Tripods and monopods in Italian museums, monopod shutter speed rule

Hello all,

I'm off to Italy for a week in August.
My camera equipment and tripod will come with me.

I've read that a lot of museums will not allow tripods.

If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?



Also, does anyone know a shutter speed rule to use with monopods?
ie. at 100 ISO, the old 35mm standard for hand held was
shutterspeed = 1/focal length of lense.


Thanks

Most do not allow any form of pod or flash.
However regulations against use of pods and flash are not always enforced in
the face of uncooperative tourist hordes, especcially those of the
adolescent variety.

bmoag wrote:
Most do not allow any form of pod or flash.
However regulations against use of pods and flash are not always enforced in
the face of uncooperative tourist hordes, especcially those of the
adolescent variety.

Adolescents are not going to be the ones using tripods. It's the
professionals (or semi professionals) they are discouraging. It's not
possible to sneak a tripod or monopod into a museum if they don't allow
it.

wrote:

If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?

Doubt it - it's the insurance thing and the worries that someone will
fall and sue - they won't see the monopod as something different even
though if someone were to trip over it, they would also have their feet
inside your legs. Butr who knows - maybe they'll cut you a break -
especially during off peak hours.

Also, does anyone know a shutter speed rule to use with monopods?
ie. at 100 ISO, the old 35mm standard for hand held was
shutterspeed = 1/focal length of lense.

I'd say you won't gain much - there is still movement from your heart
beat - if normal handheld with a 300mm requires 1/300 (or 1/250)
shutter speed, then maybe you gain 1 stop - 1/125 or maybe 1-1/2 stops
1/90 - but doubtful if any more than that - imagine a 300mm hand held -
you can get good results at 1/250 but 1/125 have given results with
obvious camera shake - how could the monopod give you good results at
1/60? 1/90 max.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I'm off to Italy for a week in August.
My camera equipment and tripod will come with me.

I've read that a lot of museums will not allow tripods.

This is true.


If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?

This varies a lot: in my experience in Italy it seems to be down to the
discretion (or caprice!?) of the person on duty at the time. The no-tripods
rule sems to be about not creating an obstruction, and if you use your
monopod unobtrusively and make sure that you don't get in the way of other
museum visitors, some if the time it will be allowed.

Sometimes museums will decide to let you use a tripod if they aren't busy,
and sometimes they won't. Sometimes they will if you pay a fee. It can be
worth asking.


Also, does anyone know a shutter speed rule to use with
monopods? ie. at 100 ISO, the old 35mm standard for hand held
was shutterspeed = 1/focal length of lense.


Depends a lot on your technique: a monopod should get you at least one
shutter-speed step slower than you would hand-hold, with practice maybe
three steps. Some claim four - but I wouldn't count on that.

All that said, much of the time in Italy I am photographing exteriors,
architecture, and landscapes. There are interior shots worth taking, but
often what is in museums are things I want to see, but a photograph would
be - for me - a 'record shot', not a picture of intrinsic (or, for me,
commercial) merit or artistic originality. So for these buying postcards is
just as good. Italian museums usually have a good range of very high
quality postcards for sale, and sometimes transparencies too, if you want to
project. The "Scala" series of guide books and monographs on particular
artists is also excellent, and beautifully illustrated.

Have fun,


Peter

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I'm off to Italy for a week in August.
My camera equipment and tripod will come with me.

I've read that a lot of museums will not allow tripods.

If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?



Also, does anyone know a shutter speed rule to use with monopods?
ie. at 100 ISO, the old 35mm standard for hand held was
shutterspeed = 1/focal length of lense.


Thanks


One solution that has recently become available is to bring along a camera
with image stabilization. That might render the issue moot.

Have never been in a museum that allowed either.
www.alldigital.fotopic.net

wrote:
Hello all,

I'm off to Italy for a week in August.
My camera equipment and tripod will come with me.

I've read that a lot of museums will not allow tripods.


Some also do not allow any photography, with or without flash.
The Sistine Chapel is but one such example.



If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?

A definite "maybe". Personally, I'd not bother with it: for one
thing, its going to be crowded in season; for another, particualry if
you are using a small P&S, you can often get monopod-class support
simply by bracing the camera against the common lamp post, wall,
railing, etc.


Also, does anyone know a shutter speed rule to use with monopods?
ie. at 100 ISO, the old 35mm standard for hand held was
shutterspeed = 1/focal length of lense.

Rule of thumb is that you can expect to gain +1 stop, with +2 stops
common but requiring good form. As such, the rule of thumb of 1/(focal
length of lens) for a 35mm goes from (~1/30sec) to (~1/15sec) for the
first stop, and to (~1/8sec) if the second stop is warranted by one's
technique.

And, as another poster has pointed out, Image Stabilization is another
option; gain by that approach is about the same, but is more compact
(less obtrusive). And particularly for digitals, another way to skin
the cat is to crank up the ISO to avoid slow shutters.


-hh

On 31/07/2006 11:11 AM, wrote:

I've read that a lot of museums will not allow tripods.

If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?

If you really must have one, play the physically-disabled card and get a
hiking pole with a camera screw mount on top. Affect a really nasty limp
and tell 'em you need the "cane" to be able to walk.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,

I'm off to Italy for a week in August.
My camera equipment and tripod will come with me.

I've read that a lot of museums will not allow tripods.

If this is the case, will they allow monopods, that stand close to the
body?



Also, does anyone know a shutter speed rule to use with monopods?
ie. at 100 ISO, the old 35mm standard for hand held was
shutterspeed = 1/focal length of lense.


Thanks

My guess would be that the monopod would give you one extra f-stop. IOW, you
could get away with 1/2 as much shutterspeed due to the extra stability of a
monopod......