Which Monopod?
 

Hi,

Your expert opions are sought to help me decide on which type of monopod
would suit my situation best. I have just bought a Finepix S5600 Zoom (10x)
and take photos of my son's Rugby Team. I have thought about getting a
monopod, but there seems to be 2 main types, either with a 'proper' tripod
head, or just a screw fit direct on handle. I am swayed towards the Screw
handle type as I think this is suitable for me moving around a sports pitch
quite easily. I also think the Pan & Tilt Head would be a bit of overkill.
However, I would like your opinions before I buy, I might be missing a trick
somewhere.

Thanks,

Ian

Which Monopod?
 

Ian B wrote:
Hi,

Your expert opions are sought to help me decide on which type of monopod
would suit my situation best. I have just bought a Finepix S5600 Zoom (10x)
and take photos of my son's Rugby Team. I have thought about getting a
monopod, but there seems to be 2 main types, either with a 'proper' tripod
head, or just a screw fit direct on handle. I am swayed towards the Screw
handle type as I think this is suitable for me moving around a sports pitch
quite easily. I also think the Pan & Tilt Head would be a bit of overkill.
However, I would like your opinions before I buy, I might be missing a trick
somewhere.

Thanks,

Ian



A pan & tilt head is overkill for most cameras. The monopod itself will
swivel effortlessly and tilt to some degree. You only need a head the
tilts like the Bogen/Manfrotto 3232 or 3229. 3229 has a quick release,
3232 does not. You can probably get by without it for sports, but you
may still find it useful for shooting from bleachers or other positions
above or below the subject.

However, if you do not have a tripod collar, you may want to consider a
head that will allow you to change your camera from landscape to
portrait orientation. The heads above will allow this, by mounting the
camera perpendicular to the tilt axis, but will not allow tilt at the
same time.

Eric Miller

Which Monopod?
 

"Eric Miller" wrote in message
...
Ian B wrote:
Hi,

Your expert opions are sought to help me decide on which type of monopod
would suit my situation best. I have just bought a Finepix S5600 Zoom
(10x) and take photos of my son's Rugby Team. I have thought about
getting a monopod, but there seems to be 2 main types, either with a
'proper' tripod head, or just a screw fit direct on handle. I am swayed
towards the Screw handle type as I think this is suitable for me moving
around a sports pitch quite easily. I also think the Pan & Tilt Head
would be a bit of overkill. However, I would like your opinions before I
buy, I might be missing a trick somewhere.

Thanks,

Ian

A pan & tilt head is overkill for most cameras. The monopod itself will
swivel effortlessly and tilt to some degree. You only need a head the
tilts like the Bogen/Manfrotto 3232 or 3229. 3229 has a quick release,
3232 does not. You can probably get by without it for sports, but you may
still find it useful for shooting from bleachers or other positions above
or below the subject.

However, if you do not have a tripod collar, you may want to consider a
head that will allow you to change your camera from landscape to portrait
orientation. The heads above will allow this, by mounting the camera
perpendicular to the tilt axis, but will not allow tilt at the same time.

Eric Miller

Thanks for that Eric, hadn't really thought about the orientation problems
that could arise.

Ian

Which Monopod?
 

"Ian B" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Your expert opions are sought to help me decide on which type of monopod
would suit my situation best. I have just bought a Finepix S5600 Zoom
(10x) and take photos of my son's Rugby Team. I have thought about
getting a monopod, but there seems to be 2 main types, either with a
'proper' tripod head, or just a screw fit direct on handle. I am swayed
towards the Screw handle type as I think this is suitable for me moving
around a sports pitch quite easily. I also think the Pan & Tilt Head would
be a bit of overkill. However, I would like your opinions before I buy, I
might be missing a trick somewhere.


Why do you think they need a monopod to shoot sports with a little camera?

I know you are not alone - I see a lot of people with little cameras using
monpods. And while I think they are great for video cameras, I don't
understand what people they think they are gaining using a monopod because
it limits their range of motion to follow the action.

I only use my monopod for sports when I'm using a very large prime lens,
i.e. because the weight is too great. And I never pan with a monopod, i.e.
for motion blur I find I can hand hold and pan with a low shutter speed
better than I can with a monopod.

Which Monopod?
 

Ian B wrote

I would like your opinions before I buy, I might be missing a trick
somewhere.

I do a lot of backcountry stuff and I have a Leki Sierra Trek-pod
to which is permanently attached a general purpose quick release
shoe. The camera carries the attachment, obviously. It thus serves
the dual purpose of being a trekking pole and a handy monopod
when a tripod is overkill or too timeconsuming. I agree that a pan/
tilt head is probably overkill, if not contradictory. If I need to spend
time on a compostion that needs pan/tilt I'll hoy out the tripod.

Chris

Which Monopod?
 

"Chris Gilbert" wrote in message
...
Ian B wrote

I would like your opinions before I buy, I might be missing a trick
somewhere.

I do a lot of backcountry stuff and I have a Leki Sierra Trek-pod
to which is permanently attached a general purpose quick release
shoe. The camera carries the attachment, obviously. It thus serves
the dual purpose of being a trekking pole and a handy monopod
when a tripod is overkill or too timeconsuming. I agree that a pan/
tilt head is probably overkill, if not contradictory. If I need to spend
time on a compostion that needs pan/tilt I'll hoy out the tripod.


And I'm going to guess if you were trying to shoot something which was
moving you would not use your monopod at all (or your tripod unless you had
a big Wimberley head or similar)

Which Monopod?
 

just bob wrote

And I'm going to guess if you were trying to shoot something which was
moving you would not use your monopod at all

Correct. Even setting the pod up takes a few seconds and
whatever you're shooting has gone by then. I have IS
specifically for those situations. It works well.

Chris

Which Monopod?
 

On Tue, 9 Jan 2007 15:40:02 -0000, Ian B wrote:

Your expert opions are sought to help me decide on which type of monopod
would suit my situation best. I have just bought a Finepix S5600 Zoom (10x)
and take photos of my son's Rugby Team. I have thought about getting a
monopod, but there seems to be 2 main types, either with a 'proper' tripod
head, or just a screw fit direct on handle. I am swayed towards the Screw
handle type as I think this is suitable for me moving around a sports pitch
quite easily. I also think the Pan & Tilt Head would be a bit of overkill.
However, I would like your opinions before I buy, I might be missing a trick
somewhere.

I use an inexpensive but nicely made Velbon RUP-43 monopod (3
sections, 64.4" fully extended, 20.8" collapsed) which includes a
ball head and it has proven to be more convenient than if it only
had a screw built into the top end. I can sometimes lean it into a
nearby solid object to get better stability, and the ball head makes
it easy to reposition the camera properly even when the monopod
itself is necessarily leaning at an awkward angle. I sometimes keep
the collapsed monopod attached to the camera even when not using it
in the normal manner, since it's extra weight increases stability
even if it's not touching the ground. It might not be a good idea
with a really heavy camera, but at slightly under a pound. it's
quite easy to hold with an even less heavy camera such as the S5600
attached. I use it with Fuji's previous model, the S5100/S5500.
While it can't come close to matching the stability of a decent
tripod, it reduces a lot of the camera shake that a monopod-less
handheld camera would have.

Which Monopod?
 

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:40:02 +0000, Ian B wrote:

Hi,

Your expert opions are sought to help me decide on which type of monopod
would suit my situation best. I have just bought a Finepix S5600 Zoom (10x)
and take photos of my son's Rugby Team. I have thought about getting a
monopod, but there seems to be 2 main types, either with a 'proper' tripod
head, or just a screw fit direct on handle. I am swayed towards the Screw
handle type as I think this is suitable for me moving around a sports pitch
quite easily. I also think the Pan & Tilt Head would be a bit of overkill.
However, I would like your opinions before I buy, I might be missing a trick
somewhere.

Thanks,

Ian

My monopod has a tilting plate that works well. Personally I think that a
pan head is overkill on a monopod.

--
Neil
Reverse 'ra' and delete 'l'.

Which Monopod?
 

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:39:28 +0000, Ian B wrote:

However, if you do not have a tripod collar, you may want to consider a
head that will allow you to change your camera from landscape to portrait
orientation. The heads above will allow this, by mounting the camera
perpendicular to the tilt axis, but will not allow tilt at the same time.

Eric Miller

Thanks for that Eric, hadn't really thought about the orientation problems
that could arise.

Ian

That is no real problem - just change the angle of the camera on the plate.

--
Neil
Reverse 'ra' and delete 'l'.