Nikon ED 50 + monopod. (1 Viewer)

[Pepitogrillo]

Hello,
My question is if this scope is good with one monopod..
If the Nikon ED50 have the zoom eyepiece if 13-40x....?
Cheers,
PG.

 

[Richard D]

I've not used that combination for a long time, but it worked okay up until 20x ish. Personally I prefered the fixed 20x.

 

[4John]

Hello,
My question is if this scope is good with one monopod..
If the Nikon ED50 have the zoom eyepiece if 13-40x....?
Cheers,
PG.

Pepitogrillo,

I have used an ED50 with the 13-40x zoom on a monopod for 10+ years. You will need a fold-down foot to put your foot on to stop the monopod twisting for 20+ magnification. I have recently bought an MM4 with the SDL zoom and I use that on a monopod too. The monopod here :

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9410749

has the same fold-down foot I use, and is available from many other retailers on the internet. The foot is excellent - simple and light, but the joint to the monopod is just a hole in the bottom section and it's too large, giving a sloppy fit. I removed the foot and made my own simple attachment to a Slik monopod.

Some people like to put a 3-way or ball head on a monopod. Personally I find that a waste of time and it adds unnecessary weight. I just adjust the monopod height and angle it to get on the bird. IMO you also need a straight scope if you are going to put it on a monopod, but others may find an angled scope works for them.

It's not for everyone, but I love the liberation from the extra weight and hassle having to carry a tripod, and there's only one leg to get right not three. The lightest tripod that works for me is around 1100g, then you need to add a head. My Slik monopod is around 600g with a very simple fixed Q/R plate head.

 

[Pepitogrillo]

Thanks for your reply,
4Juan you've compared the Nikon ED50 with the MM4 Opticron?
mechanical/optical similar?
Cheer

 

[4John]

Thanks for your reply,
4Juan you've compared the Nikon ED50 with the MM4 Opticron?
mechanical/optical similar?
Cheer

Comparing the ED50 with an MC2 zoom with an MM4 60 and an SDL v3 zoom is not really comparing apples with apples.

IMO on a sunny day the 15+ year old ED50 and its even older eyepieces will at least hold their own against many other scopes including the MM4 60 in optical quality terms. However, it’s inevitable that the ED50 starts to go dark earlier than larger scopes at the higher zoom magnifications in dull conditions and towards the end of the day.

I bought the MM4 60 to see if the extra brightness from a 60mm objective at the end of the day and in dull conditions during the day were worth the extra weight and bulk. I bought the SDL v3 zoom to see if the bigger view compared to the Nikon MC2 zoom was worth having.

So far, the modern and wider FOV zoom is a luxury compared to the Nikon zoom, but I have had some colour fringing/CA with the MM4 60/SDL v 3 which I never had with the ED50.

The SDL v3 and the 60mm objective means you can use the higher magnification later in the day. I haven’t decided yet if that’s a luxury or a necessity. At high magnification (say 30+) the ED50 zoom used to go dark towards the end of the day, but reducing the magnification increased the brightness significantly which meant the scope was still usable for longer.

It’s clear to me that the MM4 60 with the SDL v3 zoom is significantly heavier and bulkier than the ED50 with the MC2 zoom, but still useable on a monopod. I haven’t decided yet if the larger and brighter FOV when conditions are dull are worth the extra weight and bulk.

 

[etudiant]

Hello,
My question is if this scope is good with one monopod..
If the Nikon ED50 have the zoom eyepiece if 13-40x....?
Cheers,
PG.

That has been by travel setup for years, the ED50, the 13-40 zoom eye piece and the Velbon Super 8 monopod. I've not found better.
It folds very compactly for travel, is light on the trail and still delivers the extra stability a support provides.
Incidentally, the Velbon can also serve as a Finnstick, if you are doing freehand observation ( on a boat for example).

 

[Pepitogrillo]

May be the monopod is best for straight model, no for the angled?

 

[Richard D]

May be the monopod is best for straight model, no for the angled?

Unless you've got a very tall monopod, I would have thought angled was better.

 

[b-lilja]

I have not found the monopod to be a workable combo for me - I use my ED50 with a Bogen Junior.

I did a detailed comparison between my cherry ED50 and an mm4 50 and found the ED50 to be a full step up. Special scope as long as you don't split it in half (I epoxied mine).

 

[Hermann]

I have not found the monopod to be a workable combo for me - I use my ED50 with a Bogen Junior.

Depends on the monopod. I find I can 30x quite easily with mine. I use a Monostat. The big foot makes all the difference.

I did a detailed comparison between my cherry ED50 and an mm4 50 and found the ED50 to be a full step up. Special scope as long as you don't split it in half (I epoxied mine).

Yep.

Hermann

 

[Richard D]

The fixed 27x or 20x eyepieces work fine for me on a lightweight monopod - can go to 30x and a little beyond if I use the manfrotto 680B with the feet unscrewed (admittedly that weighs as much as some tripods). I've not used the MM4, but the ED50 was much better than the earlier MM's I have tried. Thankfully in the 15 years I've had the ED50 I've not suffered the separation issue, although admittedly I don't use it as much as I did as when I'm not planning on using a scope for an extended period I tend to use the Fieldscope ED-III with a lightweight tripod as it has a definite edge over the admittedly very good ED50.

 

[4John]

I use the manfrotto 680B with the feet unscrewed

Hi Richard,

Which/what feet do you use on the 680B ?

 

[Richard D]

Hi Richard,

Which/what feet do you use on the 680B ?

No idea what the part is (or whether it's still available) but they're effectively three heavy steel roods that pivot together and slide inside the bottom tube - you unscrew the foot and they slide out. It makes the the monopod self supporting a bit like a lighting stand (wouldn't trust it unattended with anything important on the top though!)

 

[4John]

No idea what the part is (or whether it's still available) but they're effectively three heavy steel roods that pivot together and slide inside the bottom tube - you unscrew the foot and they slide out. It makes the the monopod self supporting a bit like a lighting stand (wouldn't trust it unattended with anything important on the top though!)

Ah, you mean a Manfrotto 682B ?

Like this :

https://cvp.com/product/manfrotto_682b

 

[Richard D]

Ah, you mean a Manfrotto 682B ?

Like this :

https://cvp.com/product/manfrotto_682b

It's a 680B acoording to the print on the side of the monopod, but yes that's the feet. I think the 682B came with the feet included but I had to buy them as an extra for the 680B. Whether they're still available separately I've no idea. They work fairly well but do add a lot of weight to the monopod - the combined weight isn't much lower than the BeFree tripods.

 

[4John]

It's a 680B acoording to the print on the side of the monopod, but yes that's the feet. I think the 682B came with the feet included but I had to buy them as an extra for the 680B. Whether they're still available separately I've no idea. They work fairly well but do add a lot of weight to the monopod - the combined weight isn't much lower than the BeFree tripods.

Thanks. I think it's discontinued now. I remember looking at it around 10 years ago when I started using a monopod with my ED50 when I found the lightweight tripod solution wasn't working. I ended up buying a monopod with a single fold-down foot which was much simpler and lighter :


The concept was perfect - much simpler and lots lighter than all the other multiple feet monopod solutions out there with and without fluid drag e.g.
Fluid Base with retractable feet for monopods (ø20mm tube)

However, the execution was poor - the foot was a sloppy fit in the hole in the bottom monopod section. So I took the foot off the monopod and made my own attachment to fit it to the bottom of a Velbon RUP-4 monopod.