I haven't tried it, but my understanding of the issue with installing the studs on the NL42s is that the threaded socket is very shallow - only around 3 turns. Seems it wasn't designed to be used to install a stud, and such use may be precarious. I don't need a stud pre-installed, I just would want the 1/4"-20 socket to be sufficiently deep that it will be secure.Seems like any top tier 12 power binocular should have a good quality built-in tripod/monopod adapter installed at the factory, a lot of the used 12X42 NL have them installed, I’d say that’s pretty telling.
I'm potentially in the market for the NL 10x52, rather than the 12x52. But I'd still definitely want to mount it because for me the two advantages over a 10x42 would be (i) night sky, and (ii) having the option of using it with a zeiss tripler (I'd expect the image quality at 30x52 to be significantly better than 30x42).