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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

How to carry a scope and tripod? (1 Viewer)

i duct tape some pipe insulation to the legs of my tripod and throw it all over my shoulder with the legs extended and ready to go... Coudn't imagine a quicker way to set it up in a pinch!

Russ
 
Just a point from an engineering point of view. Don't believe the nonsense about carrying your scope on the thread of the tripod mount. This thread is capable of supporting a far greater weight than your scope and tripod. A lot more in fact. They tell you it's the weak point so they can sell you an harness/scopac/fancy strap. If it's happiest over your shoulder the thread on the tripod mount is the least of your problems.
 
I've got an Opticron ED80 and a Velbon CX640 tripod, and tend to carry it with the Opticron shoulder straps as on a previous thread and this seems to work best.

However I have often found, no matter how I carry it, the quick release head on the tripod keeps.....well.....releasing! This leaves me often having to catch the tripod as it drops off the scope.

Has anybody got any ideas on a better tripod for the job?
Thanks
 
ghostrider said:
Just a point from an engineering point of view. Don't believe the nonsense about carrying your scope on the thread of the tripod mount. This thread is capable of supporting a far greater weight than your scope and tripod. A lot more in fact. They tell you it's the weak point so they can sell you an harness/scopac/fancy strap. If it's happiest over your shoulder the thread on the tripod mount is the least of your problems.
Click to expand...

I agree that, properly mounted, there are unlikely to be any problems but there have been several reports on this forum of damaged threads on scope feet.

Many of these problems are probably caused by renouncing a quick-release system but nevertheless we are stuck with a camera norm, which is a very poor engineering solution for a scope.

Cameras are seldom transported on tripods and are usually mounted vertically on them. Height limitations dictate a short blind hole with limited thread depth and the thread is usually brass or stainless steel.

Scope feet are usually aluminium and good engineering practice would dictate the use of more than 4 thread turns on the mounting screw so that sufficient torque could be applied that any shear loads are carried by the friction between QR plate and scope foot.

If the scope has a 3/8" mounting thread then one should use a QR plate with a 3/8" screw and not be tempted to use the 1/4" to 3/8" adapter.

John
 
i carry the scope attached on the tripod, but always take the legs from the tripod , NEVER the scope , because this will be not good for the thread.
 
KorHaan said:
Yes, my Zeiss 65 Diascope was top heavy, so I turned the set upside down (tripod collapsed of course) and with the scope at the lowest point the center of gravity was much better.

Eventually I attached two straps instead of the one I used, and wore the tripod with scope attached, like a backpack. Each strap lassoed onto the top of the center column, just under the head, and the two ends onto two tripod legs.
Just like a Mulepack, but I hadn't even heard of that at the time.
For a few bucks you can invent your own carrying device.
I even tried this set-up upside-down, with scope on the lower back and tripod legs sticking up. Low center of gravity, the heaviest things (scope and tripod head) being under.

Regards,

Ronald
Click to expand...
Question: how's the stress on the quick release plate, if carrying the scope pointed downwards?

With the Op/tech strap crossed over my head/shoulders, I find with scope up the balance going horizontally and I'm suddenly a few feet wider with the the scope scarily pointed out (when bumping on a tree...brrr). Upside down the stuff cleanly points vertically, way better and safer to carry when cycling and walking. But can the quick release plate (velbon fhd-53d) handling the 1.3kg weight? Won't it get looser over time and drop the scope one day? (brrrr)
 
Thank you, I know all those backpacks but can't cycle with them (especially in summer) because my back gets soaked with sweatm, and they almost always don't have adequate room for the rest of the stuff I take with me. Need a sling-kind of equipment to mimimize body contact. Might need to hunt down a Karisling/Speyside sling but right now I'm just wondering how long one can carry a scope upside down on the ballhead/quick shoe.
 
Hi,

I would be astonished if this makes a difference. Also you will notice if the mount gets wobbly with time and can get get another video head if it does.

Joachim
 
The Velbon staff does not recommend even carrying the scope on the quick shoe in the normal manner...as the shoe is plastic and built to carry 2.5kg... But with a 1.3kg scope, and all the people I see carrying their scopes on the tripods swung over their shoulders; you can't make me believe they all have better quality metal shoes?!
 
@Ries
Opticron MM3 60 + Vanguard VEO 235 AP + Vauce Cycle 25
Most of the times I go birding it means either cycling or trekking. So being able to pack it in a very small and easy to carry rucksack is essential.

What you see in the picture is neither a rucksack nor a bike pannier... well, it's actually both, Vaude Cycle 25, a pannier that turns into a backpack (or the other way round). The one in the picture is around 6 years old; the current versions are darker/black and do come in different sizes, ASAIK. As you can see, there's the scope and tripod and room for loads more, in a pretty small pannier. If you cycle when birding, I would recommend it 100 %. I do have my old and trusty Ortlieb Roller Classic, which are a blessing when it rains, but a bit of a pain to carry if you are to walk long hours.
 

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Ries said:
Thank you, I know all those backpacks but can't cycle with them (especially in summer) because my back gets soaked with sweatm, and they almost always don't have adequate room for the rest of the stuff I take with me. Need a sling-kind of equipment to mimimize body contact. Might need to hunt down a Karisling/Speyside sling but right now I'm just wondering how long one can carry a scope upside down on the ballhead/quick shoe.
Click to expand...

Here you go:
http://www.orniwelt.de/products/Transportloesungen/Fahrrad-OrniSet.html
 
Ries said:
The Velbon staff does not recommend even carrying the scope on the quick shoe in the normal manner...as the shoe is plastic and built to carry 2.5kg... But with a 1.3kg scope, and all the people I see carrying their scopes on the tripods swung over their shoulders; you can't make me believe they all have better quality metal shoes?!
Click to expand...

I just did a quick roundup of all the quick release plates in the house... three metal, one plastic and that's on a toy Manfrotto tripod with a max load of 1kg or so.

Plastic is indeed kinda disappointing as is the recommendation not to carry a scope half the rated weight on the tripod head... can you return the head?

Joachim
 
Most of the time I just carry my scope on my shoulder because if a bird suddenly appears I want to be ready with the scope as fast as possible. If I have to walk a long distance and I know that I will not need the scope until I get to the birding spot..then I use this bag (I also have a smaller one called 200): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLMfdKAI0PI Sometimes I carry the scope + the tripod outside the bag and sometimes I pack the scope inside the bag and just have the tripod on the outside.
 
Last edited:
Bobby Marlene said:
Here you go:
http://www.orniwelt.de/products/Transportloesungen/Fahrrad-OrniSet.html
Click to expand...
wow, nice! Bit expensive too and won't easily work on my folding bike but it's quite a beautiful solution!

jring said:
I just did a quick roundup of all the quick release plates in the house... three metal, one plastic and that's on a toy Manfrotto tripod with a max load of 1kg or so.

Plastic is indeed kinda disappointing as is the recommendation not to carry a scope half the rated weight on the tripod head... can you return the head?

Joachim
Click to expand...

Can't return/change it, 14 days are gone. Info on quick shoes is quite scarce...head is aluminum, nowhere stated what the quick shoe is made of...
I find it hard to believe it can't hold half the weight and everybody is carrying their 2kg scopes on 6kg copable heads/quick shoes... I'll just carry it around and see how it does...bit scary but I just don't have the money for another more expensive ballhead. I'll be careful handling it with the op/tech sling. And I wanna find a Mondell Karisling; looks like solid way to transport to me.
 
That bicycle tripod bag is a great solution. Too bad Orniwelt asks crazy €19 shipping costs and Koenig themselves claim to be soooo nice to keep direct costumer contact but they won't respond to my emails... So there's the other option with a simple webshop and €9 shipping costs: Berlebach :)

When cycling the long stretches to birding spots I'll keep the scope in my backpack fixed on the rear, when cycling between birding spots I'll just keep the scope attached to the tripod in the Berlebach. For that, I've settled on making the extra expenses for a Manfrotto 128RC. Twice as heavy as the Velbon fhd3-d but twice as strong as well...and it can have the handle leftside so my right can fix it ánd focus the scope. Too bad MVH500AH can't do that (handle can go leftside but then the tiltfix is still on the left side as well...) but that seems to bulky for me anyway.

When walking (rarely) I'll just swing the load over my shoulder with the Op/tech strap (as it seems nobody has recent Mondell contact info for a sling...).

Hope I'm settled now! Wanna go out birding instead of getting my gear in order! But it has to be right to give me comfort my expensive stuff is carried and used safely....
 
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