What tripod for spotting scope?
- Thread starter 270Buck
- Start date
mr_magicfingers
Well-Known Member
I just bought a Sirui tripod and ball head this week for work, my setup cost about £400 and is seriously better than the Manfrotto it replaced. They do a smaller version which would probably be ideal for what you want for £90. They're amazing quality for the price. SIRUI T-005X Tripod with Ballhead - Black/Aluminium: Amazon.co.uk: Camera Photo
It depends very much on the application you're going to put it to. -
For prone / bench shooting the old fashioned folding target scope stands are great & are hard to beat - I use one with an old heavy duty pan & tilt head on it. Rock solid & will hold the heaviest scope.
For standing up viewing, the Manfrotto 055 tripod (£45 new on ebay for the basic ones, a bit more for the ones with tilt flexibility in the centre column adjustment) married to a heavy duty ball head with QD top plate (15 or 20Kg capacity again on ebay about £20) is a very good option, again very solid & these new ball heads are very smooth & secure.
Fluid heads are great but strong ones cost a fortune even second hand!
The type of spotting scope again determines which tripod to go for -- Straight in line eyepiece scopes need a much higher tripod than the angled ones.
Get the heaviest rated tripod & mount that you can comfortably carry - lightweight ones are too flexible & prone to vibration.
Ian
For prone / bench shooting the old fashioned folding target scope stands are great & are hard to beat - I use one with an old heavy duty pan & tilt head on it. Rock solid & will hold the heaviest scope.
For standing up viewing, the Manfrotto 055 tripod (£45 new on ebay for the basic ones, a bit more for the ones with tilt flexibility in the centre column adjustment) married to a heavy duty ball head with QD top plate (15 or 20Kg capacity again on ebay about £20) is a very good option, again very solid & these new ball heads are very smooth & secure.
Fluid heads are great but strong ones cost a fortune even second hand!
The type of spotting scope again determines which tripod to go for -- Straight in line eyepiece scopes need a much higher tripod than the angled ones.
Get the heaviest rated tripod & mount that you can comfortably carry - lightweight ones are too flexible & prone to vibration.
Ian
deerstalker.308
Well-Known Member
Manfrotto or Slik D3 or similar, very stable and top quality, although not always the lightest, you don't get very light, and very stable.......
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Very nice indeed - but not sure it meets all criteria at a grand a pop.....makes the Swaro carbon tripod seem exceptional value.....!!
Aldi are doing a useful model next week with pan and tilt head etc . for £12.99.
Why pay an idiotic price for such a basic bit of gear ?
HWH.
Why pay an idiotic price for such a basic bit of gear ?
HWH.
I use a Cullmann Nanomax 400t tripod (£45-55 on amazon) for video recording and laser ranger finding accurately way out there - I'm sure it would also work well with a spotting scope.
cullmann-foto // DETAIL
It has a surprisingly robust feel (for the money) and the legs can deploy wide enough to ensure it doesn't get buffeted around by the wind or muzzle blast:
cullmann-foto // DETAIL
It has a surprisingly robust feel (for the money) and the legs can deploy wide enough to ensure it doesn't get buffeted around by the wind or muzzle blast:
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