This is not true, as far as I experienced. The 60 and the 80 used the same system for me with no issues. I did not use a heavy or stout set up either. I was all about the weight staying low. I went with a pan head and tripod capable of both, yet as light as out there. Slick CF tripod, Sirui fluid head. Again the weight diff from the 60 to the 80 is minimal for all of my hunting, elk at 10,000. I only hike 3-4 miles a day and carry the spotter only on rifle hunts. During archery I only use binos. If I remember right my weight diff between the 2 was only 6-8 oz. It really boils down to what hunt and where and type of animal preferred (freezer meat or trophy mount)