Monopod experience, real or phenomena?

[greg_lisi]

<p>I'm I nuts or have any of you experienced this situation using a monopod.<br>

I have a D300 and made a mistake helping out a friend by purchasing his Nikon 70-300 zoom without VR.<br>

With my Manfrotto monopod and the camera set to "A" mode I was doing test shots at different focal lengths with various settings to achieve the best (sharpest) results (ISO, f stops, etc.). I noticed that at 200-300mm, even with the pod steady on the groung (concrete), it was almost impossible to achieve a reasonably steady shot. I understand a momopod can't duplicate what a tripod can do but I was just experimenting.<br>

Now, a situation occured in which I wanted to quickly catch a shot. I turned, picked up the camera and pod, and took the shot while holding the pod off of the ground. I immediately noticed in the view finder that the shaking had decreased considerably. With that, I re-took the same series of test shots I was working on previously, this time using the pod as a weight rather that a stantion (holding pod and camera off of the ground). Once I PP'd all the test shots (both with pod on ground and off) and compared, I almost fell over. At least 90% of the shots taken with the pod off the ground were sharper at the same view crop. I also checked the metadata to be sure all of the settings for both sets of tests were similar.<br>

In essence, the pod actually seemed to have worked better at those focal lengths off the ground vs on. The only thing I can think of is that the 70-300 is not a very *meaty" heavy zoom. Given the science of weight and resistance that might have played a part in this situation of optical stability.</p>

 

[bernie moore]

Don't shoot when the train is passing by:)

[ken_ford1]

<p>I exclusively shoot my 80-200/2.8 on a monopod, sometimes with a 1.4x. I have no sharpness issues like you're seeing.<br>

Does that lens have a tripod mount, or are you mounting the monopod on the body?<br>

Sympathetic vibration, maybe?</p>

[seismiccwave]

<p>Have you seen the long bar that the tight rope walker uses? How about the long counter weight balance the target archer has on the bow? Have you seen the steady cam at work for movie making?<br>

My speculation is that when you pick up the monopod it acts as a counter weight. The counter weight does not eliminate motion. What the monopod did was to dampen the motion by changing the frequency of the vibration. So the motion is smoother in a wave like rather than a lot of little jerky movement.</p>

[bob_flood1]

<p>If you want to know if the image softness is the lens or monpod technique, put the camera/lens on a tripod, use a modestly high ISO to get a very high shutter speed in bright light, and take some shots of a subject with some detail to it. If you can't get a shot that's acceptably sharp from that setup, you aren't ever going to get one.<br>

Assuming you find the lens is sharp enough, I suggest you try some monopod shots, again with higher ISO and shutter, with the monopod resting on the top of your shoe. If you are inadvertently moving the monopod during shooting, you'll feel it in your foot and see it in the pictures.<br>

Assuming you get good results this way, the rest is practice, practice, practice. Bear in mind that some folks never get good at hand holding long lenses - like me, for example. That's why I'm so grateful for the miracle of VR!</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I can see the monopod helping stabilize the lens as a weight, or more properly mass, on the camera according to Newtonian principles; but I don't understand the difficulty with a monopod grounded being worse. I regularly shoot a 500mm reflex lens on a monopod and have always got clear sharp pictures. Something has to be introducing motion into your equation. Are you very, very nervous?<br>

If mirror slap is causing it, you need to go to an actual tripod and lock up the mirror before shooting.</p>

[wilsontsoi]

<p>Greg, what shutter speed were you shooting at, what was your subject, was your subject stationary, or was the subject moving and if so, approximately how fast and at approximately what angle (in relationship to camera axis)?</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>Try turning VR off on the lens when shooting with the mono pod. The lens is trying to compensate for vibration that may not be present when using the mono pod, and it isn't smart enough to know it's stabilized.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>I have found that hand-holding my 18-200 at 200mm with VR on beats using it on a monopod with or without VR.</p>

<p>So I gave my monopod away!</p>

[greg_lisi]

<p>Thank you all for your inputs. To answer a few questions;<br>

1- I purchased the 70-300 that was not equipped with VR (that was my first mistake).<br>

2- My test shots included "A" mode at F stops 5.6 then 11 with ISO @800 on a bright day. The shutter speeds varied from ~1/1250 to ~1/2000.<br>

3- The actual feeling I got was that the monopod was transferring my body motions (by the way I'm not a nervous person). I probably had the camera and pod tucked in too close to my tourso. This may have not been a good technique.<br>

4- There definitly was a difference in the movement I experienced. Jerking while the pod was mounted on the ground vs. swaying when handling both independently.<br>

Anyway, I found an article on shooting techniques with a monopod AND an article that had a fascinating<br>

idea regarding a stupid simple counterweight. I'll more than likely stick the 70-300 on Ebay and buy one WITH VR...lesson learned.<br>

Recently I bought a new 80-200 that I just mounted on the pod...this lens is at least 3X the weight of the 70-300. I can tell you weight has a marked influence on stability.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>"The shutter speeds varied from ~1/1250 to ~1/2000." Then it's not a stability issue. It's either focusing or just plain lens softness. That's too fast to need or benefit from VR, a tripod, or a monopod at those speeds, generally. Something else is up here. Using a monopod at those speeds is unnecessary.</p>

[wilsontsoi]

<p>Combination of ISO 800, f11 @1/2000 sec. means it was sunny out. I agree with Peter that at 1/2000 sec., camera support, VR or monopod, isn't a factor (unless you're shooting a car going 70 mph left-to-right 5 feet in front of you.) At 1/2000 sec., you should be able to easily stop motion (football players, basketball players, kids running around, etc.) by simply hand hold the camera & lens. You might want to check your auto-focus settings on your D300.</p>

[sammy_d1]

<p>When using a monopod, you shoulc NOT position it so it is straight up and down, with the camera on top. This puts the camera at a balance point that can move in every direction except straight up and down. There is very little stabilization at this posigion. <br>

<br /> Instead, put the foot of the monopod about 30 degrees away from you (you need a ball head, or some other leveling adjuster to do this), and push the camera toward the foot as you are taking the picture. This is a very stable position that should give you a gain of a couple of f stops or so. </p>

<p>There are other techniques as well, that can easily be found by searching the Web.</p>

[greg_lisi]

<p>Sammy,<br>

Dead-on....works like a charm! I honesly thought when using a monopod you simply snap it on and<br>

shoot. Apparently learning photo techniques goes beyound the camera itself. Many thanks....<br>

get this .... an article I read in which the photog hung an adjustable weight off the camera swears<br>

it works as good as a pod if not better. Another article explains the "pod-less" technique in which you attach a nylon string to the camera, drop the string to the floor (attach the floor end to a large washer) and step on it causing resistance. This is getting interesting....I think I'kk stick to your suggestion.<br>

Greg</p>

[sammy_d1]

<p>Greg,<br>

The string trick actually does work, but not as well as a monopod. Tie a cord with a loop on the end of it to an eye bolt, then thread the bolt to the bottom of the camera. When you want to shoot, you step on the loop and pull it tight before shooting. It does work, but not as well as a monopod. However, it does easily fit into a pocket. Here is a Website with instructions for it: http://www.instructables.com/id/String-Tripod/</p>