Monopod Set for Hiking

[jd_orion]

Hello,

 

I do quite a bit of hiking and I always bring along my 70-200 F2.8

lens. Sometimes, because of the shade from the trees, there is just

enough light to enable a shutter speed of 1/30 or so (I use ISO 100

film). I would love to have a steady tripod but they can get too

heavy for carrying around on a hike. I need a reccomendation for a

strong monopod and a head that bends at different angles (I'm not

familiar with the types of heads). The head should be able to support

at least 6 pounds. Any suggestions?

[john_macpherson]

One suggestion is to buy a pair of telescopic walking poles (which

will be kind to your knees and stop you falling over on rough ground).

It is possible to get models with screw-off tops which reveal a 1/4

inch tripod thread so you have a monopod. With longer lenses stick the

two poles in the ground at (almost) right angles to each other so they

cross over and the wrist straps hang down, then kneel or bend and fit

the long lens through the straps which will support it nicely, giving

the ability to use longer shutter speeds/take steadier/sharper

pictures.

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[eric_onore]

Both Gitzo and Bogen (Manfrotto) make perfectly good monopods. Most camera stores will stock a few that you can try. Some people use a small ballhead on their monopods, but a commonly used alternative is the Bogen swivel head. This is inexpensive and can be bought with a quick release. Depending on the orientation of the lens, you can flip the head for vertical shots. It can also be modified to take an Arca style quick release clamp from Really Right Stuff.

[walt_donovan]

I was in the same boat & wound up with a Bogen 3245 monopod. It's steel, so a little heavy for a monopod, but sturdy and lighter than

even a flimsy tripod. The pod has 3 sections, one locks with a quick twist and the other joint uses a lightning fast trigger. If I keep the twistlock set to the right length, I can trigger the full extension and get a shot very quickly. I mounted a Bogen 3229 tilt head which is tiny and only tilts left and right. This allows me to shoot portrait or landscape easily without having a heavy head mounted on what's supposed to be a lightweight setup. When I researched pods,

a big reason I settled on this was the quick release plate for this head also mounts on a Bogen 3030 head (which I also bought). Plates

stay mounted on all my cameras and can go back and forth from tripod

to monopod. I don't think Bogen originally intended this but it works

and it works great.

[rik_allen]

I have used walking poles with camera mounts on top for treking. I plan to make a bracket that both could screw into with a ball socket mount on top giving 2/3 of a tripod for a little better stability. I'm not sure how many stops extra shutter speed you could get out of this setup though.

[john_macpherson]

A few folk have emailed me privately for info on this so here is the

link to the company who make the walking poles with tripod screw on

top, their "photo system' as they call it........company is LEKI and

they are at http://www.leki.com/htphoto.html

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[bob_tescione]

I took Brian's recommendation in the Really Right Stuff catalogue. I have the Gitzo 1564 Monopod with the Bogen $14 swivel and the RRS B2 clamp on top of that. Ends up costing in the $200 range. I use a Nikon F3 w/motor, a Bronica S2a and a Fuji G617 with this setup and have been pleased with it.

 

Bob Tescione

mogman@rpa.net

[blueform]

new radical monopod soon available, 4 + stops more stability, allows night photography, sharp pictures at all shutter speeds, will resign old monopods to the history books. loks the business to.