Do monopods with feet give sharper images?

I'm thinking of buying one of those monopods with legs (more like chicken feet). Do they really give sharper images and less vibration that traditional monopods? I don't care about the panning or self-standing features.

I doubt it - the camera is still sticking on a long single pole. If anything the feet may get in your way as you try to move around the monopod while tracking moving objects.

A monopod is generally not thought of as a device to stabilize the camera. Its main purpose is to hold a heavy camera, taking weight off the photographer's arms. As an example of this, look at sporting events with all the still photographers using huge lenses. Most will have the lens supported on a monopod.

If you want "sharper images" by stabilizing the camera, a tripod (or a bean bag, for example) is the way to do that.

In my opinion, the little legs on some monopods are a total waste of money and extra weight to carry around. Most folks using a monopod will want to move the camera around while on the monopod to frame different images.

What do you say to this argument:

Because it can stand up on its own you don't need to hold it during the shutter release (not to say you can walk away from it, of course). Gripping the monopod with your hand, which is required for non-legged monopods, will unavoidably transfer body/arm motion to the pole, which induces image blur. The self-standing feature of the legged monopod avoids that body movement transfer, hence its advantage.

I don't hold the monopod; I let the camera's weight, supplemented if necessary by an arm over the camera and lens, press down on the camera/monopod combo. So no shaking of the monopod. Relying on the feet to hold the monopod steady isn't going to be very effective - you need some downward pressure, even with those three little legs sticking out, to keep the monopod steady and keep from letting your camera hand wobbling it. And like Skip said, monopods are to relieve you of the weight of a big/long lens, not to stabilize the camera. If you want legs to stabilize the camera's stand, get a tripod.

To me they very rarely seem all that useful. Most of the designs I've seen look more likely to be something to snag stuff as you're walking.

However a wider foot print for your monopod may come in handy given the right ground conditions. I've had mine sink into mud, and the other day I had it crack through an ice crust that was holding together a snow drift of surprisingly loose powder. I extended the point on it after it kept sliding around on the ice, which promptly decided to punch through the crust instead of just holding on, which in turn caused the whole thing to start cracking. (Long story short I rather suddenly found myself standing in the snow up past my knees, and had to rather ungracefully trudge through far more snow than was fun.)

But personally I wouldn't really put much faith in any kind of self supporting 'monopod'. I would rather use a 2 foot tripod or beanbag if I wanted the independent stability of such devices at a similar weight point.

So let me see if I can rank the setups by order of stability, #1 being most stable. (By "stability" I don't mean camera safety, nor do I mean comfort. I mean vibration resistant.)

1. Tripod
2. Hand held with VR/IS turned ON.
3. Any monopod with bean bag on top of camera with VR/IS turned ON.
4. Any monopod without bean bag and with VR/IS turned OFF.
4. Hand held with VR/IS turned OFF.

Also, there is no difference in vibration suppression whether using a legged monopod or non-legged one.

Am I on the money?

texshooter wrote in post #17419086
So let me see if I can rank the setups by order of stability, #1 being most stable. (By "stability" I don't mean camera safety, nor do I mean comfort. I mean vibration resistant.)

1. Tripod
2. Hand held with VR/IS turned ON.
3. Any monopod with bean bag on top of camera with VR/IS turned ON.
4. Any monopod without bean bag and with VR/IS turned OFF.
4. Hand held with VR/IS turned OFF.

Also, there is no difference in vibration suppression whether using a legged monopod or non-legged one.

Am I on the money?

Um, no. I'd put hand-held with VR/IS below any monopod configuration. And whether you use a bean bag or your arm as a weight doesn't matter a (sorry!) hill of beans.

I would simplify the list as, in order of most stable to least, for any given lens:

1) Tripod
2) Monopod
3) Handheld

I don't see the point of comparing for example Monopod with IS off against handheld with IS ON. If you have a lens with IS, just use it when you use monopod or handheld (and panning with tripod, even).

Beanbags and monopod legs don't really matter.

-alex

Also, I'd like to add that the choice of a support system (in my experience, at least) is largely dictated by situation. Shooting at an airshow I would handhold my 500mm just because there's no room for a tripod, and it's impractical to pan up and down even with a monopod.

On the other hand, shooting birds with panning I would most certainly lug my tripod and gimbal head. If that is logistically impossible, then monopod, and handheld as a last resort.

-alex

the only feet I use with my monopod are my own

texshooter wrote in post #17418612
What do you say to this argument:

Because it can stand up on its own you don't need to hold it during the shutter release (not to say you can walk away from it, of course). Gripping the monopod with your hand, which is required for non-legged monopods, will unavoidably transfer body/arm motion to the pole, which induces image blur. The self-standing feature of the legged monopod avoids that body movement transfer, hence its advantage.

The footed monopod will sway. It will always sway, just like a very tall building has a natural sway. The planet itself, movements of the air gives such things a natural sway. It might be an extremely minute sway (although the sway of the Empire State Building isn't particularly minute at its pinnacle), but it sways.

texshooter wrote in post #17419086
So let me see if I can rank the setups by order of stability, #1 being most stable. (By "stability" I don't mean camera safety, nor do I mean comfort. I mean vibration resistant.)

1. Tripod
2. Hand held with VR/IS turned ON.
3. Any monopod with bean bag on top of camera with VR/IS turned ON.
4. Any monopod without bean bag and with VR/IS turned OFF.
4. Hand held with VR/IS turned OFF.

Also, there is no difference in vibration suppression whether using a legged monopod or non-legged one.

Am I on the money?

1. Good tripod with remote release
2. Good tripod with shutter button release, second frame of a motorized series
3. Good tripod with shutter button release, single frame
4. Monopod (or beanbag, or car hood, or rock) with IS/VR turned on, second frame of a motorized series
5. Monopod (or beanbag, or car hood, or rock) with IS/VR turned on, single frame
6. Handheld with IS/VR turned on, second frame of a motorized series
7. Handheld with IS/VR turned on, single frame

Notice that the only scenario that IS/VR is off is on tripod. However, second gen stabilizers can tell when they're on tripods, so there's no point turning it off even on a good tripod...it just won't make a difference. A cheap tripod is about the same as a monopod with feet left to sway in the wind.

No. Flat out, no.
Think about it. Do you really think putting your DSLR and hunk of lens on the top end of a swaying pole with tiny little legs at the bottom is safe? Laws of physics are against it. You still have to hold the thing which means your tremors will still be adding their bit to the equation. For the guy who punched through the ice or into soft ground, I almost always switch my OEM rubber foot for a flat, wide rubber cane tip. If that goes through the ice you probably will, too.

Yes, I bought one with miniature legs a few years back. Frustrating and heavy. I returned it soon after.

In my experience... YES. In certain circumstances!

Most of the monopods that have these feet also have fluid video heads, and these actually work GREAT for the situations I use them in. (On board Navy ships).

The feet give the monopod enough grip that it doesn't pivot, it rotates smoothly on the fluid head. This is exactly what i need for smoother pans in teeny tiny tight spaces.

Does it help stabilize any more? Nope.