Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod - Alternatives?

Are there any alternatives to the Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod that offer single handed adjustment, from fully extended to fully closed (and back again)? I've searched these forums and the WWW but come up with nothing. It seems odd that no other company thinks single handed operation is a worthwhile feature.

I couldnt find any alternative either. Then again what is it you dont like about the 685 ?? I bought one in the end and it has served me very well, use it more than any other support I own.

Cheers
Lee

I haven't seen or tried one in the flesh. From what I've read, I don't see anything wrong with it, but competition is good. If there are alternatives it would be nice to know what they are. I'm sure that functionally the 685B is as good as it gets, but who knows - maybe there is something better, or better and cheaper, or just as good, but cheaper. I can get one in the UK for £95 delivered, which I'm willing to pay, but I'd like to know if there are any other options. No harm doing a little research

I already have a Manfrotto monopod with the regular leg levers and I find it a monumental pain to keep adjusting, collapsing and extending repeatedly, say with a trip to the zoo, for example. In fact it is such a pain that I simply don't use it, but it would be nice to have something to rest the camera on while waiting for the perfect expression to appear, or the animal to face the right way.

Thats the trouble with text !! It can be easily misconstrued, please be assured I was not being fecetious in any way, I was just simply curious about why you didnt want to choose the 685. I agree about competition and alternatives, it keeps the market alive and offers us the consumer a choice, but I can honestly say I love mine, I use it on more occasions than I ever dreamed I would, its always left in the car, together with my 190 XproB and the Andy Rouse promoted multi bracket thingymjig for using on the car window, lol.
I attent quite a few horse shows and Motocross Events, I know poles apart, but similar techniques are required and I find the 685 is just a dream to use, especially with the Canon 100-400 strapped to it.
As I said in first post I looked for ages to see if there was an alternative, but alas there was nowt !
I paid £120 for mine about 9 months ago, so £95 shipped is a cracking price..... go on get it bought, imho you wont regret it.

Cheers
Lee

No worries, I didn't take your remarks the wrong way.

I am very likely to get the 685B. Just doing my final checks and balances before proceeding

For anyone interested, I'm expecting to buy it here - http://www.morrisphoto​.co.uk …~5478~categoryi​d~158.html. I'm also going to stock up on a few 200PL-14 QR plates from here.

I've used Morris Photo before, for my hydrostatic ball head. Delivery was next day and trouble free.

I had one of these and a very good Monopod and for exactly the reasons behind the design. Works very well.

Thanks for the replies, chaps. It amazes me that the 685B was launched almost three years ago and, seemingly, it has no competition. Perhaps Manfrotto has great patent lawyers or something.

Anyway, I guess it's the 685B or stay with what I've got. I'll try a few more practice runs with my current pod before shelling out the cash. I found Fotosense selling it for £90, but unless I can take my order value over £100 there is delivery to pay on top, and their 200PL-14s are way dearer than Morris Photo, so no advantage there

The reason the Neotec is not wildly popular is because it is heavy, it doesn't collapse to a very portable length, and it has a top piece that isn't as robust as other monopods because of the trigger assembly making them less applicable for heavier loads.

I have one that is for sale here. They work ok if you don't have the above constraints.

I'm sort of a monopod obsessed fanatic. I've got 4 and the only one I use anymore is my Gitzo 2540 which is nothing short of fantastic. My others are the Neotec, a Manfrotto 695B, a Gitzo 2940 Basalt.

J.

With repect John dont take this the wrong way but, from the photos it lokks like your neotech is the old one, the trigger assembly is totally different on the new one as is the head assembly and leg assembly. I had one of ther earlier ones and its not a patch on the new ones, so pls dont compare them, they are quite a significant bit different.

Regards

Lee

Lumalee wrote in post #5362156
With repect John dont take this the wrong way but, from the photos it lokks like your neotech is the old one, the trigger assembly is totally different on the new one as is the head assembly and leg assembly. I had one of ther earlier ones and its not a patch on the new ones, so pls dont compare them, they are quite a significant bit different.

Regards

Lee

Either way, they are still very long and very heavy. The convenience of adjusting, which is a marginal convenience when you learn how to do it quickly with other monopod mechanisms, generated the extra weight and length. So, if you find that to be very important, then you need to be willing to put up with the downside.

The other issue is shooting in cold weather - they are cold on the hands even with gloves. Adding padding adds more bulk and weight.

Guess they are not for me. Anyhow, mine works fine but not in my application for sure.

J.

To be honest John, Its probably like a lot of kit in other hobbies as well as tograpy, you need to buy or use what suits both you AND the task at hand, and there is a lot of kit out there to be played with and tried I suppose, I am unfortunately limited by a meagre budget, so can only test a few bits now and then, lol.

Cheers and beers
Lee

Lumalee wrote in post #5362637
To be honest John, Its probably like a lot of kit in other hobbies as well as tograpy, you need to buy or use what suits both you AND the task at hand, and there is a lot of kit out there to be played with and tried I suppose, I am unfortunately limited by a meagre budget, so can only test a few bits now and then, lol.

Cheers and beers
Lee

I don't disagree at all. There are big tradeoff for the neotec locking mechanism - length, weight and aluminum. Personally, I think the 680B is probably a better value with less tradeoffs and better net performance and lower cost. The Neotec stuff is not inexpensive. That said, for someone who thinks the locking mechanism on the Neotec is better than pockets, then that tips the balance to that side of the equation for sure.

J.

I really liked mine and it worked well. Didn't find it heavy and was perfectly fine holding 100-400mm and probably bigger. I found it super fast to put up and take down and then sling over the shoulder. But some people really like the 24-70mm 2.8 which I find heavy, big with poor handling. So shows that there is no automatic right answer to a simple query about gear. However, I agree it is pricey and because it is a bit long for travel needs in my book I am looking at the shorter and lighter 680B ... but while that is good in some areas the thought of flipping 4 clamps seems like a PITA compared to the Neotec