monopod mounts

[Gill Rockwell]

just borrowed a monopod from a friend that he had lying around.

since i don't have a mount for my 10x50's i'm experimenting by just resting them on the monopod which is working beautifully for me...

think i'll mount on a tennis ball as a 'rest'...

I'll go through the effort of making a mount one day but so far i don't see the necessity... the image is pretty crisp .)

by the way, I've got Nikon Sporters so I'll have to be creative.

there's no integrated thread or screw for a mount .)

anybody else using monopod's ?

[jgs001]

I've not tried a monopod but I can see it working well. The tennis ball idea sounds great

[Gill Rockwell]

plan 2: use tennis balls for the game called tennis.

although quite a comfortable when viewing, the tennisball doesn't keep the bino's nice and flat ON the mount. it's also quite a pain to mount a tennis ball on the mount, if you want things to look neat that is .)

anyway, since we're doing a reconstruction on the house i stumbled upon a piece of plastic waterpipe the other day. it's a bout 5.5mm thick, about 32mm in diameter. the 5.5mm provides enough material for a screw thread, the 32mm diameter provides a nice saddle for the bino's to 'sit' on... throw in the specially made foam insulation tube fitting the water pipe, and things even get better.

a lot more stable, fast and CHEAP ! i might post some pictures in the DIY section.

tools needed: 1 swiss army knife, 2 pieces of sticky tape .)

[LukeSkywatcher]

I've never found that 10X50 bins need mounting. They work fine as handheld bins.

[Gill Rockwell]

hm, ok, i might reconsider using the word 'mounting' in a 'monopod context'.

let's just say my brain has got less difficulties splitting ζ lyra using one.

i have to admit i rarely take a monopod with me for the casual evening walk, but when i stay out for a bit longer and there's an empty chair around, that monopod is a wonderful thing. i don't have any big toys on tripods to play with so i'm enjoying it as much as i can .)

[scogyrd]

I've never found that 10X50 bins need mounting. They work fine as handheld bins.

They work fine held-held but they're better mounted, imo.

[Gill Rockwell]

that's the thingy with the mirror, isn't it ?

can't get used to the idea, seems a bit odd to me.

does it work well ? what's the mirror made of ?

[scogyrd]

Yeah, it is a mirror mount.

I think they're good, but I can see why you might think they're a bit odd. For me the main bonus is simply being able to observe in comfort. It's nice to just sit down with a cup of tea and look at the stars without worrying about getting neck or back ache. Aiming is pretty easy too. If you move your head back from the binoculars a bit you can see enough of the mirror to see where it's pointing.

The only real drawback I can think of is the upside down image, but it's no worse than looking through my scope in that respect.

The mirror is a glass front surface mirror.