First time Tripod user

[IrkedCitizen]

What exactly are you wanting to get out of the tripod? What are you hunting? Are you going to be glassing for hours on end? How far are you realistically hiking? Light is not always best.

You want to be as stable as possible. Any vibration will cause eye strain even with high end glass. Try to buy a tripod that gets to the height you need with leg length alone. The optic is more stable the closer it is to the apex of the tripod. Center columns inherently add instability. My newest tripod doesn't even have a center column though I could add one if I want.

I hardly ever pay retail for gear. I shop for gently used high end equipment on forums/eBay/craigslist/etc. The deals are out there you just have to find them.

 

[Sako79]

What exactly are you wanting to get out of the tripod? What are you hunting? Are you going to be glassing for hours on end? How far are you realistically hiking? Light is not always best.

You want to be as stable as possible. Any vibration will cause eye strain even with high end glass. Try to buy a tripod that gets to the height you need with leg length alone. The optic is more stable the closer it is to the apex of the tripod. Center columns inherently add instability. My newest tripod doesn't even have a center column though I could add one if I want.

I hardly ever pay retail for gear. I shop for gently used high end equipment on forums/eBay/craigslist/etc. The deals are out there you just have to find them.

I live in British Columbia Canada so I'll be hunting elk mule deer moose whitetail mountain goat mountain sheep black bear bison caribou.
I could be glassing for hours.
What tripod do you have

 

[IrkedCitizen]

I live in British Columbia Canada so I'll be hunting elk mule deer moose whitetail mountain goat mountain sheep black bear bison caribou.
I could be glassing for hours.
What tripod do you have

My newest is a Really Right Stuff TVC-34L MK2. I picked it up on eBay it came with a RRS large tripod bag. I then found a RRS BH-55LR on craigslist. Then a bit later found a RRS PCLR and nodal slide on craigslist. I got all of that for the price of what the tripod would have cost me new.

I went this route because I wanted to be able to shoot off the tripod. Shooting off a pan head isn't ideal whereas glassing off a ball head isn't ideal either. So I picked up the PCLR and nodal slide to help with that. Look at the link below under the "RRS Frankengimbal" but instead of a camera, imagine binos or spotting scope. In essence you use the pan feature on the ball head for left/right and the pan feature on the PCLR for up/down while the ball stays in a fixed position. My optics don't sit as high as that camera as he has the nodal slide fully extended.

Ultimate Really Right Stuff Ball Head and Gimbal Showdown - 2024

An in-depth look at the entire lineup of tripod ball heads and gimbals from Really Right Stuff (RRS).

shuttermuse.com

 

[khunter]

I'm in the market to buy my first tripod. I will be using it for my new swarovski EL 10x42 binos and Maybe in the future I will purchase a spotting scope. What's are some ideas without breaking the bank and not overly heavy as I will be using it on backpack trips as well

Suck it up and pay Outdoorsmans to install the tripod adaptor pin, Just had them do that for my ELs and very happy I did. Does not affect Swaro warranty so not risk.

 

[Sako79]

Suck it up and pay Outdoorsmans to install the tripod adaptor pin, Just had them do that for my ELs and very happy I did. Does not affect Swaro warranty so not risk.

To me it's not worth it for me to send it to outdoorsman. I live in Canada and with the value of our dollar it will cost me over $300

 

[khunter]

Ouch. Your cost would be double? No Bueno.

 

[Gilkj4]

Check out leofoto tripods and sunwayfroto ball heads. You can get identical performance as a RRS for 1/3 the $