Binocular tripod alternatives (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

My girlfriend is using the Opticron Discovery 7x42s now to help with her shaking hands and I've also introduced her to using a tripod. She really likes the tripod when its setup, but not the transport and deployment so much (I have a photo tripod with independent legs, not joined by a common Y like video tripods).

Do people have any experience to share using monopods or video monopods (with the mini-tripod legs at the bottom) with binoculars? I was looking at something like this with a joystick head (e.g. manfrotto 327RC2 ).

We're using the Opticron screw-in tripod adapter. I also have the Swaro strap adapter, which I kind of prefer as the binoculars don't wobble around quite so much as with the screw-in adapter.

Marc

When we are walking on the islands of Scotland nowadays we each use one walking pole to act as a 'third leg' when negotiating tricky steps up or down.

When fully extended these can be pressed into action as a bino support and similarly when we are sitting down the poles can be used telescoped down to their reduced length.

Personally I don't try to rest the binos on the top of the handgrip but improvise a grip with either of my hands so that the hand involved grips both the pole and the bino. It transfers weight to the pole and if standing you become a kind of tripod with three legs. This can absolutely help when viewing for long periods and even if you don't use this technique for long it gives your hands. arms and shoulders a bit of a rest.

This is no more than a kind of adaptation of the old Finnstick idea albeit using a telescoping pole with adjustable length/height. You might regard the notion of not fixing the bino to the pole as a weakness of the concept but actually I have found this an advantage because if something unexpected appears in view you can drop the pole and quickly turn to face the new subject and get your binos on it. Manoeuvering a bino attached to a monopod can be done but not as quickly or as easily and since you can't stop holding a bino on a monopod and step away from it, the idea of attaching the bino to it isn't so brilliant.

Lee

Lee

Hi Marc,

marcsantacurz said:

My girlfriend is using the Opticron Discovery 7x42s now to help with her shaking hands and I've also introduced her to using a tripod. She really likes the tripod when its setup, but not the transport and deployment so much

Click to expand...

When the topic of unsteady hands came up on this forum a while ago, I designed this 3D-printable shoulder stock:



It can be downloaded for free from here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2807320

I found it works great steadying even the picture I get from my normally steady hands. Weight of course is much lower than that of a tripod, you can get the binoculars into action really quick, but it's a bit bulky when you carry it around the neck.

It also requires binculars that have a tripod attachment thread, and a corresponding adapter.

(Or, lacking such a thread, you could also use this 3D printable binocular adapter to mount any roof prism binoculars to the shoulder stock: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2971091 )

Regards,

Henning

A cheap (lightweight) tripod with the legs in the air can do a lot of steadying.
Many use a monopod, but it steadies mainly in one axis (when not on the ground).
Opening out the cheap tripod legs gives you inertia in 2 axes....
A light tripod that's really jerky on the ground can do better off the ground.