Big lens support

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woollyback

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:shrug:

Been watching F1 photographers at the weekend and they seem to use a monopod exclusively for support of their big lenses, yet most wildlife folk go for a tripod/ Gimbal head arrangements.

I know I must be missing something but why is this? - is it because F1 cars move primarily in a level horizontal orientation??.

Any insight would be great - if I didn't need a big tripod I could go 600 instead of 500mm:love::love::love:

Cheers

Rob
 
I think most sports photographers would use a monopod as opposed to a tripod, possibly as it's lighter and more portable than a tripod.

The only benefit that I can see a tripod would give you is the ability be be "hands free" but with the weight of most big lenses I don't think I'd trust any tripod to support the camera/lens un-aided by my fair hand :lol:

I suppose with wildlife photography there's the situation where you might want to set the camera up slightly away from you and remotely trigger it, in which case trying to get a monopod to balance could be a costly exercise :lol:
 
I use a monopod for shooting point to point races so I can move quickly, both to avoid loose horses and also to move between shooting positions quickly!
 
My guess is that wildlife photographers can be sat in a hide for hours on end waiting for something to appear, so being able to leave the camera unsupported in roughly the right position is essential. Picking up a large lens and body off the floor may cause too much of a commotion and frighten off their subject if it's particularly jumpy.

Sports photography is very dynamic and a lot of shooters use two bodies, so I would imagine that having a 400mm set up on a tripod slap bang in front of you is going to cause a problem when the action has moved a lot closer and you want to switch to your 70-200.

Maybe? :shrug:
 
Motorsport photographers will tend to move around a lot more than a wildlife photographer. Also the longer focal lengths that you would use for something like small birds will need a steadier platform than a shorter lens.
 
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