Meopta (1 Viewer)

Here are the 12x50 BNs mounted up.
I wanted a set up where I could fold the tripod legs and sling over my shoulder with confidence that nothing was going to shake loose. This has been the result.

This combo handles really great it turns out. Because of the relatively short length of the Leica it balances very well indeed atop this ball head. With my right hand I hand move and locate the bin easily while focusing with my index finger. My left hand is on the tightening knob of the head and with the slightest motion locks the view into place. Very quick handling.

Though this bin gives up 3x compared to the very excellent Minox 15x56 ED I've been using, the handling is far superior and getting on a bird and tracking it is simplicity itself. For more static viewing that 3x is missed. There is no substitute for cubic inches. Or, uh, magnification and square millimeters, in this case.

That looks nice, the BN looks like new, and you now have a custom set IPD platform for all your glass. Now if I made it out of tique (left over wood of course), it would be very light.

A.W.

This one's made of pine. It is very light. Finished with a coat of urethane, then paste waxed.

I laminated both pine and a maple boards for this experiment. The maple was cut first and didn't fair well from the table saw. The pine one was the second, and being softer was easier to manage with this broad vertical cut.

Just as well though as the pine is much lighter and plenty strong for this purpose.

I forgot about pine, perfect application, light and soft enough to work with.

A.W.