Celestron TrailSeeker Tripod with Fluid Pan Head – 82050 Celestron

The Celestron TrailSeeker Tripod is lightweight yet sturdy, and comes with a fluid pan head for smooth movements in all directions.   With a weight capacity of 8.8 pounds, fully adjustable legs, and multiple advanced features, the TrailSeeker Tripod is the perfect compliment to your spotting scope, binoculars, video camera, or DSLR.  

Fully adjustable tripod legs

The Celestron TrailSeeker Tripod comes with aluminum legs that are fully adjustable.  They each have four telescoping sections that extend easily and lock into place with ergonomic flip levers.  Drop each section down as needed, flip the lock lever closed, and move on to the next.  The length of each tripod leg section can be adjusted anywhere along its length.  The maximum height for the TrailSeeker Tripod is 58 inches without making use of the column extension, and 70.5 inches—almost 5 feet 9 inches!— if you extend the column fully. 

All three tripod legs are also adjustable when it comes to their angle position.  This is a particularly nice feature if you find yourself setting up on ground that isn’t perfectly flat.  A release lever is located at the top of each tripod leg, allowing you to choose from three different leg locations.  A  bubble level on the top of the tripod will assist you in leveling your equipment as you make adjustments to the legs.

Leg padding is easy on the shoulder

Most people carry their tripod from place to place by slinging it over their shoulder.  This can be uncomfortable without padding.  Thanks to Celestron, two of the three tripod legs have cushioning wrapped around the uppermost section.  This welcome feature also gives you a place to grab the tripod when working in cold conditions.

Extendable column with retractable hook

The Celestron TrailSeeker Tripod comes with an extendable center column.  This not only allows users to raise the height of the tripod past what the legs alone would allow, it provides a way to stabilize the tripod in windy conditions.  How?  Celestron added a retractable hook to the end of the column.  Whenever you want extra stability, simply pull the hook into position and then hang something heavy on it.  Anything will work, as long as it has some weight to it.  Nature photographers often carry a bag with a handle or a string closure that can be used for this purpose, and then they put rocks, sand, or whatever else is lying nearby into the bag.  When you don’t need the hook, just push it back into the center column.  

Fluid pan head for smooth tracking

The two way fluid pan head, included with the TrailSeeker Tripod, makes it easy to smoothly follow moving objects.  Simply grab the handle to pan the head up, down, right, or left, and then lock it in position with the head’s oversized knob.   There is also a bubble level on the side of the head to assist in keeping your equipment level.  A quick release plate on the TrailSeeker pan head can be connected to the bottom of your spotting scope, camera, or small telescope for quick installation and removal.