Completely lost with a tripod's head (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I was thinking about buying this tripod

https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/product...Fak6qoByAijipK91yGereLZ8Dnau-VrfDEaAhAA8P8HAQ

But although I have tried to check I am not sure if a Swarovski ATS 80HD would fit in it.

Anybody can help me with this?

Thanks,
Marco

Hi Marco and welcome.

I don't know, but at that price it should.
It isn't very high with central column down.

Is the scope angled or straight eyepieces?

Thanks Binastro for the response and for the welcoming,

Haven't thought about the height to be honest, the scope in angled and I'm 6ft (slightly over 180cm) so I would have asumed it would be fine.

Thing is I wanted to buy a carbon one, I have used other tripods but like to walk with the scope in a backpack and I'm tired of the heavy ones. Then I saw this in offer and thought would be a good option, but have no real criteria to base my opinion on, just thought one over £1000 should be good and this has £300 discount

Thanks again,
Marco

Others here are much more knowledgeable than I am regarding tripods and birder's scopes.

I use tripods for astro work.

With an angled scope the height should be fine.
I don't know which tripod head you would find best.

Hi Marco

I would say you need to think again.

The weight is not particularly light and the ballhead is not great for scoping. On the plus side the minimum height without raising the centre column is decent.

Did you check the specs?

There are better alternatives out there. For birding a fluid head with a balance rail is ideal and lighter carbon fibre legs. Since you are looking at Gitzo I would check out the other threads here as a member recently bought Gitzo legs and I'm sure you would find some useful info.

Hi,

I agree that this tripod seems to be a bit heavy and the ballhead is not so great for a scope. Also quite steep...

Size is fine - a few cm bit of extended column are not a problem, three leg sections are good too.

I have an old Velbon tripod I got for a song off ebay with a Manfrotto 500AH head under my 77mm Kowa - works nicely, half a second dampening time an you really need to give it a rap to get it to shake. Modern equivalent would be a Geo N 535.

Or there is the kite ardea legs designed especially for birders - they are also quite nice - I'm just not a fan of the 128 head they're often sold with - it is too light for an 80mm scope imo.

Joachim

I have that same head mounted on lightweight carbon legs. For a ball head it is quite impressive and very stable. I like the fact that there is a separate control for panning, so that the ball tilt motion is independent of pan/rotation which is very smooth. I can tighten the ball so that the tilt motion is relatively stiff providing a feel similar to a fluid tilt, while having a more free, easier pivot/pan motion. The head is far superior to any other ball head that I've tried, as it should be considering the high price.

Because of the light weight and compactness, this is the tripod/head combo I use for international birding. I combine it with my Swarovski ATX using the 65 mm body. The head seems adequate for this size scope, and whatever vibration occurs is more from the tripod than the head. But I would be hesitant to recommend it for an 80 mm scope, unless there is a good return policy in the event you are not satisfied.

yes..I agree..you need to try it to know if it works,But it is an expensive combo,considering that might not be the ideal setup for a scope...I use a ball head sometimes for travelling or moving light with my full size carbon legs..I own a video head that weights almost 1 kg and a large ball head only weighting 400 g..so the difference has some impact if I need to carry the setup for a while..also the size of the ball head is much more compact..The ball head cant compare with a fluid head,BUT is not bad when you know how to use it..I set the mount sideways and gets pretty solid..I imagine that ball head would work pretty well as a compact solution..