possible difficulties to be aware of  : you want a really sturdy photo tripod and a really good smooth running head , and those things are not cheap. Avoid anything much below £100 or claimed to be travel friendly, you want big and heavy for stability : video tripods might be worth a look too. 

You will miss out on having the slow motion controls that make dedicated 'scope altaz mounts so good for the job. And, if the 'scope has a fixed dovetail ( not rings with the dovetail on) it might be that having it on top of a mount rather than on the side of a mount puts the finder in an awkward place.

The good news is that many alt az 'scope mounts use a 3/8" to tripod socket (I can say with certainty that the az5 does, as I have one on a photo tripod myself) so if the tripod you buy is good enough, and the head can be removed, you could upgrade to an altaz later, keeping the tripod legs.

Heather

[Marc1964]

@Tiny Clanger This is absolutely what I was looking for, many thanks for the idiots guide!

I was thinking of spending around £125 in order to get a decent tripod. Would spend up to £200 for an alt-az but as I say above, finding a decent mount at a not stupid price seems to be a challenge at the moment; was thinking of the SW az4 on steel legs but not at the increased price! Now looking at a Vixen Mobile Porta, but God only knows when they will be back in stock! 

I will wait for my new scope to arrive before taking the plunge on a photo tripod, and hopefully the Vixen will come into stock, but at least I now know what I should be looking for if I choose to go down the photo tripod route! 

[Tiny Clanger]

Keep your eyes open for second hand tripods, especially locally : as they are big awkward things to post you might get a bargain . As well as private sellers on the usual sites, sometimes  photo kit dealers take them in in part exchange for new gear and are anxious to shift them to free up stockroom space !

Heather

[Marc1964]

@Tiny Clanger any specific recommendations or advice on what I should avoid? The local fbook pages have lots of tripods locally some look to be of very dubious quality! 

[Tiny Clanger]

39 minutes ago, Marc1964 said:

@Tiny Clanger any specific recommendations or advice on what I should avoid? The local fbook pages have lots of tripods locally some look to be of very dubious quality! 

The only brands I have any experience with are Gitzo ( the Rolls Royce of tripods, only used a company one decades ago, doubt you'd see any on facebook !) Slik, who used to make good solid tripods in their top of the range offerings, but again I've no current experience of them, and manfrotto..

My favourite tripods are Manfrottos,  if  you can find a 55 series manfrotto second hand, that would be perfect: my old one is rated to 11kg, the newer versions to 9kg weight carrying, which matches the az5. Probably overkill for the little scope you are getting, but in the future, capable of holding up something far larger ... I have a lighter weight manf. 160 too, it is less substantial than the 55, but perfectly adequate to hold my heritage 150 reflector using that adaptor I linked to.  Maybe someone else with recent experience of other brands will chip in and give you some more ideas.

In general, a pan tilt head with handles is probably preferable to a ball head, easier to control and lock , you'd be fumbling under the 'scope tube to adjust a ball head.

I've never liked the leg locks which are collars you turn, I like positive, snap into place clips with little levers, but plenty of photographers vocally prefer the collars, so that's a matter of personal preference !

To be a reliable tripod, anything you buy needs to be mostly metal, as little plastic as possible, and big diameter tubes ... Ideally you want a tripod so big that you do NOT need to extend the lowest, thinnest leg sections at all to  raise your 'scope to 'viewing level, those thin lowest leg sections are wobbly. Best not slide the centre column up either, leave it locked down, which all reduces vibrations and wobbles.

Hard to be more specific , but I hope that heps abit.

Heather

Edited February 21, 2021 by Tiny Clanger
missed a bit !