Using Binoculars with a Smartphone Camera during First Ride of 2026

I like the pictures my Samsung S24+ takes though its optical zoom lens is limited to 3X which isn't a lot.  Sure, it'll go to 30X with digital zoom but the images tend towards high pixelation.

Although it's not often, sometimes I find myself wanting more optical zoom.  Such as when my Sony a6000 Camera and associated 200mm Telephoto lens would provide me some depth of focus capabilities.

Alas, the Sony remains broken and I'm not going to be paying to repair it any time soon, if ever.

I had bought from Amazon a tripod mount adapter which secures my 10x40 power binoculars to my tripod. 

I also bought an adapter that secures my smartphone to one of the eyecups of my binoculars:

Two days ago, I assembled it all together and while very fiddly in terms of getting a good sight picture; it might be a usable tool for pics of objects out of range of my smartphone's camera.

For sure it's not something you can put together quickly for a quick shot.

You probably can shoot a distant subject without using a tripod but results will be most likely a bit blurry.  Just no way to hold the camera still enough at those zoom levels!

Here's an example using 3X zoom lens on smartphone coupled withe binoculars focused on the chimney stacks visible from my house.

Using 1X zoom on phone, no binos

Using 3X zoom with binos

Using 3X zoom, no binos

Using 3X zoom with binos

The handheld shots I tried were as expected, slightly blurry due to body/hand movements.  Maybe if I switch to "manual" mode and use a faster shutter speed?

I'll be testing this setup when appropriate in the next few months.  I'm cautiously optimistic might be a solution an infrequently encounter photo subject.  

Today's riding was to pose Scarl with Mt Blue Sky in the background.

Here's a 3X optical zoom shot from about 2/10ths of a mile away from Scarlett I believe.

Same picture as above but magnified and cropped:

Now using the bino adapter, it would take me more than a bit of fiddling before figuring out you have to rotate the binos as well do the camera phone sees things level.  There's also a bit of fiddling getting everything lined up.  This lash-up is definitely not something that's easy/fast to setup!

It was driven home to me, how narrow a field of focus binoculars provide while bringing distant scenery "closer".  Below is the above shot, once I rotated the binos:

1X  with binos, scaled down and cropped

If you think shooting at 1X in the camera's field of view was narrow above.  The below shots are done using the 3X zoom on the camera.

So, obviously, this setup isn't for wide landscape shots.  I can think of possible shots where the background mountain or rock formation is narrower or closer which might work but I won't know till then.

This setup is appraised by birdwatchers to get closer shots of their bird sightings.  I'm going to try for wildlife shots but don't have much hope for success.

More experimentation to follow in my next camping trip.

7JAN26 update:

This might work for handheld shooting of pics:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Usually, I'd post a snowy Christmas Eve series of riding pics featuring my sidecar rig.

Alas, unseasonably warm weather holds Colorado in its thrall this year....though there's still hope for some snowy riding before years end.

So, here's a compilation of snowy December riding, 2006-2023...some years of course are missing as I was in Arizona those Decembers.

Lookout Mountain and Red Rocks rides, 14 Years Apart

Today, I basically replicated a ride I did back on Christmas Eve, 2011.

The weather was radically different from the previous ride, as was the choice of motorcycle.  14 years ago, it was on Yoshi, my Suzuki DL1000 with a sidecar, today it was a vintage BMW R80 Airhead: Brigitta.

Lookout Mountain Road is a steep, windy road rising out from nearby Golden, CO.  At the top is Buffalo Bill's gravesite and museum.  Here's a link for the museum:  LINK.

The weather has been unseasonably warm here in the Stoner State.  The road up to the top wasn't crowded at all, being a weekday.  Turns out, they now close the road at night.  Not sure why or when that started.

Gateway Towers at bottom of Lookout Mountain Road.

Golden with South Tabletop Mesa in background 

Christmas Eve 2011

2011

Yoshi, 2011

Now folks are barred from walking out onto 

the outcropping known as Wildcat Point 

Martha on Wildcat Point 

You can see North and South 

Tabletop Mesas

View from museum parking lot 

As I rode back down the mountain, I stopped at Windy Saddle Park to hike up the 305 steps on the Mount Zion Trail.  The recent flu had robbed me of wind and stamina and it was a bit of a struggle for me to do this little climb!

You can see the top of the tabletop mesas 

from the top of the trail.

Next, as I did 14 years before, it was a ride to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre area.  No snow this time so I didn't get stuck as I did with the sidecar rig back then.

The below pic actually had swarms of parked cars....I edited them out 

There's some kind of drive thru Christmas Lights setup in one of the parking lots.  I'm sure it looks great at night but it looked like crap in the daytime.  I can't even imagine the crowded chaos it must be at night.

Construction work shown above prevented me from accessing the area where I got stuck 14 years ago:

2011

I drove through the town of Morrison and had a near incident with a clueless cager while on the main street.  This was my cue that it was time to go home, all the ass wipes were leaving their late breakfast and desperate for tourist attractions such as Red Rocks 

Made it home with no further issues, a 110 mile roundtrip fore Brigitta, likely closing out the riding for her this year.  She did great.

Finally over "the crud".... I hope

Finally thinking I'm going to survive "the crud".  It was, to me anyways, a severe head cold virus...lots of coughing fits, some fever, nasal drainage and just an all around miserable experience.

It took about 14 days and at the end, some antibiotics to finally enable to sleep through the night (mostly).

There'd be periods, in the latter half of the sickness, where I managed some short rides on both Brigitta, my BMW R80 and Scarlett, my Ural Patrol.  Just local stuff to give them some exercise. No picture opportunities, just me seeing the ever increasing infestation of housing and apartment complexes blotting the landscape.

Lot of house time as you can imagine.  The leak from the master bedroom shower continued to be elusive despite initial success reports.  It would take the complete decaulking and recaulking of the whole shower enclosure to stop the leak.  (So far, anyways).

An investigation into strange noises from the rear of the Honda Ridgeline revealed a failed lock mechanism actuator.  It looks like whoever wired up in the aftermarket Pop&Lock for the tailgate did it incorrectly.  Sure, it worked when the car engine was not running to prove the concept but if you turned the left turn signal while driving, it would also try to unlock the tailgate!  After a while, all that pulsing of the actuator burned it up and caused all the noises we were hearing. 

Along the way, I learned, that Honda had not included a lock for the tailgate.  After all, the pickup portion is open right? Perhaps that is why they incorporated that locking trunk in the bed of the pickup truck? Anyways, I'd never thought about that in terms of pickup trucks since I've never really owned one.

I replace the actuator but could not get the wiring right, so I just gave up on it and disabled the whole thing. If there is stuff to be locked up, it'll go in the trunk or in the passenger compartment. 

All the above chores, were done while I was going through the crud so my patience level and the enjoyment we're not very high as you might imagine. 

Anyways, still alive and feebly kicking.  The weather is supposed to warm into the 60s the next few days so perhaps some more riding before year's end.

Chores and Repairs

I took Umarang, the VRRV to the shop to have an O2 sensor OBD code which sprung up just before I got to Elephant Butte, NM last month.

The Bank 1 Sensor 1 O2 sensor was diagnosed as faulty, causing sporadic "too lean" fuel mixture errors.  The sensor was replaced, Uma got an oil change and filter and a lubing of the underside grease zerks 

The weather has been quite cold here in the cesspool known as the Denver Metro area.  Spent the last week or so on chores such as chasing down a water leak which had caused discoloration in the ceiling of the house's main floor.  It proved to not be drain pipe related but instead it was coming out of the corner of the shower stall!

The holes I cut into the ceiling for access:

The temporary panel (extra false ceing tile from basement) I used to cover the unsightly holes while troubleshooting and waiting for next leak.  I'm glad I used a temporary panel as a leak showed itself a day or 2 after it was installed!

The water would pool and slowly drain into the wall and then on to the openings used by the hot and cold water pipes for the shower:

It took several tests before we could easily replicate the leak.  A lot of caulking work later, I'm cautiously optimistic it won't leak again.  We'll see.

Today, Thursday, December 4

I rode Scarlett to the RV storage yard at Buckley Space Force Base where both the VRRV and the Sammy are in storage until Spring of next year.

The plan had been to disconnect the POS terminal on the Sammy's battery so it won't discharge much before Spring.  Forgot the darn keys so it'll have to wait a couple of days 

I saw a camping rig at the nearby FamCamp, with a Sammy parked behind it!  I was tempted to knock on their door and see if they wanted another one!  But no.

Feeling a bit under the weather with some bug, hopefully it won't hang around for long.

A Few Days at Home, waiting for Umarang to be fixed

September 24:

I had lunch with 3 fellow uralisti: Jay, Dan and John (Spat).  I was distracted by Spat's new (to him) sidecar rig, so no group pic like last time.

Quite the rig, it's a R1200 Hex head tug so quite powerful to haul the sidecar along.

September 25

I drove Thing 2's 1990 Toyota Pickup to a truck scale to get it weighed.  The Internet said they're in the 3000 lb range but I didn't believe it.  

Alas, she was 2920 lbs, almost empty in back   I had been toying with the option of using it as a towed vehicle but no longer.  After all, the Honda CRV is only about 700 lbs heavier.

The fact that it also requires the drive shaft to be removed for towing due to it being an automatic transmission is the other nail in the coffin.

September 27

A 100km ride with Scarlett down to Castlewood Canyon SP area.  I wanted to see what Fall coloration might be there, there was none.

Here's a picture of the damn that failed, the waters of which flooded Denver apparently a few decades ago. 

September 29

A ride with Brigitta, my '87 BMW R80 Airhead ride ended sooner than planned.  I noticed while riding that her battery wasn't charging after initially doing so at the ride's beginning.

Made it home with no issues and the diagnosis is a failed rotor in the alternator.  

September 30

I am still waiting for Uma to be fixed, the mechanic has encountered parts delays and some lift availability issues.  She's in for a fuel pump system replacement to hopefully get rid of recurring OBD codes causing Check Engine warnings.

Some Fall Colors have started to show up in the neighborhood: 

October 2

So bored waiting for the RV to be repaired that I performed some half-assed fence repairs.  A tree on the side, it's trunk had grown over the years, pressing against part of the fence.

This fellow watched my efforts sporadically, I think with a critical eye:

Now it's only two fence slats bowed inwards, as opposed to a whole section.

RV work complete notification just after 5pm!  I pick it up tomorrow.

October 3

I picked up the RV and drive it home in the morning.. I spent The rest of the day we mounting the front motorcycle carrier rack. I had to remove it to give the mechanics I'm working room as a requested.  I also move some supplies into the RV, filled the fresh water tank, and improved the way I'm carrying the spare gas can on the rear bumper.

I'll finish packing up the RV tomorrow.

Evidence of what idle hands can lead to, some of my favorite movies:

Sunday I will be riding Brigitta over to the Colorado Airheads Airmarshal's home. He has a spare rotor and is willing to help me install it, what a guy.

Hanging Out and Riding in the Texas Creek OHV Area

Thursday, September 18

Sunny and mild afternoon....rode BLM route 6025 till chickening out due to steep stony conditions along a single track trail. Once I got back to the trailhead I headed out on BLM route 6040 about 3.5 mile when again; stony steep conditions got too technical for me.

Here's the point where I turned around:

A couple of views while walking around near my campsite:

Friday, September 19

I mostly relaxed throughout the day.

Watched a group of dirt bikes and small atvs ride back and forth at a nice sedate/quiet pace.

Saw one 5th wheel, 1 travel trailer, one large enclosed trailer, multiple ATVs and 1 car head deeper in on route 6040.

Around 4PM I discovered that my selfie stick/tripod was missing.  Searched the RV and campsite with no luck.  Realized that it had probably worked its way out of the saddle bag while riding the trail yesterday.  Dammit.

Did a retrace ride but no luck in fading light so returned to camp to order another one from Amazon.

My fault, I should have used a dummy cord on the darn thing.

Saturday, September 20

Found the tripod!  I had retraced the ride again this morning, and I spotted this on the way back to camp:

More traffic coming in around  noon: 

Throughout the day I saw trucks towing trailered OHVs, dirt bikes in the morning, several small ATVs.  Did see two large OHV SxS being towed in and I dread their usual noise levels.

Later: I was right, the two large SXS rigs were seen ripping up and down the main trail, loud music blasting and generally being annoying ass wipes.  Fortunately, they're not staying anywhere near me.

Pretty warm day here at 6329 ft altitude and 74°F.  This area is part of the "banana belt" of Colorado, warmer than the rest of the state in Winter.  Sunny conditions help of course.