long lens support

I will be getting a 300mm/2.8 + 2X TC for bird photography.

The pictures will be created in a tropical jungle type

environment with lots of hills, bushes etc.

 

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What would you recommend as a support for the lens with

camera body and TC? The birds are small and light will be

on the dim side. Am considering fill flash too.

 

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I am thinking of a monopod but have no idea whether they can

take the weight (approx.4-5 kilos) and also what monopod

head to use. The simple manfrotto/bogen ones I've seen don't

seem to take kindly to the weight I have in mind.

 

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Criteria = ***light weight***, approx 5 1/2' height without head, a

simple light tilt head (is this required???), durability and

reasonable cost --> <$150

 

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Thanks!

You've set yourself a tough assignment.

 

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A monopod is sturdy enough though as you've noted you need a sturdy one. Gitzo makes some heavy-duty ones.

 

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Your problem, though, is going to be the fact that light levels will be very low, and a monopod doesn't let you shoot at as slow a shutter speed as a tripod does. Fill-flash will help as you can underexpose the background a bit and get away with a higher shutter speed. Of course, the more you fudge by underexposing and rely on the flash to provide the illumination, you'll get further from a photo that looks like its lit with ambient light with a bit of fill, and the closer to a shot that looks like a flash-only exposure (i.e. "yuk").

 

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You mentioned "5 1/1 feet without head" - this makes me wonder if you are expecting to put a head on it. There's no need to put a head on a monopod, you can just use your lens' rotating collar to rotate it around one axis, and move the monopod for the others.

 

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You'll want to take every opportunity to brace yourself and/or the monopod against tree trunks, railings, building walls, etc and you might want to experiment pushing sensia or E100SW to ISO 200...

 

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It sounds like maybe you live in or near the environment you describe? If so, you might consider looking for someone/someplace that has feeders up, or put up your own. You'll have to do some research to see what the species you want to photograph would be attrated to. I bet many would go for fruit, here in the States I've seen grapefruit halves attract orioles, for instance. This would give you a static

area to shoot in, making use of a tripod more practical...

Monopods arer available that will take the weight OK, you see

lots of pros shooting with <em>big</em> lenses (600/4) on

monopods at sports events. My concern is that a monopod won't

give you enough stability under the conditions you describe

("light will be on the dim side"). It all depends just how dim.

Monopods are great for shooting moving subjects when there isn't

room for a tripod (like on the sidelines of a football game), but

not the best for static subjects where you <em>could</em> use

a tripod.

 

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Under $150 <em>seriously</em> limits your choices. A Bogen 3021 tripod with

a 3055 head comes in at just about that price. It's not bad with

a 300/2.8 (I've used it), but with a 2x on the 300/2.8 it

becomes marginal. Usable, but not recommended. Weight will

be 5-6 lbs. To go lighter and better will cost you about $1000

(Gitzo 1228 + Arca Swiss B1).

The only real reason to use a head on a monopod is for the quick-release. The only Bogen/Manfrotto QR head (3229/234RC)for a monopod uses the small (rectangular) QR which is useless on a large lens. Both of their monopod heads are rated at 2.50 kg. You can check out the details at http://www.manfrotto.com (or http://www.manfrotto.it for those of you on the other side of the Atlantic).

 

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I'm sure someone else make a QR head for a monopod, but for under $150 including the monopod no one else really comes to mind.

 

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The "Center Column" monopod (3258/379) looks like it might fit the bill. It's supposed to be able to replace the center column of the 3021/055C, which is fairly hefty.

The Really Right Stuff catalog recommends using the Bogen 3232 swivel head modified with the Really Right Stuff Arca Swiss compatible clamp for your monopod. But, as Geoff points out, the 3232 isn't rated to handle a heavy lens. I don't know what the failure mode would be.

 

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I do know that the folks at Really Right Stuff are serious about photography, and that they do use telephoto lenses (Nikon), so their recommendation probably "works," even if Bogen doesn't rate the 3232 swivel at a high enough capacity to make one feel comfortable sticking an 8 pound package on it.

Note that Bogen have a couple of QR systems which simply attach

via a 1/4-20 thread. That is QR plates (e.g. their Hex plates)

and holders with no head - designed to give QR capability to

standard tripods with no QR. You could put one on top of

a monopod and have a monopod with a QR, but no head. They are

about $40 for the system (holder and plate). They will hold

a 300/2.8 with no problem (I've used the hex plates with very

large lenses - they hold well as long as you are careful to

make sure the plate is well seated). No, they aren't as good

as Kirk or RRS QR systems, but just a <em>mounting plate</em> for

either of those is $50+, so on a total budget of under $150 for

the support, head and QR system,

they are out of this user's price range

I was browsing through the Manfrotto homepage to see if there were anymore accessories and I came across this in the News/Recent Product Introduction section (http://www.manfrotto.com/en/news.html):

 

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"The 393 Long Lens Bracket specifically designed to mount on Monopods for use with extra long lenses (300mm+)"

 

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No clue if you can buy it anywhere or what it would cost, but it might just fit the bill.

I use the Bogen Q/R base described by Bob Atkins on my monopod, I guess I assumed folks knew about this option when I said there was no reason to get a head.

 

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I'm unfamiliar with the long lens plate someone else mentioned. It may just be a hex plate with a beveled stop to keep the lens from rotated. For my 600/4, I just got the 3/8" flat-screw plate and torqued it hard with a big screwdriver. It's never twisted or budged once. As I mention in my review of the EF 300/2.8 on photo.net/photo and my own site, my one minor beef about this lens is the lack of a 3/8" threaded hole.

 

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I've stuck with the hex plates because, as Bob mentioned, nicer systems cost about five times as much. I Q/R everything: my homebuilt shoulder stock, my macro flash bracket, the two-flash bracket I use for fill flash with my telephoot, etc. I put a hex plate on the bottom of each gizmo I put together and a Q/R base (which can be had for more like $25 from B&H, last time I looked which has been a while) on top. I can then, for instance, slap my fill-flash bracket on my tripod and my lens on top of the bracket. Big, bulky, ugly, works.

 

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When I've counted up my bases and plates and priced a similar Arca-style set, it's priced out to about $600-$700! Ouch. I've decided to let hex plates be my trademark :)

 

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Besides, I've talked to one shooter who dumped something big when a bit of dirt in the Arca set-screw that tightnes the plate fooled him into thinking it was set. The lens/camera combo slid to the ground. Kirk, at least, makes Arca-style plates that have a stop to prevent this particular disaster from happening.

Most, if not all, of the RRS Arca Swiss style plates for lenses come with a stop too. If the plate you want doesn't come with the stop as a standard feature, you can add a stop for a small additional charge.

While looking at the B&H sight I noticed that they sell Camera Connect plates and quick releases. These look to be compatible with Arca-Swiss stuff and are priced a little more reasonably than Kirk or RRS. They want $50 for the base and $30 for the plates which have a lip to keep from twisting. One picture also shows what looks like a stop. The RRS stuff seems very well made and all but I have a hard time shelling out $50 for a 1"x2" chunk of aluminum. RRS and Kirk are trying to amortize the costs of their CNC machines as quick as possible. This should lower the overall cost of a QR system by quite a bit.

I just noticed why I haven't received any notice of all your replies - I typed in the wrong email address! Sigh.

 

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Just thought I'd mention that I do have a Manfrotto 055CB tripod with their standard pan head ... and it's a bit heavy to haul up and down hills. I've never used a monopod before and was also wondering how to use one 'properly'. If I tilt the monopod to get high angle shots, wouldn't I end up supporting the lens+camera? That's why I'd be interested in a tilt head.

 

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Nope, I don't live near the place where I want to photograph birds etc. Besides, it's in a national park area so feeders aren't very welcome. Something along the lines of "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."

 

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Thanks for all the replies to my question. Food for thought.

If you've ever shot a Division I football game, or at least observed the photpgraphers on the sidelines, you will see many of them with enormous lenses, typically 400/2.8 or bigger, mounted on monopods. Monopods can certainly take the weight of very large lenses, so your lens/converter combo is not really an issue.

 

However, what sort of film will you be using? I would assume ISO 50-100 transparency film of some sort. In this case, your shutter speeds will likely be in the range of 1/8-1/30 of a second or so. Monopods are not really designed for shutter speeds down to 1/8, and unless you can hold 600mm steady, you may be a bit disappointed with your results. I think that a good tripod/ballhead would be a better choice.

 

If you decide to go the monopod route, though, get a full-size, three segment one, though, and not a four segment compact. You don't need a head, as the 'pod can simply be tilted, and while quick-release is nice, it is not so necessary with a large lens, as I would assume you will have the lens out of its suitcase for the trip, and especially in the field. However, a QR never hurts, and a decent Manfrotto one is inexpensive and will serveyou adequately. Get the biggest base and plate that you can find (probably a hexagonal one) and just screw the plate onto the monopod's 3/16" bolt. This is what I do when shooting college football for my university's newspaper.