When do you use your monopod?

I would just like to know how often people use monopods and under what situation.

I kind of look weird bringing a monopod to church to shoot my friends getting married.

I don't know, but people will think I am just showing off.

I would understand using it for outdoors, but then again my 70-200 Non IS suposedly doesn't need a monopod support. It can be handheld.

Wonder if I blew close to $200.00 for nothing.

I was wondering the same thing....I just got my manfrotto...and like it a lot.

But my favorite thing to shoot is candids...going downtown and shooting with it was not only annoying (having to raise up and down every 10 seconds) but also drew attention to me and that just does not work for candids lol

I knew it wasn't the right place to use it, but it was my first shoot out since getting it so i wanted to try it out.

I think it's best used for slower paced shooting, nature/landscapes...so​mething where you don't have to constantly change the angle and height of your composure all the time. Otherwise it's just plain annoying.

I really think my monopod was an impulse buy....and am considering selling it to defray the cost of a wideangle lens. However it is pretty nice and I didn't pay much for it even though it is a nice manfrotto....should probably just hold onto it in case i need it. I have pretty shakey hands

I use my monopod just about all the time for events that I know I'll be shooting for more than 30 minutes and using my heavier lenses like 24-70L, 70-200L and wildlife shots with 100-400L. I also use the monopod for indoor, lowlight situations with no flash with those lenses that have no IS. Really helps in such situations. Using a monopod is great when you know that there are many others taking pictures, as you don't really stand out even if no one else is using it. My monopod has the feature that can instantly shorten with a simple trigger motion, and this helps when I'm in a situation where I feel self-conscious. Lastly I also use my monopod when I'm hiking to use it as a hiking stick and to use it as a defensive weapon just in case....

I just picked one up to use on my 100-400. After a days use at the zoo I couldn't imagine shooting without it.

Had my Manfrotto a couple of months and only used it yesterday for the first time, for motorsport. I will use it alot for macro.....When the bugs come.

I use mine quite often in much the same way as SYS. I've even used it to ward off attacking geese - long story.

Rumjungle wrote in post #2539444
I've even used it to ward off attacking geese - long story.

LOL!! But very true, it comes handy!!

Rumjungle wrote in post #2539444
I use mine quite often in much the same way as SYS. I've even used it to ward off attacking geese - long story.

Nice one, for very good reason of course.

I use mine once in a blue moon for photographing night football if the light is truly abysmal. Otherwise, it's handheld for me.

I think monopods are most useful in stabilizing longer length lenses, especially since 300-600 mm lenses tend to be rather heavy. For a 200 mm lens (espcially IS) a monopod is optional, and certainly is not necessary. Depends upon how much the weight bothers you.
For sports, most of the action occurs in a horizontal plane, so many sports shooters do not use a head, simply screw the lens foot to the monopod or clamp. For birders, vertical panning is a necessity, so some type of minimal head is used. I have one friend that uses a Sidekick on a monopod with 500 f4 with great success for birding/wildlife.
Mike K

as I thought, its seems like a waste of money using a monopod for my 70-200...

That darn button, I have to stop clicking it.

I use a monopod whenever I am in a situation that would have me holding my heavy lenses for long periods of time. A typical situation is waiting for critters to come into position for a photo. My 70-200 f/2.8 IS gets awfully heavy if I tried to hold it in position to take a shot for an hour. With the monopod, this is something that is practical to do while still allowing total freedom of motion (unlike using a tripod).

Personally I use it for longer lenses (sometimes 300/2.8 and then up). Otherwise I'm better without it. 70-200/2.8 is just way to light to bother with monopod and slow shutter speed is not really problem for me anyway. With sport it's so, that if I would need monopod to reduce vibration, it would be way to slow anyway.

i use mine when i am using my 2xTC with my 70-200mm
when i shoot motorsport i generally keep my shutter speed lower than 1/320th sec which shows up with me being a bit shakey hand held
with the monopod its generally a bit better

I would use it if I found it gets me better results, people won't remember how dorky you looked taking the photos (if they really care at all how you look in the first place) when they see the sharp photos you have printed up.