monopod

[holty]

looking for a lightweight monopod that is self supporting
you know the one with the little legs that fold out
anyone recommend a good one

 

[chris malcolm]

Manfrotto monopod legs by Chris Malcolm, on FlickrFlickr

Excellent except for the weight, and the time to deploy (unscrew foot, unclip legs from anti-rattle O-ring, screw foot with extended legs back in). I'd like to replace it with one which is lighter and where the legs simply clip out.

This my Manfrotto 679B, to which I later added the accessory little legs. Unfortunately they're solid steel, and make what was a rather heavy monopod a lot heavier. If I had something like this which was half the weight I'd carry it every day just in case. It's exactly what I wanted except being annoyingly heavy. So my everyday carry is a plain monopod, and when I don't mind carrying the extra weight for more versatility I carry a tripod.

A surprising use for the legs I hadn't expected was using them just a big foot to the monopod, which very usefully stops the freedom to swivel about the monopod axis, which with long lenses reaching for slow shutter speeds is much the biggest source of camera instability on a monopod.

 

[Mark twiglet]

Trek pod pro from premier ink! Comes apart and comes with a bag! Can be used as a walking staff and I love mine! Tripod legs are velcro'd together for speed! I got mine for walking at Lake District 5 years ago after my hip replacements and still have it!

 

[Mark twiglet]