I have tried a scope mounted on a pistol-grip tripod head and did not find
it to be very effective for birding. The scope seemed hard to control with
most of its weight far forward of the pivot point. This is similar to
complaints I have heard about using standard ball heads for scopes. Also it
would be hard to pan a scope on a tripod head like this which is easily done
w/ a micro-fluid head w/ horizontal and vertical controls. For the most part
birders scan areas by panning the scope through a particular plane. I tried
this pistrol-grip head about 5 years ago so perhaps they have changed since
then. Still I would think they would only be useful for very particular
applications (and of course for photography).

Thanks, Charles.

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Charles Swift
charless at moscow.com
Moscow, Idaho