Aarrgghh!! I really need a tripod and can't find one anywhere

[guitar man]

I didn't think it would be so hard to find one, but I'm looking for an older tripod like would be used with one of the "ancient" large format video cameras. I've searched the pawn shops, flea markets, craigslist...you name it. Can't find one anywhere. I've got a great telescope I need to mount so my daughter and I can stargaze with it...I'm about to give up hope :(

[Call Me Wesley]

1. Do you need a tall one? How much does the telescope weigh?

If you can set it up on a table and it's around 5 kg (11 lbs,) here's a great one! http://joby.com/gorillapod/focus/

Or look here: http://www.overstock.com/search?keywords=tripod&SearchType=Header

Hope this helps.

[guitar man]

2. Thanks CMW

I'm not sure of the weight but the telescope is a 90mm refractor with a 1000mm focal length so the whole thing is about 3 1/2 - 4ft long or so. It has all the automated motorized tracking stuff on it that no longer works so I was trying to find a manual tripod hefty enough for Thanks a bunch for the links, I'll peruse them and hopefully find something that doesn't break the bank :)

[HopeHoops]

3. Have you tried eBay?

[guitar man]

4. Yeah but

So far everything i've seen has been overpriced and by the time I paid shipping I might as well break down and order a new telescope tripod :(

[Curmudgeoness]

5. If you lived close to me, you could borrow mine.

I didn't realize they were very expensive, or hard to find. Good luck.

[guitar man]

9. Aww thanks :)

:)

[Kali]

6. rig something up with wood, baling wire and jb weld?

half serious, sorry you can't find what you are looking for

(but doesn't the full moon give you some time to keep looking?)

[Moondog]

7. It really is stunning what a decent tripod costs.

Because of that, and because they don't easily wear out, people who need them and have them tend to hang onto them. And when someone has one they want to get rid of, they tend to go quickly, to friends or to friends of friends. This, generally, is true of astronomical, photographic and video tripods.

So, if you actually come across a pre-loved one in decent shape that is available at a fair price, don't hesitate because it won't be available for very long.

Otherwise, you're going to need to buy a new one. And for what you're describing as your intended usage, you really don't want to have to do that.

[guitar man]

8. You got that right

They're not cheap at all for anything that's any good. And a lot of the ones that come with the cheaper astronomical telescopes are just pure junk, it seems to be the number one complaint in the reviews. It's just sad that i've got a damn fine scope and nothing to put it on :(

[Shakespeare]

11. Do you have a Best Buy near you?

They carry several inexpensive models in their camera section. If not, then Amazon has several that are quite affordable. Are you looking for one with any particular type of head? The pan and tilt will be the most affordable, but there are a few ballhead tripods that are reasonable (specifically the Dolica that Amazon sells for $40-$50). I'm a photographer, so PM me if you have more specific needs, and I'll see what I can recommend.

[guitar man]

16. I'm looking for an altizimuth type

That will handle this



I can pretty easily adapt the mount, in fact I already built one mount adapter for a smaller tripod I have but it just wouldn't handle the weight. The problem with "astronomical" tripods is that the price is often, well, astronomical for a tripod that is really not any better than a good old tripod for the big ass camcorders we used to cart around

[Shakespeare]

12. "they don't easily wear out" well....

Depends on what you're using it for. ;-)

I'm a landscape photographer, so I'm hell on tripods. I went through 3 last year, and finally got a nice Induro at a decent price that's sturdy enough to handle my 5D, and light enough that I can carry it easily into the backcountry. Finding a truly good tripod that'll hold up under the conditions I use it in under $200 is almost impossible.

[Moondog]

13. There's lightweight, there's inexpensive, and there's strong (durable).

You can have any two of those characteristics that you want, but not all three. I finally broke down and went for a Gitzo carbon fiber a couple of years ago. It would have been cheaper for me to go that way in the first place. Shooting a 5DmkII and a 7D these days. If I were doing it today, I would also look at the new line of pods that Really Right Stuff has come out with. I'd probably still go with Gitzo though, simply because the RRS line (and I really like some of their other gear - clamps, macro rails and pano stuff) of pods doesn't have a history as yet, but they sure are really pricey.

[Shakespeare]

14. Yep, you're certainly right about that.

I had low expectations with the Induro given how spectacularly my other (cheap) tripods blew up on me, but chose it on the recommendation of another landscape photographer who dragged one all over Iceland last summer with no problems. It's held up incredibly well (and it's been out in surf, sand, desert, mud, snow, ice--just about every nasty condition you can imagine).

I'd like to have a heavier tripod for trips where I'm not hiking for miles, and am torn between Gitzo and Manfrotto (and Induro's bigger, badder tripods--the lightweight has certainly served me well). I've read really mixed reviews on RRS, but I'll be looking for best bang for buck from all manufacturers when I'm ready to drop a grand on one. I've got a "need" lens on my list to get to first, though. :-)

[Moondog]

15. Heh. You can never have too much glass. n/t

[Curmudgeoness]

10. I just looked at Amazon and there are some there that are not

very expensive. Did you look there? Mine is a good camera tripod but I used it for a huge telescopic lense with the camera and it was very sturdy. I looked on Amazon at camera tripods.

[XemaSab]

17. I've got a Bogen Manfrotto that's a brick house

but I paid $250 for it 10 years ago.

My older $100 model was a Bausch and Lomb and it was fairly chintzy. The thing shook like an aspen leaf in a tornado. :(

How much did the scope cost? If it cost over $400 or so it's worth it to get a better tripod just to keep the thing from falling over and smashing. (Though I would imagine that astronomy is a fair-weather sport.)

[guitar man]

18. I'm not sure

But I think it ran around $1000 new.I gave next to nothing for it. It had the automated motorized star finding gadgetry on the mount and I've never been able to get all that crap to work so I wanted to just move it to a manual mount and hunt stuff the old fashioned way with a star chart. The scope itself is pretty nice so it would be worth it if I cam keep the cost down on the tripod. If the tripod gets too expensive I may as well buy a whole new scope

[Gabi Hayes]

19. look down here:

[Doc_Technical]

20. "It must be mounted on a tripod!!"

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=the+wild+bunch+put+it+on+a+tripod

[guitar man]

21. Woot!!!

Score!! flea market this morning, $12 :D



thanks for all the help everybody!! :hi:

edit to add pic of mounted scope:

[Moondog]

22. Congrats - hard to beat the price. A suggestion -

Only use the center column if you absolutely must.

Far better to extend the third portion of the leg (if there is one) than to use the center column. Far better to use a chair so you are lower to the ground than to use the center column.

A center column is like a monopod mounted on top of a tripod, and your scope looks sufficiently large that it could wobble a bit up there if you extend the center column. A long tube like your refractor will magnify even the slightest bit of wobble. Solid & steady = a much sharper image when you look through it.

Happy star gazing!

[guitar man]

23. You're right

I was just out aligning the finder scope and found that when I dropped the center column down it got much more stable. I can even get some extreme elevation with it dropped down as long as the handle comes down between the legs. I can just rotate the whole tripod if I need to to make that happen, it's easy enough. :)