2026-04-04 The Pentax Binocular Mount

Having been chided before about daring to mention anything other than photography subjects, I am going to once again mention something not strictly photographic.
Many photography companies dabble in other optical items. Leitz, Pentax, Olympus, Ricoh and Nikon all make microscopes, binoculars and other items.
We are going to expound on the Pentax Binocular tripod mount. I bought yet another tripod just because it had this adapter attached to its head. That knurled tripod screw on the top screws into the hub—right at the front—of many binoculars. Then the binoculars can be steadied on any support with a tripod screw. This can vary from some walking sticks and monopods to full tripods.
Even with 8-10 power binoculars holding steady on something gets to be more and more difficult. From surveillance of criminals to watching birds nests and star systems, it is handy to have a mount that can be locked down on the view.

Most binoculars would have a cover screwed into the mount. The adapter has this additional mount on the front to hold the cover when the adapter is attached to the binocular’s hub.

This is the cover that was screwed into the tripod adapter when I bought it used.

It was holding this wrist strap in place. I have no idea if the Pentax Binocular tripod mount came with these two bits as part of the package. It could be the screw cover is from a pair of binoculars and the wrist strap was added to facilitate carrying the original tripod/binocular mount I bought.

It turns out the Pentax binoculars I have don’t have the tripod mount I have described. I have compact binoculars that have the front cells almost touching, so there is no room for a mount. I do have a pair of Bushnell binoculars that has the standard tripod bushing for the Pentax Binocular mount’s tripod screw. The tripod mount on the binoculars was hidden under a cover that uses its own larger thread (it is shaped more like a bottle cap with threads around the rim).

This is the Pentax Binocular adapter’s thread mount screwed into the Bushnell binoculars. There is no interference with the binocular’s focus or width of eyepiece adjustment.

The size of the binoculars is a bit intimidating, considering the thin adapter’s profile.

The long standoff between the binocular and the tripod head gives plenty of room for wearing gloves, or not snagging cuffs. If you consider some binoculars can cost $1000, having a Pentax Binocular mount can be safer than any jury-rigged tripod adapter.

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