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Can I buid a homemade binocular mount?

I have 10x50 binoculars that I bought for sky gazing, but unfortunately I haven't been able to use them because I'm not able to hold them steadily. So rather than buying a tripod adapter, do you think it would be ok if I make one at home to be able to attach to my camera tripod? I was thinking of this one:http://www.alicesastroinfo.com/2009/10/binocular-m...

Do you think that would be safe? Also, if you have any easier ideas, that don't require many materials or atleast any expensive materials, please let me know. Thank you!! :)

4 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    Binocular Mount

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    That is why I prefer telescopes to binoculars except for the small hand-held variety. Telescopes have diagonal mirrors to view overhead. The page you cite has detailed construction instructions. The clamps you can easily get at a hardware store, but the first-surface mirror can only be purchased from specialized optical houses like Edmund Scientific. A first-surface mirror large enough for a 15x70 binocular will be quite expensive. Ordinary second surface mirrors won't work. They're not good enough optically, and will produce ghost images. Terry Dickinson's solution is to lie down in a partially inflated child's swimming raft. It helps to hold the binoculars by the objective housings, rather than by the prism housings, the way most people do.

  • 9 years ago

    Short of changing your binoculars for lower power or (expensive) image stablised ones my personal preference for bino support is a simple sturdy wooden stake (a fencing post or similar) driven into the ground until the top of it is approximately chin height. You can simply rest your binoculars on top of it in use - they don't need an actual mounting at all. That has the advantage of potentially being extremely sturdy (provided the post is driven in far enough) and allowing quick 360° movement. Looking vertically upwards is easy enough too, crouching a little and resting against the post - it's difficult with many styles of mount. The downside is of course that once installed it is limited to one particular location, but for the amount a fencing post costs you can have two or three of them if you like, and they don't get in the way too much when not in use.

  • 9 years ago

    I don't know... only you can answer that question.

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