What should I look for in a monopod?

RichV said:

If you own the Manfrotto, is it easy to get the tripod legs out/on?

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Unscrew the bottom, which holds the three steel rods and fold/unfold them, then screw it back on. Removing the centre column on Manfrotto's tripods is much, much more troublesome.

Does it allow you to tilt the camera 90 deg for portrait mode photographs?
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Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

Klipsen said:

Its supporting legs allow you to use is almost like a tripod. If your camera and lens are balanced correctly, you can let go of them if you need to (probably most useful when taking portraits, and the lower the better).

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You'll need a ball or tilt head for most portraits.

--
Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

Klipsen said:

Glenn said:

chalk and cheese?

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http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/chalk-and-cheese.html

OK, so now I know what it means, but I fail to see the what he means by it.

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They may seem the same but they are different

--
Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

tbcass said:

Does it allow you to tilt the camera 90 deg for portrait mode photographs?

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I don't believe my friend's unit had that ability, as he had it set up. Though I'm sure a different head could be mounted on it for that purpose. It just has the basic threading for 2 screw sizes, so it would seem it could accept other types of heads. I know Really Right Stuff makes monopod heads of various types.

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Justin
galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

tbcass said:

You'll need a ball or tilt head for most portraits.

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Yes, and that will bring the whole setup out of balance. In fact, only lenses with tripod collars can take full advantage of the support legs, because they distribute the weight better and can be turned to portrait mode without hanging over the side. I often use either my 70-200 mm or 200 mm macro that way, and the Manfrotto 234RC tilt head lets me tilt the lens (I mount the quick release plate turned 90 degrees left or right for that reason).

neww2dig said:

I am 5' 10" so I want a least a 6 Ft but note sure about any thing else. I mainly shoot my kid at play and portraits and a hopefully an airshow or two in the future. I looking for something to help support larger lens or when doing portraits to help reduce camera shake.

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I use a Gitzo GM5541T with the RRS MH-01 heavy duty monopod head with my long lenses like the 70-400G. I'm 5'11" and this is plenty of height with some excess for using the monopod at a slant. You have the height of the monopod, plus the height of the head, plus the height from base to viewfinder to reach to your eye height.

I prefer the GM5541T over the GM5541 due to the much shorter storage length of the 6 section model. It's only a little over 16" long for the stored monopod.

This is a bit of overkill for small lenses, but will work fine for them and then when you go to bigger lenses you are still ok.

Note I don't use monopods a lot. They are barely different in stability from the Bushhawk shoulder mount, and of course much less stability of a tripod. Think of them more for holding the weight up than stability.

Walt

You are going to have some sort of tilt mount and then the camera on top of the monopod so this will make the viewfinder about 6'5"s high (or more) while your eye level is about 5'6"s.

What you need is a monopod that is maybe 5'3"s.

Plenty of them that size available.
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tom power

zackiedawg said:

tbcass said:

Does it allow you to tilt the camera 90 deg for portrait mode photographs?

Click to expand...

I don't believe my friend's unit had that ability, as he had it set up. Though I'm sure a different head could be mounted on it for that purpose. It just has the basic threading for 2 screw sizes, so it would seem it could accept other types of heads. I know Really Right Stuff makes monopod heads of various types.

Click to expand...

Yes, few monopods come with tilting heads which is an almost necessary feature. I have a Smith Vector ball head mounted on my monopod.

--
Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

thanks everyone for your input.

I have done some research and I see your point about height. I have narrowed my search down to these two.

Manfrotto 680B with Sunpak Pistol Ball-head combine is $78.50 or the Canon 500 W/Mini Ball Head for $30

Both have very positive reviews. Just not sure what limitations the Canon has vs the other Manfrotto combination.

I had cheap tripod that had plastic tilt head components this was poorly built and had trouble supporting the A100 on anything other than level. I could not keep it tilted up or down on the spot that I wanted without having to move the tripod as it never stayed on the spot I had chosen and after tightening the knobs. Out of frustration I over tightened and cracked the threaded housing.

I know that I will invest in another tripod down the road. But for now in what I like to do the Monopod seems more what I need and want. I need something to help support the camera as I pan and or move the camera up and down as I follow my son and other nieces and nephews at play.

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Tony

A100, A700, Tam 17-50, Sony 16-105, Beercan, Tam 55-200

neww2dig said:

I know that I will invest in another tripod down the road. But for now in what I like to do the Monopod seems more what I need and want. I need something to help support the camera as I pan and or move the camera up and down as I follow my son and other nieces and nephews at play.

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Quality is as important a issue with a monopod as a tripod. Maybe more so as it's not hard to end up putting some large sideways load on one moving around with it.

Depending on the lenses you plan to use a shoulder mount gives you more mobile support than a monopod, better able to follow kids. I use the Bushhawk shoulder mount there.

Walt

That Manfrotto seems to have the largest, outer section on the bottom, which is good for keeping crud from the ground out of the telescoping mechanism. My out-of-production Benbo monopod and the current Uni-Loc monopods have that feature also.