Telescopes and Tripods
Leica do a number of stunning scopes. First we'll talk about the big guns - my Televid 77 isn't shy.
While most other brands have gone down the black, brown or green organic look, just the appearance of the Televid tells you it is something special. With its silver body and horizontal black grips it would look more at home on the set of Battlestar Galactica than in a fusty old bird hide. In fact it draws so much attention to its self from the "techno bores" that I've taken to wrapping mine up in a special case and covering up the logo with a bit of black tape.
It is expensive, but as testimony to its toughness I have a little tale to tell and if you can tell me that it isn't worth taking out a second mortgage just for that sort of peace of mind, then I don't know what is.
A few years ago I took my trusty scope up to the top of a Cornish cliff so that I could spend a whole day gazing through it at peregrine falcons. I was actually waiting to see some of the male birds spring time stooping displays but, as usual, nothing really happened. A pleasant day was spent gazing out to sea, nonetheless, peering at a falcon sitting on a cliff ledge watching me watching it.
It was late in the afternoon that I decided to take myself away. As I disengaged the quick release plate from my telescope the male peregrine took off and gained height quickly. I watched it carefully out of the corner of my eye daring it to stoop and give me a display for which I had waited the whole day.
As if he guessed this was what I was thinking, he flattened his wings out and plummeted like a streak of liquid lead. I fumbled with my scope in the panic, trying not to take my eyes off the birdy, when, and I can still see this moment in slow motion, I got that sick feeling in my stomach and I could hear my heart in my ears. My Televid casually did a forward roll off the top of the tripod and subsequently the cliff!
For the briefest of seconds my scope flew.
I'm not sure which was the most spectacular - a diving slate Grey iconic bird or an expensive collection of silver iconic German optics.
Whereas the peregrine pulled out of the stoop and headed up for another go with gravity, my scope sadly hit the beach after bouncing off the cliff a couple of times some 60 metres below.
It was the longest walk of my life as I tried to find my way down the cliff to reclaim my baby. Eventually I got down to the isolated beach and approached its silver carcass embedded in the gravel. I dreaded the moment of truth. Picking it up, I gave it a little shake expecting the tinkle of broken glass. I got nothing and on bringing it up to my eye I could not believe it when I saw that same reassuring wide angle, crystal clear and bright image.
It appeared that my Televid had survived. Other than a couple of battle scars and chips to the body there was no permanent damage. Rather unfortunately this beautiful device got stolen from the back of my car some years later and despite the best efforts of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary we were never to be reunited.
This is clearly a tough scope. My only issue with it was its size. Not only did it look space age, you could have strapped a couple of booster rockets to its sides and kick started the European Space Programme. It was that big and heavy (a cost that I was happy to shoulder to the nearest bird reserve for the clear views on the world that it offered) travelling internationally, as I so often do, it was deemed a bit of a luxury to tuck into my suitcase.
Then Leica brought out its baby cousin the much shorter, slimmer and all round more convenient APO-TELEVID 62. Weighing just over 1kg and being only 30cm long this really was a pocket rocket. Optically it seems to me comparable with its bigger relative and for once I could take it everywhere - it even fits into my waist pouch (bum-bag or fanny-pack, depending on which side of the pond you are from).
Being one of those companies that embraces the best of old fashion values such as compatibility and after service with modern technological developments - the various eye pieces they make (5 at the last count) fit all models of spotting scope. I like the diversity offered by the 16-48 zoom and the brightness and field of view of the 16x.
All the other features of robustness and waterproofing that are described for the binoculars also figure for both of these scopes.
Sticking up for Sticks
Tripods, monopods and heads (the bit that joins the legs to the gadget) are for most of us simply utilitarian objects, not really of much interest after all the really sexy bits of kit are the things you stick on top of them; your latest state of the art German telescope or that expensive collective of Japanese genius and electric wizardry that is your new Digital SLR with the big lens on that you had to re-mortgage the house and sell a kidney to afford.
But surely that's the whole point of getting a good reliable one? I'm not just talking about the actual functionality of the above mentioned equipment (most simply wouldn't work properly if the tripod it sat on wobbled in a breeze or was at risk of toppling off balance if a butterfly landed on it). But you literally cant afford for something to go wrong - I speak from experience here, I did after all loose my Leica Telescope off the top of a towering Cornish cliff all because the mount was not engaged properly!
The other problem with Tripods and head is that because they more often than not are not as expensive as what they need to hold up - they get a forgotten and abused. If the gods start hurling ice and water upon you and your camera, you grab the camera and run for cover - your tripod at worst gets left out to take the brunt of the elements or at best if it gets remembered at all - gets thrown in the corner or chucked in the trunk of the car.
These for me are all good reasons to invest in a good quality one and I'll be honest with you other than a Benbo, (which I never got on with it was for me like wrestling a three legged octopus every time I wanted to take a photo) the only Tripods I have ever had are those made by Manfrotto.
So I guess you could say this isn't an impartial review of Tripod manufacturers - but here in lies the story. I've never needed to look elsewhere. My first Manfrotto tripod came with my first Telescope that I bought off a bloke in a bird hide near Exeter - it just happened to be a Manfrotto. I still have that Tripod and it still works very well despite it being used and abused for countless seasons in the field.
So that's the brand what about the model? Well that really comes down to what you want your tripod and head for. You need to take into account the variables; the legs themselves really come in different weights (due to different materials and mechanisms), Heights (some go higher than others!), and the ease of use of the quick release levers.
A heavy set up is a pain to lug around a big nature reserve or up a mountain but will serve you well as a very stable mount when the weather gets tough, while a lighter one may well be easier to sling over your shoulder or twirl about your head but will jiggle all over the place in a breeze.
So for the most part it's a compromise between the two depending on the sorts of use you will be giving your equipment.The heads? Well they are a different ball game and I've really only played around with a few different kinds again by Manfrotto, see below.
My current favourite and good all rounder is my Carbon Fibre Tripod; a 055MF4 magfiber. It's a good lightweight but high performance tripod and so far it's taken pretty much everything that has been thrown at it, sand, dust, salt water and all without any complaint from the tripod or the user. I love it. I use it with a number of heads but the one that spends most time on it when I'm using my telescope is the #222 which has a squeeze grip to loosen the head and on release it locks in position - very useful for quickly tracking with your subject, especially birds. The slightly heavier 322RC Heavy duty grip ball head, is, I think easier to use and feels more stable but it is as its name suggests a little heavier.
For a really lightweight support the 680B MONOPOD is useful but only if its combined with the #361 shoulder brace a great companion for the 'baby' Leica scope and I find especially useful for travelling when excess baggage is an issue.
I was pretty well satisfied with this lot and thought things couldn't get any better. Like many I had accepted the fact that the fiddle to release the quick release levers at each stage for each of the three legs was all a part of the birding with a tripod experience. Until I met the 458B! It's still pretty light (although not a slick and sexy as the magfiber) but the quick releases really do release the legs quickly - you simply pull the legs to the extension required and they stay there - all you do is press the button on the hip of the tripod to release the lock and push the legs back into place - lovely.
The features and uses that this combination has are many - and so for now I will leave it. But I will give these and much of the other kit a much more thorough review in the future.
Check out their website for more details www.manfrotto.com/