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I'm looking to be a lot more active in the new year with my camera, hikes and trips and safaris, Oh my!

So while I have a decent tripod I can carry around ( it's heavy but not too heavy ) I like idea of a tripod for that extra stability without the fuss and weight of its three-legged cousin.

It occurs to me that I don't actually know what you should look for in a monopod.. My local store tried to sell me one once and kept recommending heads and things like that, I would have thought that the beauty of a monopod is you can move it yourself without having to worry about tilting/twisting/adjusting a head, am I wrong? Is a good head essential for monopod use?

Any information would be wonderful..

Dean

Check out this thread

http://forum.d70users.com/viewtopic.php ... ht=monopod

there could be some useful info

cheers

I don't own one, but have played enough with Birddog's collection of higher end monopods to know what's nice and what's not (for me). I don't particularly like the idea of having a head on a monopod. When the 'pod is used for stabilising a long lens, having the mass on top is ideal - with a head tilted, it's not exactly confidence inspiring when a lens costing big bucks is overhanging to one side.

A monopod in essense becomes part of a tripod when braced against one's body and supported by your two legs. So firstly you'd want one that's tall enough for your standing height. There are 3, 4 or 5 section pods to accomodate individual differences. The thickness of the top section also - not only for the maximum weight it can support, but also at what thickness you feel most comfortable wrapping your hands around. Most would have that spongy rubber grip thing (I'm sure there's a proper name for it), but various brands and models have various diameter tubes. Find one you like.

The choice of raw materials, carbon fibre or steel, as is the case with tripods - are pretty much dictated by how deep your pockets are.

I've been looking for a while for a fairly simple one that's compact when collapsed, and bought one yesterday for the Bigma.

I saw a few with a pan & tilt head on it, and thought that was particularly pointless. A ball head could be useful, but no head is fine; you just pick it up and swing the thing sideways!

Pay attention to the basics, too. I saw a cheapie that was about the right height and only $70, but the clips weren't tight enough to hold much weight so it would shrink with about 5kg of pressure. Too easy to do if you lean on it, and what'll it be like after a year's use? Manfrotto make a huge 3 section one that was very rigid, but too long for me when collapsed at about 2 feet long. Their 676B is a 4 section version, only about 18" long folded, and is nice and rigid as well as being quite long. Longer is better, because you can always shorten it but pointing up is hard with a short monopod. Quite solid enough for a big lens, and it cost me $60 from the new JB hifi in the city.

Happy with it so far.

werble wrote:I saw a few with a pan & tilt head on it, and thought that was particularly pointless. A ball head could be useful, but no head is fine; you just pick it up and swing the thing sideways!

Pay attention to the basics, too. I saw a cheapie that was about the right height and only $70, but the clips weren't tight enough to hold much weight so it would shrink with about 5kg of pressure. Too easy to do if you lean on it, and what'll it be like after a year's use? Manfrotto make a huge 3 section one that was very rigid, but too long for me when collapsed at about 2 feet long. Their 676B is a 4 section version, only about 18" long folded, and is nice and rigid as well as being quite long. Longer is better, because you can always shorten it but pointing up is hard with a short monopod. Quite solid enough for a big lens, and it cost me $60 from the new JB hifi in the city.

Happy with it so far.

Well, you have to see and touch the ballhead from RRS, Acratech and Markin, then you'll judge it by yourself, without touching, put the lens and camera on the ballhead with L bracket and other accessories, then there are more comparison with other stuff you have.
At many meets and mini meets, members from our forum can see a big gap of difference in between those gears, specially once you have your tripod stand next to other and try your camera and lenses on difference tripods, heads or set up.
In the past, we had a meet and eval those gears, hope we will have more chance to do it in the New Year

ok... here's my 5c worth... I have a manfrotto 680B... steel, four section, clip mechanisms, no head as yet. Main features you want are to be solid, wide enough diameter to hold nicely and feel secure and tall enough to match your height... oh also that it folds up small for transport.

The only point of using a head on top is to allow use of a quick release plate... at the moment I have to screw the pod on and off which is a bit of a pain but not the end of the world.

Matt K might also suggest use of his handcrafted approach... piece of dowel... painted black of course!!!

Yep, would love to meet other members of the forum and have a play with other gear. Can't wait for the next meet!

Will probably hold off on the tripod until I get a chance to try a few. I'm a bit reluctant to spend money on a high end one if I don't need it, but I'm also reluctant to spend money on one that'll turn out to be less than I need. Catch 22, really. Only fix seems to be to try a few and see what works for me. I figure I get one that'll handle my biggest lens, and allow me to add a slide head for when I get a macro lens. That should cover it I hope!

werble - this new JB Hifi in the city you speak of... where abouts is it? Got an address, or approximate location?

Onyx wrote:werble - this new JB Hifi in the city you speak of... where abouts is it? Got an address, or approximate location?

It's in Galeries Victoria lower level. Walk along Pitt st away from the Quay, past the Hilton (being refurbished), turn right immediately past the Arthouse Tavern and head down the escalator, then turn left. It's where the IGA supermarket used to be.

Mainly music and DVDs, with a few digicams, printers & MP3 players. Heaps of music and DVDs, not a lot else.

<Stupid question alert> If you wanted to get stuff on and off your monopod easily, but didn't want a head, could you just put a quick release adaptor straight on it? </Close Stupid question alert>

http://db.manfrotto.com/product/templates/templates.php3?sectionid=100&itemid=316

Hi werble, and all.I have a monopod now thanks to a member who didn't use it and sent it to me, and i think i would use this a lot in what i like to do take pics of motorcycle racing. I tried with a tripod and just too much stuffing around carting a tripod around the track, so i think the monopod will be good as i have used it a few times with the 70-300 and keeps it a more steady.

werble keep us posted on pics with that Bigma, i am very interested to see how it goes.
Thanks
John
BBJ

I’m still using my Manfrotto as much as possible.
It also makes for a good leaning post; when one get a little tired

But as some one said in the other thread “Don’t walk away from it the bloody thing it’ll fall over”

Cheers
Ray

BBJ! A kindred spirit in two categories! The only downside to track days is that you can't really enjoy both the riding and the snapping. I get kinda nervous leaving the camera in the garage and going out on the track! Shame you're not an Eastern Creek regular, or you'd have a Bigma to play with!

Check out the other pics on my site at http://www.helies.net/bikevskippy/bike (high bandwidth site - the wallpaper is huge).

Kinda mine - my bike, my camera, but I didn't take the pics. Testament to the quality of the camera is that I handed it to a C---- user and he rattled off these pics! I'm the immobile one on the ground in the red, white and black leathers. The slightly second hand bike fell victim to a spacially challenged and very stupid kangaroo. Still, evolution caught up with it. The bright side is that the camera in the gearsack was ok! The downside is that this was of course on the way down to the MotoGP, not on the way back

Gary, is it too late to change from Werble to Skippy? More fitting somehow...

Part of the reason for the Bigma is for bike photos - you can't get too close to the bikes, so you buy bigger glass! The monopod was for the same reason you gave. Not as good as a tripod, but a lot easier to lug around and less obtrusive.

werble wrote:Gary, is it too late to change from Werble to Skippy? More fitting somehow..

Say the word

Said! Wanna be Skippy! At least I have a real story when someone asks the inevitable "Why _____"
Werble was just something I made up, but skippy took effort!

Heads. I've settled on a Manfrotto 679B monopod, but I was thinking I'd get a 234RC swivel tilt QR head for it so getting the camera on & off was easy.

From the posts here I'm having second thoughts on the head. Is it not as fiddly as I'm thinking screwing the camera to the monopod without a QR?

Cheers and a Happy Christmas / New Years to all

Stubbsy

Hold camera in one hand, hold monopod to other..
Insert screw A into hole B
Rotate monopod..

I would think it would be fairly easy... maybe more difficult with something weighing two kilos on the end of your camera..

Quick release would be nice though..

Platinumweaver.

Thanks. Yes I'm a lazy b**tard (Can I say bastard?)

But I'm also a tight ass so spending $65 for the head to go on a monpod that costs $86 is sounding less attractive.

Stubbsy

PlatinumWeaver wrote:Hold camera in one hand, hold monopod to other..
Insert screw A into hole B
Rotate monopod..

I would think it would be fairly easy... maybe more difficult with something weighing two kilos on the end of your camera..

Quick release would be nice though..

I'm always seeing the QRP should go into the heads not the tripod itself, and never seen one works without the head.

Edit:
Perhaps this link will give you some ideas how to modify one for your self:

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/tutoria ... index.html

Birddog.

Visited that link when I ran across it in another one of your postings. Sounded interesting, but I left it at that. Just went back and revisited it and notice the head I'm looking at is the one they're talking about, but the one I'm looking at is the 234RC (difference between 234 and 234RC is the RC has a QR) so I think it's the same solution already implemented in one package.

But then again I may be wrong!

Stubbsy

stubbsy wrote:Birddog.

Visited that link when I ran across it in another one of your postings. Sounded interesting, but I left it at that. Just went back and revisited it and notice the head I'm looking at is the one they're talking about, but the one I'm looking at is the 234RC (difference between 234 and 234RC is the RC has a QR) so I think it's the same solution already implemented in one package.

But then again I may be wrong!

Stubbsy

Stubbsy,
You're right, the 234 is the one RRS is talking about and it's for modifying, the 234RC comes with QRP as standard (I have one also). To modify the 234 with the RRS QRP plate for convenient in using all L brackets of Arcaswiss style with dovetail, otherwise the 234RC will work with standard camera mount.