help with mounting plate & head for a circa 1993 85mm Swarovski (2 Viewers)

[Tarh331_Dad]

Recently I acquired an old Swarovski CT-85 spotting scope, which I am told was probably manufactured around 1993.

I'm new to all of this, and I don't even know the correct terminology for much of what I'm imagining, but I can't seem to find anything which looks like a proper fit as a mounting plate for this scope.

In what follows, I also don't know whether it's a good idea to mix Spotting Scopes with photography hardware [from the likes of Manfrotto & Gitzo & Cullmann]; for all I know, maybe there's a separate and parallel astronomy industry which makes products roughly similar to the products of the photography industry?

Anyway, this CT-85 has a mounting surface which is about 1 & 13/32" long by 1 & 1/8" wide.

There are two "female" openings which are tapped to receive two different screw sizes: 1/4"-20 and 3/8"-16.

The centers of those "female" openings are about 9/16" apart.

The scope is rather heavy, and I very much want to use both screws [the 1/4" and the 3/8"] when mounting the scope.

I've looked at webpages until my eyes are about to fall out of my head, but I haven't yet found anything which promises to match these specs.

Some of the Manfrotto "hexagonal" mounting plates look like they might have a 3/8" hole in them [to accompany what appear to be 1/4" holes], but I can't seem to find any official Manfrotto engineering diagrams to confirm it.

My understanding is that I will need at least the following:

A) A mounting plate which fits the scope

B) A head which can receive the mounting plate

C) A tripod which can receive the head.

I am happy to use vintage equipment, and, in particular, I would love for the tripod to be of very heavy old school manufacture, such as a stainless steel Cullmann or a solid aluminum Gitzo.

And I could even be happy with just a short pygmy-sized "desktop" tripod.

But I don't know where to go from here.

If anyone has some actual part numbers from actual manufacturers which would allow me to put everything together, then I would be most grateful.

Thanks so much for any insight you might have!!!

 

[Bill Atwood]

This doesn't solve your problem, but may help with part of it.

B&H Photo sells all sorts of tripod plate screws and 3/8"-16 to 1/4"-20 reducer bushings.

Here's a link for bushings:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?q=bushing&sts=ma

 

[grackle314]

You can find people with CT experience in the forum threads. For example, look in the Swaro spotting scope threads.

 

[tenex]

The Swaro CTH tripod head has, or had, fittings that look like an exact match for this, and pretty much any head will fit any tripod. But you can use whatever you like, either via the 1/4" thread or with an adapter bushing in the 3/8" (which is how my Meopta S2 came equipped).

 

[Jkloz]

I use photography hardware all the time . Alot of people attach cameras ( or phones) to their spotting scopes and use the brands you mention alot ) adjust for weight) . I use astronomy stuff like fixed eyepieces and solar filters but would never consider an astonomy setup with heavy tripods and extra gadgets . … spotting scopes are only good for interplanetary stuff like jupiter and saturn and closer .

 

[jring]

Hi,

we use photo tripods all the time. You might want to get a fluid or video head as these are best used with spotting scopes but a normal 3 axis head will also work, albeit not as conveniently. As for plates, they usually come with a 3/8" thread or - less ideal - need an adapter from 1/4" to 3/8". Since your scope has both sizes, you can try to get a plate which allows for two screws for extra security, as scopes tend to wiggle loose over time with only one screw.

Joachim

 

[4John]

Recently I acquired an old Swarovski CT-85 spotting scope, which I am told was probably manufactured around 1993.

I'm new to all of this, and I don't even know the correct terminology for much of what I'm imagining, but I can't seem to find anything which looks like a proper fit as a mounting plate for this scope.

In what follows, I also don't know whether it's a good idea to mix Spotting Scopes with photography hardware [from the likes of Manfrotto & Gitzo & Cullmann]; for all I know, maybe there's a separate and parallel astronomy industry which makes products roughly similar to the products of the photography industry?

Anyway, this CT-85 has a mounting surface which is about 1 & 13/32" long by 1 & 1/8" wide.

There are two "female" openings which are tapped to receive two different screw sizes: 1/4"-20 and 3/8"-16.

The centers of those "female" openings are about 9/16" apart.

The scope is rather heavy, and I very much want to use both screws [the 1/4" and the 3/8"] when mounting the scope.

I've looked at webpages until my eyes are about to fall out of my head, but I haven't yet found anything which promises to match these specs.

Some of the Manfrotto "hexagonal" mounting plates look like they might have a 3/8" hole in them [to accompany what appear to be 1/4" holes], but I can't seem to find any official Manfrotto engineering diagrams to confirm it.

My understanding is that I will need at least the following:

A) A mounting plate which fits the scope

B) A head which can receive the mounting plate

C) A tripod which can receive the head.

I am happy to use vintage equipment, and, in particular, I would love for the tripod to be of very heavy old school manufacture, such as a stainless steel Cullmann or a solid aluminum Gitzo.

And I could even be happy with just a short pygmy-sized "desktop" tripod.

But I don't know where to go from here.

If anyone has some actual part numbers from actual manufacturers which would allow me to put everything together, then I would be most grateful.

Thanks so much for any insight you might have!!!

Tarrh331_Dad

All tripod heads (B) come with a matching QR or quick release plate (A) that screws onto the "foot" of the scope. You will not find a QR plate with both 3/8 and 1/4 inch screws. They will all have either 3/8 or a 1/4inch screw, not both. With a heavy scope like the Swarovski I would use a larger 3/8inch, not a 1/4inch thread. The advantage of the QR system is that you don't have to keep screwing and unscrewing the plate, and if you have several scopes you can buy extra matching plates so they all fit the same head, but this is perhaps more relevant to photographers with multiple cameras.

The two circular projections on the top of the plate shown in the picture of the Swarovsku head in Tenex's post above are not two threads. The larger back one is a 3/8 screw thread which screws into the foot of the scope and the front one is an anti-rotation pin which goes in the redundant 1/4inch threaded hole in the foot. This means if you knock one end of your scope when it's screwed to the plate it won't come unscrewed (and potentially fall off the head).

So, A always comes with a matching B. Most Bs will fit most Cs using a 3/8 or 1/4inch thread. Some heads, like Manfrotto also come with grub screws to stop the head unscrewing from the tripod. If you have a head with a 1/4 inch or 3/8 female thread you can buy an adaptor to convert to a 1/4 or 3/8 inch male thread on the top of the tripod. However, like Jring I wouldn't recommend using a heavy Swarovski scope on a 1/4 inch thread as they are often made of aluminium, not steel and are therefore not a strong as you might think.

I agree with Jring that a video/fluid head is best. I also recommend you take the scope to a photography store with a good stock of tripods and try them out. It will then make a lot more sense than my post, and will save spending more hours glued to the internet !