tripods and heads

[kalkadan]

Hi

I should have discovered this place first and asked the questions!

Went out and purchased a monoleg thing without a head - a Velbon Sherpa in carbon fibre. Dealer didn't say it needed a head - I know I should have noticed myself!

Spent ages trying to figure out how to fit the camera (D200) to it! Did a bit of reading and realised I need a head!

Then noticed that B&H and Adorama had all other sorts of braces etc. to go with monopods.

Thought maybe should get a tripod with a head and use that head on the monopod when I needed to do that - am I on the right track?

Been thinking about theVelbon EL Carmagne 540 Carbon Fiber with PH-250B 3-Way Panhead.

Any comments/advice on any of this would be appreciated. As would some links to sites which may discuss which heads/tripods and Monopod braces are useful in different applications.

Dan

[losfp]

You should check to see if that particular tripod has a removable head. I have a cheap tripod that has a non-removable head.

I have one of the smaller Manfrotto monopods, which I was using with my Benro KB1 ballhead until quite recently. Now I have a Manfrotto tilt head on it (was pretty cheap, around $30-40?) with a RRS clamp that works with the plates on my D70s and 80-200.

[Glen]

Dan,

Many favour ballheads for photography, whilst video guys often favour 3 way heads. If you do a search you will find many suggestions on heads, at the top end companies like RRS or Markins, slightly cheaper Benro, lighter acratech, etc, etc

Most of these are considered a bit big and overkill for a monopod. Manfrotto make a knuckle like device for about $30 (I will get you the model number). Your monopod should have a bolt sticking up from the centre which should thread straight into the base of your camera? The only disadvantage of that is when you need to tilt you tilt the pod as well. Do you have that bolt?

Edit I mean the only disadvantage of using the existing bolt and no knuckle or head is that you need to tilt the pod. Not that bad to use like that. The Manfrotto 234 should be readily available in Brisbane.

[Glen]

Dan, it is the Manfrotto 234, here is a picture, perfect for the application and $30 or so dollars

[gstark]

Dan,

Forget Velbon.

Look at Manfrotto, Benro, and Gitzo, depending upon your budget.

What you'll find - what you may already be noticing - is that if you decide to spend short, you will (night - you will) end up buying exactly what you decided to not buy the first (or second) time you looked at <whatever> because your so-called cheaper alternative simply wasn't able to do the job properly.

So, why buy (and pay) three times? Just go for the most capable, within your expected shooting needs, equipment, buy it once, and buy the right gear first time.

Look at some solid legs, and look for a good, smooth head. Then you'll be wanting a couple of QR adapters, and an L plate, and ... and ...

[Glen]

Dan, Des above has brought up the point of arca swiss. This is the method of attachment to the tripod. I will give you some supplier links so you can confuse yourself and come back and ask questions. RRS has some good tutorials, just dont buy everything they recommend, you could go broke!

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/

http://www.markins.com/

http://www.kirkphoto.com/

http://www.acratech.net/

http://www.bogenimaging.us/product/rightscreen.php3


Not sure of the Velbon product, most of it really isn't great quality, ok for a monopod but when you choose a tripod would probably set a budget and ask here about Manfrotto, Benro, Gitzo, etc




Edit: Just saw Gary's post above, do you get the feeling there is a school of thought on this board?

[Justin]

yes - I have a cheap velbon model (yes gstark I spent short) that and had loads of fun trying to get some long exposure night shots of the stars... as it will not rotate back 90 degrees! I had to shorten one of the legs to tip the whole thing back far enough, little bit of a worry there of it falling backwards. Also cheap tripods break easy.

But if you want to go crazy, check out the tripods Bjorn at naturfotograf (SP) recommends and says you have to buy once in your life (like a sports car) - $5k and upwards.

[avkomp]

I can only repeat what has already been said, however in my experience you definitely can see the difference in shots produced using good tripods.
this is especially so in gusty conditions and or using heavy lenses.

As for the monopod, quite a lot of them have a 1/4 or 3/8 screw for attaching to your camera.
my manfrotto pod has both. initially I was using it without a head (like you see the photogs at the football for instance),
however I quickly discovered that this didnt suit me because I was walking around and taking shots at up and down angles.
to solve this I was going to buy a knuckle as mentioned above but got a s/h manfrotto 222 which is a ballhead with a pistolgrip, so you squeese the grip and position the head. I like it a lot and I have since seen a few people using similar.

Steve

[kalkadan]

Thanks to all of you for all that advice!

Yep. I did get the headless monopod screwed into the base plate of the D200, and I was finding that I had to lean it all over the place.

Will look into all you say and report back.

Dan
P.S. any good suppliers? P.Continental in Bris seem to have a fair few of the manfrotto last time I was out there. Has anyone got what they wanted from the States? or with these things is it better to go local

[Glen]

If you buy the Manfrotto 234 knuckle, just buy local it's $30 as postage would kill it from the states. The legs are usually bought local. The heads are generally imported from the states (or Markins from Korea) as no one carries them locally.