Monopod HELP! (Minor Emergency)

[sparty314]

Hi,

I am been "hired" at the last minute to do a job this Saturday. I have been wanting to get a monopod for quite a while, so this is my opportunity for an excuse. What weight rating do I need for my 10D with battery-grip and possible telephoto lens?

Will http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=5481&is=REG&si=inc#goto_itemInfo
work?

I want to be able to quickly shoot both horizontal and vertical.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

[DaveG]

[quote]sparty314 wrote:
Hi,

I am been "hired" at the last minute to do a job this Saturday. I have been wanting to get a monopod for quite a while, so this is my opportunity for an excuse. What weight rating do I need for my 10D with battery-grip and possible telephoto lens?

Will http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=5481&is=REG&si=inc#goto_itemInfo
work?

I want to be able to quickly shoot both horizontal and vertical.

Any other suggestions?

I use the smaller, and older Manfroto (Bogen in the US) monopod and it's fine.

If your lens doesn't have a tripod collar then you'll need a ball head of some kind so you can shoot vertically. There are many different kinds around and as many opinions. I use a Gitzo magnesium ball head and you might want to think about something like this that's lightweight but still has good quality. You can then also swap it onto your tripod legs and not suffer from cheap ballhead problems.

But as I say there are as many opinions about ballheads as there are ballheads ...

[CyberDyneSystems]

I find that with a monopod all one needs is a tilt only head. Manfrotto/Bogen make one specifically for Monopods that costs about $25.00 and it works great with even large lenses like the Sigma 50-500mm.

Panning is acomplished easily on a monopod as the whole "Pod" rotates.

The "3d" head on the Pod you list looks to be over kill to be. Of course it does offer tilting to portrait,. but if you use a lens collar that is allready covered.

[Belmondo]

I second the ball head suggestion. I'm using a Bogen 486 RC2 (I think --- doing this from memory). It has a quick release and is reasonably sturdy.

Since a monopod is used usually just in compression (i.e. the load on it is straight down), you don't need a big, strong monolithic piece of structural pipe. Most monopods will do a very adequate job. On a tripod, the legs are splayed outward from the load vector, and are more likely to flex --- in that case, rigidity is much more important.

A good analogy is a drinking straw. Put one end on something solid (like a table), and push straight down on the other end. It's very solid. Put a load on the side and it's very flimsy. It's the same with monopods.

[sparty314]

Thank everyone, so far. I was looking at that 3D head simply because it came as part of a package and it was rated for slightly more weight than head that just tilts to allow vertical shots. I like the idea of a ballhead, though. Is that available as part of a package?

As far as the monopod itself... I know that the tubes themselves for most monopods will be plenty strong enough. But, with the department store-type monopods I've seen, it is the locks between the collapsing sections that are weak. For example, if you push down too hard, the legs will collapse--very frustrating!