Monopod advice? (1 Viewer)

I would be very gratefull for information from anyone that has used a Monopod with a scope. I read a very interesting article on the Disabled Birders site which included an opinion on Monopods.

It seem at first glance that one might be just what I am looking for, as I need to sit down on long walks, and carry an old fishing stool for that task. If I had a monopod, I could use that time sitting on the way to the hide looking round the woods ect, and make it enjoyable as well as a needfull rest!

What are the pitfalls to be aware of? Can anyone reccomend a reasonable quality budget priced pod? Any passing on of anyones experience with these devices will be much appreciated.

Malc.

I use a Manfrotto Junior monopod on occasion when travelling light.

Once you've learned the knack, they're not hard to use, and as long as you don't expect the same level of steadiness as you'll get from a tripod, it is a perfectly usable alternative.

In fact, using a monopod sitting down makes things quite a bit steadier, so you might be onto something here.

It's hard to explain, but the trick to using a monopod is to hold the thing in a fairly relaxed fashion an inch or two beneath the scope - you need to find the optimum height and angle between your arm and the pod that will provide maximum steadiness with minimum effort (it's there somewhere, honest): and they work best at relatively low scope magnification, as you'd expect.

It's really about getting a comfortable grip and then letting the weight of your arm provide the stability.

The only real disadvantage to monopods once you're used to them is the fact that you can't "hand a view on" to someone else like you can with a tripod, (and I imagine that digiscoping would be quite difficult).

There are add-ons to Manfrotto monopods available which might be very useful - Manfrotto make a shoulder brace for about £13 which would add significant stability, and they also make self-standing monopods with three small retractable legs.

Also available are add-on mini legs, and a spiked foot, all of which would help, with minimal additional weight.

Another idea (suggested on here before) is to place the butt of the monopod in a bag worn around the waist, or a pocket of your jacket - again, this would provide additional stability (Manfrotto make a bag for that purpose too!)

The Manfrotto Junior is around £28 and is pretty widely available - in fact a very quick Google for "Manfrotto Junior pod" has traced the item at £24 here http://tinyurl.com/64bls.

The Manfrotto monopod range is here: http://tinyurl.com/4ns2d and the accessories are here: http://tinyurl.com/45k9x.

They aren't an absolute replacement for tripods, but as long as you're aware of their limitations, there's a lot to be said for monopods.

Monopods like tripods tend to be compromise between weight and stability - there are some very light compact four section monopods available. I found most of them too flexy for photography purposes (better than hand-holding but not quite stable enough). I took the other approach and bought a Benbo Trekker monopod - it's only two sections and not that light, but is designed to be used as a walking stick when not in use as a monopod - if you like walking with a stick anyway it's worth considering.

Richard

I have both a monopod and a tripod that I use with my SLR and fairly heavy 80-400mm lens. The Tripod is good but a bit of a nuisance while walking any distance, while the monopod I tend to use more and more as I get the hang of it. I find they are easy to adjust and much easier to carry. I have not tried one with a scope as yet so can't comment.
Perhaps you could borrow one from a friend and see how it works out for you.

Julien

Thank you for all answers.
Plenty to think about there, and a lot of good points Keith, thanks also for the links, I did find those little spikes for the manfrotto's too, they look interesting. Our local Jessops will be first port of call to test a few, and see where we go from there!

Malcolm,

I've used the Manfrotto 679 Monopod with a Kowa 613 plus a TSN 20x with considerable success. If your scope has a SOC with a good neoprene strap, then you have an excellent lightweight bit of kit.

Yes Dave, it does have a soc with a decent strap I dont know if its neoprene, but seems strong, its an opticron case that came with the scope, I reckon it's going to be good to have a monopod!

Dear Mr Fisher,

Should you have the opportunity, please look at the MONOSTAT ALL AROUNDER. It was recommended to me by a forum member. Although it was triple the cost of a Bogen Manfretto, I found it better. It has an oversizes rubber foot which diminishes rotation. I use it with a twelve power binocular. The other forum member used it with a 'scope.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:

I guess it depends on the scope too. I have a very nice Velbron monopod and a Manfrotto too which I used to use with my cameras and occasionally with a 60 mm scope. Both were from freebies with bird watching magazine subscriptions - hint hint

Certainly they aren't anything like as stable as a tripod but good steady views can be had with smaller scopes. I was very satisfied with thier use with the Kowa 611, though I always preferred the Manfrotto as it was much more stable and less flexible. I suppose the weight of a scope is more than the cameras they were intended for. I have tried with the 80 mm scope in an attempt to save weight to carry about but whilst it's useable it's far from ideal.

One other thing to consider is the scope you use it with. I made the mistake of using the monopod with a camera that had a plastic tripod mount, the Olympus C2100UZ and with time the tripod bush was stripped of it's threads by the monopod metal screw.

Hi Malcolm,

another point I meant to make is that using the wrist strap on a monopod adds a further degree of stability: again easier to do than to explain, but by putting your hand through the strap and then holding the monpod lightly - with most of the weight of the pod/scope and of your arm pulling through the wrist strap - you get stability without any effort, because you aren't using muscles to hold the set-up still, you're using gravity.

You'll get what I mean when you try it, but the wrist strap is an important part of the success the overall arrangement.

blythkeith said:

There are add-ons to Manfrotto monopods available which might be very useful - Manfrotto make a shoulder brace for about £13 which would add significant stability, and they also make self-standing monopods with three small retractable legs.

The Manfrotto monopod range is here: http://tinyurl.com/4ns2d and the accessories are here: http://tinyurl.com/45k9x.

Click to expand...

Thanks for such a useful and comprehensive reply!

While not disabled, I am finding carting a blooming great large-scope/heavy-tripod combo increasingly difficult with advancing years (and ever-bigger scopes), so I tend to do most local birding using only bins nowadays, unless it involves minimal walking . I don't think downsizing to a 65mm size scope is the solution (still a bit too heavy, and you lose the ultimate performance of an 80mm class one), so I'm considering a lightweight travelscope-on-a-monopod as a second carry-anywhere option for that time when you've got something interesting that you can't get any closer to, and you're an hour's walk from your car boot where your big scope is sitting.

The monopod with retractable legs sounded like a very good idea (Manfrotto 682), but checking out the Manfrotto website the legs do look rather fragile - anyone got any experience of them? Do they add much stabilty over a straight monopod?

David Ball said:

Thanks for such a useful and comprehensive reply!

While not disabled, I am finding carting a blooming great large-scope/heavy-tripod combo increasingly difficult with advancing years (and ever-bigger scopes), so I tend to do most local birding using only bins nowadays, unless it involves minimal walking . I don't think downsizing to a 65mm size scope is the solution (still a bit too heavy, and you lose the ultimate performance of an 80mm class one), so I'm considering a lightweight travelscope-on-a-monopod as a second carry-anywhere option for that time when you've got something interesting that you can't get any closer to, and you're an hour's walk from your car boot where your big scope is sitting.

The monopod with retractable legs sounded like a very good idea (Manfrotto 682), but checking out the Manfrotto website the legs do look rather fragile - anyone got any experience of them? Do they add much stabilty over a straight monopod?

Click to expand...

I am a huge fan of a very light scope and shoulderpod arrangment... though you really need to be able to rest the scope on a fence post or get your knee up hight enough to rest an elbow on for total stability. I have a lightweigh carbon fibre Culmann 2800 tripod which I would use the monopod from if not for the shoulder pod!

Pinewood said:

Dear Mr Fisher,

Should you have the opportunity, please look at the MONOSTAT ALL AROUNDER. It was recommended to me by a forum member. Although it was triple the cost of a Bogen Manfretto, I found it better. It has an oversizes rubber foot which diminishes rotation. I use it with a twelve power binocular. The other forum member used it with a 'scope.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:

Click to expand...

Hello Arthur, thank you for your very courteous reply! Malc is sufficient for me Im afraid at the price it is well over my budget, but maybe one day, who knows!

Cheers, Malc.

IanF said:

I guess it depends on the scope too. I have a very nice Velbron monopod and a Manfrotto too which I used to use with my cameras and occasionally with a 60 mm scope. Both were from freebies with bird watching magazine subscriptions - hint hint

Certainly they aren't anything like as stable as a tripod but good steady views can be had with smaller scopes. I was very satisfied with thier use with the Kowa 611, though I always preferred the Manfrotto as it was much more stable and less flexible. I suppose the weight of a scope is more than the cameras they were intended for. I have tried with the 80 mm scope in an attempt to save weight to carry about but whilst it's useable it's far from ideal.

One other thing to consider is the scope you use it with. I made the mistake of using the monopod with a camera that had a plastic tripod mount, the Olympus C2100UZ and with time the tripod bush was stripped of it's threads by the monopod metal screw.

Click to expand...

Hello Ian, it's an Opticron 66 scope, and seems quite light?? well to me it does anyway! Thanks for the tips.

Cheers, Malc.

blythkeith said:

Hi Malcolm,

another point I meant to make is that using the wrist strap on a monopod adds a further degree of stability: again easier to do than to explain, but by putting your hand through the strap and then holding the monpod lightly - with most of the weight of the pod/scope and of your arm pulling through the wrist strap - you get stability without any effort, because you aren't using muscles to hold the set-up still, you're using gravity.

You'll get what I mean when you try it, but the wrist strap is an important part of the success the overall arrangement.

Click to expand...

Hello Keith, I have settled on a monopod, (jessops own 330 model) and a Jessops own tripod 327 model, which is the heaviest tripod they do. At £66.98 for both items we are pleased! The only thing we are not pleased about is all of the pods we have now, mono, tripod and table top, all have a different quick release shoe size, all are jessops, this is baffling.

I have tried what you suggest here with the strap, and I believe I can see what you mean, I have been practising in the wind outside and at full 60x magnification could just about id the birds on the landfill which is quite a way from our home, i'd estimate a 1000yds. Of course it was superb with the tripod, there was no problem at all. But For shorter disatnces for which the mono was bought there is no problem and I can see it will be great fun, I intend to perfect the gravity way to save me arms!

Cheers, Mal.

You can view a good article about using a monopod at:

http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo5.php3

Many sports and nature photographers use a monopod not just for stability, but also merely for the convenience of having some place to rest their cameras while waiting for something to happen. It would fit this purpose for a scope too.

Thanks for the feedback, Malcolm - hope it works out.

Very strange about the varying quick releases though - but my Manfrotto doesn't even have one of those, relying entirely on a simple screw.

Most Manfrotto heads come in 2 versions, one with a screw, one with a quick release (usually designated with "QR2" after the model number in the latest versions). The Quick Release models cost more, but I think it's worth it.