Homemade swing-out bracket for under £20 (1 Viewer)

john-henry · Oct 29, 2005

Looking at several threads lately regarding people wanting digiscoping adaptors, and the extortionate prices many firms are charging, here’s my homemade swing-out bracket that can be made for under £20 and only needs a few basic skills, mainly cutting, drilling and filing. Perhaps the only drawback is it’s made for angled scopes, but it could be adapted for straight scopes by lengthening the base-plate and using a straight swing-out arm on this.
I’ve been using it for over 3 years with Coolpix 995 and 4500 cameras and lately with a Canon A95, it works really well, a lot steadier than many commercial adaptors. Also with the A95’s adjustable monitor it can be used in a car, hide etc.

The camera can be swung away for focusing and returned for taking a picture in a couple of seconds, it has a cable release bracket and another small post with a ring fixed on top that acts as a sight, all you have to do is find the bird in the ‘sights’, and it will be in the scope, no need to take the camera off the scope or anything, ideal for birds on the move etc.

The only ‘refinement’ I use is a Lensmate 37mm adaptor, mainly to protect the zoom lens.

Cheers

John

Bagpuss · Oct 29, 2005

Nice work John! I lack your metalworking skills and am having to go the commercial route. I'd like to know where you sourced the 37mm Lensmate adapter for the A95.

alan_rymer · Oct 29, 2005

Bagpuss said:
Nice work John! I lack your metalworking skills and am having to go the commercial route. I'd like to know where you sourced the 37mm Lensmate adapter for the A95.

Bagpuss

Like John-henry I use the adapter from Lensmate: http://www.lensmateonline.com/newsite/A95A80.html
As far as I know its not available from a U.K. supplier, but mine arrived within a week of ordering from the USA.

HTH

Alan

john-henry · Oct 29, 2005

Bagpuss said:
Nice work John! I lack your metalworking skills and am having to go the commercial route. I'd like to know where you sourced the 37mm Lensmate adapter for the A95.

As Alan has just said direct from Lensmate, excellent service and arrived just over a week after ordering.

I've been looking at your thread and understand the problem you're having trying to find the most suitable set-up, is there no-one local to you who could make you something similar to mine?

john

Bagpuss · Oct 31, 2005

John-Henry, thank you. You've sold me on the idea of making my own. I'm going to get the scope and camera first, offer them up together to get the geometry right, then source the materials locally. I think you've saved me about £200.

peterpiper · Nov 1, 2005

Black box

John Henry, what is the black box in pics 1&4? is it some kind of power supply for the canon? if so could you please post details,
thanks.
pete

john-henry · Nov 1, 2005

peterpiper said:
John Henry, what is the black box in pics 1&4? is it some kind of power supply for the canon? if so could you please post details,
thanks.
pete

Pete, yes it is a battery pack, and a very good one too, lasts for hours and hours in the field.
I got it from Maplin Electronics, www.maplin.co.uk, the part number is L56AN and cost £30.

Basically it's a 7.2v/2000mAh pack, they do various adaptors to go with it to fit different cameras and their different voltages, very useful indeed. I've used it with a Coolpix 4500 and Canon A95 and wouldn't be without it, especially when away on holiday.

Try Maplins website and type in the part number above, if they still stock it then look for the adaptor for your camera.

good luck

john

john-henry · Nov 1, 2005

Bagpuss said:
John-Henry, thank you. You've sold me on the idea of making my own. I'm going to get the scope and camera first, offer them up together to get the geometry right, then source the materials locally. I think you've saved me about £200.

Bagpuss,
It's not so difficult to do, if you need any help contact me.

Have you decided on a scope and camera yet?

john

Bagpuss · Nov 1, 2005

john-henry said:
Bagpuss,
It's not so difficult to do, if you need any help contact me.

Have you decided on a scope and camera yet?

john

I already had an A95 on order. Tonight I ordered a Kowa TSN 824M and a 20-60x eyepiece plus a UV filter to keep the sea spray off the objective. I'll order the 37mm Lensmate adapter tomorrow. I think I've found somewhere local that may hold aluminium bar stock (I live in a very remote area). The remote release shouldn't be a problem. I hope to be able to make something like you have without tapping any metal - purely using fixings. Thanks for the offer of help - the pics you already supplied were excellent.

I looked up that Maplins battery pack - if I read the description correctly, it comes with some plugs, although others are listed with code numbers with no description. Do you actually need one of them to connect to tha A95 - if so which code no did you get?

Thanks again

Chris

Bagpuss · Nov 2, 2005

BTW, did you use 2" or 3" aluminium bar? I've located some 3" locally.

peterpiper · Nov 2, 2005

john-henry said:
Pete, yes it is a battery pack, and a very good one too, lasts for hours and hours in the field.
I got it from Maplin Electronics, www.maplin.co.uk, the part number is L56AN and cost £30.

Basically it's a 7.2v/2000mAh pack, they do various adaptors to go with it to fit different cameras and their different voltages, very useful indeed. I've used it with a Coolpix 4500 and Canon A95 and wouldn't be without it, especially when away on holiday.

Try Maplins website and type in the part number above, if they still stock it then look for the adaptor for your camera.

good luck

john

Ta lots :t:

john-henry · Nov 2, 2005

Bagpuss said:
I already had an A95 on order. Tonight I ordered a Kowa TSN 824M and a 20-60x eyepiece plus a UV filter to keep the sea spray off the objective. I'll order the 37mm Lensmate adapter tomorrow. I think I've found somewhere local that may hold aluminium bar stock (I live in a very remote area). The remote release shouldn't be a problem. I hope to be able to make something like you have without tapping any metal - purely using fixings. Thanks for the offer of help - the pics you already supplied were excellent.

I looked up that Maplins battery pack - if I read the description correctly, it comes with some plugs, although others are listed with code numbers with no description. Do you actually need one of them to connect to tha A95 - if so which code no did you get?

Thanks again

Chris

Chris,
re the Maplin Battery Pack you need Plug No. 3 (part No. L92AQ) for your A95. I've just had a quick check on their site and they have 5 in stock at £4.99.

You've made an excellent choice of scope and camera and can look forward to getting some really good photos when it's all set up.

I used 2" aluminium for my bracket but 3" will be OK. and there is no need to tap any holes, the same thing can be achieved using threaded bar with nuts top and bottom.

Regards

John

Bagpuss · Nov 6, 2005

I hope you don're mind if I ask a few more questions!

1) Why did you go for a pivot point that was off the axis of the scope, resulting in the 'L' shape arrangement? You could presumably have had the plate come up directly under the eyepiece. Was this arrangement simply to provide better access to the eyepiece, or to allow for a battery mounting plate or perhaps to allow better clearance during swing-out?

2) Assuming you're using something like the Jessops remote release cable that I purchased today, how do you secure the end to the plate you've set up over the camera shutter release? The remote release cable has an unusual tapered thread that doesn't look very strong. Nor does the end appear to come off. I'm toying with the idea of using a thicker piece of bar for the horizontal support and Aralditing the parrallel rotating part into the hole!

3) Does your mount cater for the use of zoom resulting in varying eye relief? I wasn't sure if your Swaro eyepiece was fixed or zoom although the outside was knurled. I don't have the scope yet but, from experience with riflescopes, I have a nasty feeling that different magnifications on the eyepiece will result in varying eye-reliefs. If that's the case, I'm toying with the idea of building the Manfrotto micro positioning plate into my mount to provide fore and aft movement.

http://www.dvtapes.co.uk/cgi-bin/store2/commerce.cgi?product=TRIPOD.htm&pid=247

4) Can someone recommend somewhere where I can order 1/4" UNC bolts/machine screws from?

john-henry · Nov 6, 2005

Bagpuss said:
I hope you don're mind if I ask a few more questions!

1) Why did you go for a pivot point that was off the axis of the scope, resulting in the 'L' shape arrangement? You could presumably have had the plate come up directly under the eyepiece. Was this arrangement simply to provide better access to the eyepiece, or to allow for a battery mounting plate or perhaps to allow better clearance during swing-out?

2) Assuming you're using something like the Jessops remote release cable that I purchased today, how do you secure the end to the plate you've set up over the camera shutter release? The remote release cable has an unusual tapered thread that doesn't look very strong. Nor does the end appear to come off. I'm toying with the idea of using a thicker piece of bar for the horizontal support and Aralditing the parrallel rotating part into the hole!

3) Does your mount cater for the use of zoom resulting in varying eye relief? I wasn't sure if your Swaro eyepiece was fixed or zoom although the outside was knurled. I don't have the scope yet but, from experience with riflescopes, I have a nasty feeling that different magnifications on the eyepiece will result in varying eye-reliefs. If that's the case, I'm toying with the idea of building the Manfrotto micro positioning plate into my mount to provide fore and aft movement.

http://www.dvtapes.co.uk/cgi-bin/store2/commerce.cgi?product=TRIPOD.htm&pid=247

4) Can someone recommend somewhere where I can order 1/4" UNC bolts/machine screws from?

Chris, I don't mind how many questions you ask, we all learn a bit more from them.

I tried having the swing-out arm as an extension of the base-plate but found it a little bit tight to the eyepiece and a lot slower in use, although it did work OK. I think the problem comes with the distance the eyepiece is set in from the end of the scope, this may differ on different scopes of course, but I settled on an offset as it was more comfortable to use and faster.

Regarding the cable release - there is a 4mm tapped hole in the plate that holds it over the shutter button, the cable release screws into this reasonable firmly, I have also drilled and tapped an offcut of the 3mm aluminium used for the bracket and it works just the same.
As an alternative method people have glued a 4mm nut over a 5mm hole to do the same job.

I'm not quite sure what you mean in question 3 but the zoom is fully usable and there is no variable eye relief as you use it, i.e. the eyepiece does not move at all, zooming is done internally. All that is necessary is to get the camera lens as close to the eyepiece as possible and this is catered for with the Lensmate adaptor.
The A95 only moves about 3mm between min and max zoom and the Lensmate is 3-4mm longer than the cameras' full zoom position, as the Lensmate will sit on your eyepiece there is no chance of the camera lens hitting the eyepiece and you will have the minimum eye relief you can get.
Focusing is then best done with the scope and the camera swung into place to take the photo. That's it.

hope this helps

john

Bagpuss · Nov 6, 2005

Thanks again John.

Bagpuss · Nov 27, 2005

Hi John

I have one of the battery packs and adapters on order. I know this is like asking 'how long is a piece of string' but roughly how long does the battery pack keep the camera going on one charge?

Chris

Yelvertoft · Nov 27, 2005

Bagpuss said:
4) Can someone recommend somewhere where I can order 1/4" UNC bolts/machine screws from?

Hi,

I'm not sure where you are going to use these screws, but be aware that a standard camera tripod bush is a 1/4" Whitworth thread, NOT UNC.

Regards,

Duncan.

Andrew Rowlands · Nov 27, 2005

Yelvertoft said:
... be aware that a standard camera tripod bush is a 1/4" Whitworth thread, NOT UNC.

Standard gutter bolt thread - any hardware store should stock something you can use

Andy.

john-henry · Nov 27, 2005

Bagpuss said:
Hi John

I have one of the battery packs and adapters on order. I know this is like asking 'how long is a piece of string' but roughly how long does the battery pack keep the camera going on one charge?

Chris

Chris, it should last several days, shooting on and off throughout the day, or putting it another way for several hundred photos.

Obviously, as with all rechargeable batteries, it takes a few cycles of charging/discharging before it's at its best.

John

Bagpuss · Nov 27, 2005

Andrew Rowlands said:
Standard gutter bolt thread - any hardware store should stock something you can use

Andy.

What is a 'gutter bolt'? I went to my local farm supplies and tried the bolts they had to try to determine the thread. 1/4 UNC was the only one that 'fit'. When I screwed it in (and I've had the camera on and off a few times) I kept an eye out for excessive resistance and/or swarf, but didn't see any. I did a Google at the time (you can try this yourself) and as many more threads (if you'll excuse the pun!) said a camera tripod thread was 1/4 UNC than said Whitworth. I'll admit you've got me worried though!

Homemade swing-out bracket for under £20 (1 Viewer)

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