Lightweight tripod with fluid head for scope - recommendations? (2 Viewers)

[James Cannon]

Hi all,

I am currently using a Benro aluminum tripod that is predominately designed for sedentary photography with my spotting scope when birding (the tripod wasn't initially purchased for this purpose). I find this tripod quite heavy and bulky to carry around, not particularly smooth to track or locate birds using its 3-way head, but it's very sturdy in the field.

I'm looking to get a new tripod that is lightweight for birding in the field, but still sturdy and ideally has a fluid head. I'm thinking fluid head as I believe it is the best to track birds in flight? I am not very knowledgeable on different types of tripod head - open to suggestions of other heads that might be good for birding purposes. I am looking to get the best value for money, but understand they are not expensive so a budget of £100-130 approx.

Any suggestions are hugely appreciated

Thanks

 

[Bill Atwood]

Might help if we knew what scope you are using.

What does your current tripod and head weigh?

Also, heads and legs for use with spotting scopes are generally sold separately. Your budget might get you a suitable head, but is likely low.

 

[Hermann]

I'm looking to get a new tripod that is lightweight for birding in the field, but still sturdy and ideally has a fluid head. I'm thinking fluid head as I believe it is the best to track birds in flight? I am not very knowledgeable on different types of tripod head - open to suggestions of other heads that might be good for birding purposes. I am looking to get the best value for money, but understand they are not expensive so a budget of £100-130 approx.

Lightweight, sturdy and a budget of £100-130 (including a video head) ... I doubt you'll find anything on the market that fulfills these criteria.

But first of all you need to provide more information, like Bill said: How light is "lightweight"? What kind of scope do you use? What does it weigh? How tall are you? That's essential information to make any recommendations.

Hermann

 

[CMB]

Agree with what was shared above.

But I’ll toss a tripod head idea out there.

Recently I decided to try out SmallRig’s CH-10 compact fluid tripod head. I purchased it to try with 60-65mm scopes weighing 50 ounces and less. The CH-10 can often be found for $40 US or a tad less. It is made in China and is one of those products that seems to get rebranded under several different names.

This head has surprised me.

It weighs in at about half a pound. I have been happy using this head with a 60-65mm scope weighing 50 ounces or less. Now to meet the price point it has some plastic knobs, and there really isn’t much friction/drag control like there is on the Manfrotto MVH line of fluid heads. And the handle is fixed and doesn’t allow you to loosen it and rotate it up or down without modifying the handle’s screw. But I have been very pleased with how smooth this little head moves on both pan and tilt. The included Arca Swiss compatible plate works well and has end stop screws that prevent the plate from sliding out if you have not screwed the locking screw tight enough.

Not many people seem to use or talk about this head for small scopes and a small light setup. For the combination of price, weight, and functionality its a keeper for me.

I paired this head with Gitzo’s GT-2545T Traveler series tripod for use as a hiking/travel setup with 60-65mm scopes. It replaced our Manfrotto 128RC head.

For larger and heavier scopes get a different head and tripod.

 

[James Cannon]

Thanks for the responses.

Extra detail as requested:

• The scope I use is a Svbony SV13 weighing 1.2kg
• My current tripod is a Benro Mach3 TMA28AHD2A Series 2 (weighing 2.65 kg) with a Benro HD2A 3-Way Head (weighing 0.76kg)
• I am 5ft 10in height wise

Happy to receive recommendations that are more expensive than the budget I listed - I am pretty inexperienced with this kind of gear (only recently upgraded to scope after just birding using bins for many years) so any help at all is appreciated! Just something lighter than what I have that I can ideally purchase as a one-off (tripod and head together).

 

[CMB]

Thanks for the responses.

Extra detail as requested:

• The scope I use is a Svbony SV13 weighing 1.2kg
• My current tripod is a Benro Mach3 TMA28AHD2A Series 2 (weighing 2.65 kg) with a Benro HD2A 3-Way Head (weighing 0.76kg)
• I am 5ft 10in height wise

Happy to receive recommendations that are more expensive than the budget I listed - I am pretty inexperienced with this kind of gear (only recently upgraded to scope after just birding using bins for many years) so any help at all is appreciated! Just something lighter than what I have that I can ideally purchase as a one-off (tripod and head together).

Everybody has their favorite items in terms of heads and tripods and one of the great things about forums like this is hearing what people like and what works for them.

For an 80mm scope of that size and weight, trying to be wise with spending money, I would consider:

Tripod Head:
- Manfrotto MVH-500AH head. Yes it is large and clunking looking but it is: well built, smooth, has an adjustable length plate, has friction/drag knobs that work, has a 5 lb counter balance spring that helps hold/balance the scope from flopping over if you forget to tighten the friction knobs, and can be adapted to an Arca Swiss plate system with an kit from the company Kirk Photo. You can purchase replacement fluid head discs if they were needed.

Tripod Legs:
- Gitzo Series 3 carbon fiber 3 or 4 leg sections (depending on how small you need the tripod to fold up).

There are less expensive carbon fiber tripods out there, but as has been shared many many times on this forum and others, Gitzo products are well built and last. You won't have to buy another tripod for that scope (or that sized scope) if you get the right one to start with. And you'll be able to repair it (rather than replace it) if something were to break. Buy it once and be done with it.

 

[ReinierB]

Tripod Head:
- Manfrotto MVH-500AH head

And what about the MVH-400AH? Cheaper and lichter. I am thinking to buy this one for my swaro ATC 56.

 

[3Italianbirders]

I have an answer and a question:
- Lightweight tripod: we had the same problem, as we have a huge Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre with the above Manfrotto MVH500 AH head and they are both fantastic (we use it also for HR digiscoping videos so it needs to be steady), but big, bulky and heavy. Also, if you travel the tripod doesn't fit in hand luggage and it's to heavy for hiking etc. So we decided to buy a lighter tripod for travelling and we finally settled on a carbon fibre Sirui 71205SK, which we bought from our local dealer for €190,00. It comes with an extra shorter column, bag, etc. Very happy with the purchase.
BUT:
- we still have to find a fluid head to go with it... we have looked at the SmallRig CH10 and many similar ones on Amazon, all in the 40-50€ price bracket, but we can't decide on one, as each one seems to have one small detail that puts us off. In particular, some reviews of the CH10 say that the Arca-Swiss type mount has slightly different specifications and doesn't fit all Arca- Swiss plates... does anyone have any experience of this?

 

[CMB]

I have an answer and a question:
- Lightweight tripod: we had the same problem, as we have a huge Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre with the above Manfrotto MVH500 AH head and they are both fantastic (we use it also for HR digiscoping videos so it needs to be steady), but big, bulky and heavy. Also, if you travel the tripod doesn't fit in hand luggage and it's to heavy for hiking etc. So we decided to buy a lighter tripod for travelling and we finally settled on a carbon fibre Sirui 71205SK, which we bought from our local dealer for €190,00. It comes with an extra shorter column, bag, etc. Very happy with the purchase.
BUT:
- we still have to find a fluid head to go with it... we have looked at the SmallRig CH10 and many similar ones on Amazon, all in the 40-50€ price bracket, but we can't decide on one, as each one seems to have one small detail that puts us off. In particular, some reviews of the CH10 say that the Arca-Swiss type mount has slightly different specifications and doesn't fit all Arca- Swiss plates... does anyone have any experience of this?

I’ll know in a couple days about the Arca Swiss plate compatability with the SmallRig CH-10. This has been a question for me as well. I have a Desmond DPL60, 60mm Arca Swiss plate arriving in a day or two.

 

[ajfossey]

I have the SmallRig Selection CH-10 tripod fluid head.

I use fairly regularly with the Arca Swiss plate that came supplied, but also use other Arca Swiss plates including those from Gitzo, Sirui and Vanguard without issue. I’m always cautious and ensure that everything is tight prior to assuming that’s the case!

In my opinion, the head is not suitable for anything above a 60mm scope size. It works best with my Opticron 50mm/60mm, Swarovski ATC and at a push Nikon ED lll 60mm Fieldscope. The handle is short, the action pretty smooth; and the panning is slow.

An advantage of the supplied plate over the alternatives is the bolts at either end that prevent the plate from slipping off the head should it become loose. No such protection is afforded by the other plates on this head! Refer to photo.

 

[CMB]

I have the SmallRig Selection CH-10 tripod fluid head.

I use fairly regularly with the Arca Swiss plate that came supplied, but also use other Arca Swiss plates including those from Gitzo, Sirui and Vanguard without issue. I’m always cautious and ensure that everything is tight prior to assuming that’s the case!

In my opinion, the head is not suitable for anything above a 60mm scope size. It works best with my Opticron 50mm/60mm, Swarovski ATC and at a push Nikon ED lll 60mm Fieldscope. The handle is short, the action pretty smooth; and the panning is slow.

An advantage of the supplied plate over the alternatives is the bolts at either end that prevent the plate from slipping off the head should it become loose. No such protection is afforded by the other plates on this head! Refer to photo.

View attachment 1512962

Good to hear that other plates work with the CH-10 head.

The Desmond brand Arca Swiss plates have those two safety stop screws at either end of the plate to prevent the plate from sliding out. When our DPL60 plates arrives we'll see if those screws work on the CH-10 or not.

I agree that this head is best used with small scopes 65mm and less. We had our 50 ounce 65mm scope on it and it worked fine. We are now using it with our Opticron 60mm scope and agree that it is a good combination.

 

[Hermann]

I have the SmallRig Selection CH-10 tripod fluid head. <snip>

In my opinion, the head is not suitable for anything above a 60mm scope size. It works best with my Opticron 50mm/60mm, Swarovski ATC and at a push Nikon ED lll 60mm Fieldscope. The handle is short, the action pretty smooth; and the panning is slow.

Any scope weighing over 1kg will be a challenge for that head IMO.

Hermann

 

[4John]

I tried the CH-10 a while ago from Amazon UK. It's very well made for the price. The attraction was the 279g weight, which I think is one of the lightest, if not the lightest fluid head available. The problem for me was the pan bar. It's designed to be used with an SLR camera which has no overhang at the back. When you use the head with a telescope the pan bar ends up underneath the rear overhang of a telescope which I found too cramped with a 50 and a 60mm scope, even though there is downward bend in the bar. I prefer a bent pan bar which can be rotated to angle it to one side of the scope like the one on the more expensive DH-01, so I sent it back for a refund.
Note to Smallrig marketting if you are reading this : put the adjustable pan bar from the DH-01 on the CH-10 and you have a sale

 

[CMB]

Quick follow-up about the Desmond DPL-60 Arca-Swiss plate and the SmallRig CH1-10.

The clamp on the CH-10 is not made to Arca-Swiss specs. I found that it does not have full surface contact with the Desmond Arca-Swiss plate when clamping on it. This makes for very sketchy security in terms of securing and holding the scope onto the head.

The CH-10's clamp height is shorter and not as deep (does not extend as far into the dove tail) as the Arca-Swiss standard. Also the angle of the dove tail is different than the Arca-Swiss standard. Of course SmallRig's plate is machined to match and work, and is held very well. Some Arca-Swiss plates may clamp in the CH-10, but like the Desmond plate there won't be the full contact of the clamp to the plate. So the holding power won't be as secure as with a setup that follows the spec correctly.

After time using the SmallRig CH-10 I came across several issues that have made me decide to stop using the SmallRig CH-10 and replace it with a Sirui VA-5 fluid head. It is unfortunate because the CH-10 has the potential to fit a niche for those looking for a small lightweight setup.

The show stopping issue I ran into is the scope coming loose on the CH-10's included mounting plate, and deformation of the two rubber strips mounted on the plate included with the CH-10. The plate has two strips of rubber that run back to front on the plate. The Opticron MM4 60 scope is small, and as a result has a slightly small/narrow mounting foot.

I found that over the course of a few days the SmallRig's plate mounting screw (that holds the scope to the plate) would loosen up. A few times the scope was barely secured to the plate. I would tighten the screw down, but as I did this over time I noticed that the rubber strips on the mounting plate started to deform under the pressure of the scope's small footprint. The rubber strips started to gap and lift up in the area outside of the scope's footprint. I also detected a little wobble with the scope against the mounting plate as this happened. There is no ability to add an anti-rotation pin, second screw, etc. to the CH-10's plate.

This is why I purchased the Desmond DPL-60 plate. The Desmond plate has a raised anti-rotation edge on the back side of the plate, and the mounting surface is solid aluminum with no rubber. When the scope is mounted on the plate against the anti-rotation edge, the scope is very secure. The Desmond plate also has to security screws on the underside of the plate at the front and back that keep it from sliding out of an Arca-Swiss clamp if not tightened down all the way.

Unfortunately when the Desmond plate is placed into the CH-10's mounting clamp, the head's clamp is too small and barely grabs the dove tail of the Desmond plate. It seems secure, but makes for a very sketchy hold given the cost of a scope. So the SmallRig CH-10 is getting replaced with the Sirui VA-5 in our setup.

If SmallRig would increase the size of the clamp, and conform to Arca-Swiss specs, then the CH-10 head has the possibility to be a very good head for a small setup.

 

[Hermann]

The show stopping issue I ran into is the scope coming loose on the CH-10's included mounting plate, and deformation of the two rubber strips mounted on the plate included with the CH-10. The plate has two strips of rubber that run back to front on the plate. The Opticron MM4 60 scope is small, and as a result has a slightly small/narrow mounting foot.

I found that over the course of a few days the SmallRig's plate mounting screw (that holds the scope to the plate) would loosen up. A few times the scope was barely secured to the plate. I would tighten the screw down, but as I did this over time I noticed that the rubber strips on the mounting plate started to deform under the pressure of the scope's small footprint. The rubber strips started to gap and lift up in the area outside of the scope's footprint. I also detected a little wobble with the scope against the mounting plate as this happened.

Would stripping the rubber strips off help? What do you think?

As to the Arca-Swiss specs: There is no uniform standard at all to my knowledge. You always have to check if a particular plate works on a particular clamp or head from a different manufacturer IME. Which is one of the reasons why I still stick to the Manfrotto PL-200 system and, with my big scope, the PL-501 system.

Hermann

 

[CMB]

Would stripping the rubber strips off help? What do you think?

I tried that without success. With the rubber strips removed there are two recesses where they were seated. Accounting for the center slot for the plate's mounting screw, removing the two rubber pads results in a small amount of surface area to come in contact with the scope's foot. Then there is still the issue of not being able to put in an anti-rotation pin (or second screw) and not having an anti-rotation lip.

The two recessed areas on either side would have to be filled with something rigid (or something that becomes rigid like JB Weld) up to the level of that center area of the plate.

To be honest that is more work than I want to invest in for a head at this price point.

As to the Arca-Swiss specs: There is no uniform standard at all to my knowledge. You always have to check if a particular plate works on a particular clamp or head from a different manufacturer IME. Which is one of the reasons why I still stick to the Manfrotto PL-200 system and, with my big scope, the PL-501 system.

Hermann

I did not know that. I had read that Arca-Swiss plates are 35mm wide, and that the dovetail is a 45° angle. I assumed that was a defined standard.

 

[3Italianbirders]

An update from our side too: after having read the above and other online reviews, we decided against the purchase of the SmallRig CH10, as we really wanted a good fit for Arca plates. WE settled instead on this one, which we found on Amazon and had good reviews.

The whole setup with the Sirui 71205SK weighs less than 1.3 kg and folds up nice and small. To mount our Swarovski ATS 80, which weighs around 1.7 kg, we used one of our own Arca plates, slightly longer than the one supplied and briefly tried it out in the field (there was really not much to see where we went). It was pretty stable in calm conditions, although you would have to look out if it was windier and both the tilt and the pan were pretty smooth. The handle is not angled so that was bit of an issue, but we managed by keeping it short and pointing downward at about 80 degrees.

We have to try it for longer for a more complete review, but all in all I would say that, as a travel setup, it was a good choice, especially recommended with a smaller/lighter scope.

 

[4John]

An update from our side too: after having read the above and other online reviews, we decided against the purchase of the SmallRig CH10, as we really wanted a good fit for Arca plates. WE settled instead on this one, which we found on Amazon and had good reviews.

The whole setup with the Sirui 71205SK weighs less than 1.3 kg and folds up nice and small. To mount our Swarovski ATS 80, which weighs around 1.7 kg, we used one of our own Arca plates, slightly longer than the one supplied and briefly tried it out in the field (there was really not much to see where we went). It was pretty stable in calm conditions, although you would have to look out if it was windier and both the tilt and the pan were pretty smooth. The handle is not angled so that was bit of an issue, but we managed by keeping it short and pointing downward at about 80 degrees.

We have to try it for longer for a more complete review, but all in all I would say that, as a travel setup, it was a good choice, especially recommended with a smaller/lighter scope.

The Koolehaoda VL305Q head you purchased looks a lot like this Small Rig video head on Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMALLRIG-Adjustable-Compact-Cameras-kg-3457/dp/B09Q5BKD77

 

[3Italianbirders]

The Koolehaoda VL305Q head you purchased looks a lot like this Small Rig video head on Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMALLRIG-Adjustable-Compact-Cameras-kg-3457/dp/B09Q5BKD77

It does! While we were shopping around on Amazon it looked as if most of the heads we were looking at were identical but with different brand logos on them: SmallRig, Neewer, Cayer, Rollei etc. and prices were similar too. Presumably the same manufacturer for all of them.

 

[Elkhornsun]

I use three different fluid heads for shooting video. For my spotting scope I use a Sirui tilt head that works quite well and weighs a lot less.

The least expensive fluid head I would recommend is the iFootage K5 sold on Amazon for $140. It weighs 1.67 lb and supports a load of up to 15 lbs so it can easily manage a spotting scope.