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Monopod

Postby tjdowning » Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:08 am

Don't want to sound dense, but I have a tripod, but I see this talk about a monopod. I went to the site that Mikey stated and see it is very affordable. Why does a monopod work better? I am all about making things easier and better, so any help is appreciated!
-Terri

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Monopod

Postby Shaker » Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:36 am

The tripod should offer greater stability (I don't know how big the difference is). The monopod is obviously more convenient.

My camera's image stabilisation feature seems to give me all the steadyness I need and I don't feel the need for either.

The following site gives useful information:

http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo5.php3
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Re: Monopod

Postby gpsmikey » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:06 am

tjdowning wrote:Don't want to sound dense, but I have a tripod, but I see this talk about a monopod. I went to the site that Mikey stated and see it is very affordable. Why does a monopod work better? I am all about making things easier and better, so any help is appreciated!
-Terri


A monopod does NOT work better than a tripod. It does, however, work much
better than simply hand holding the camera. What a monopod basically does
is provide a much larger rotational arc (especially in the vertical) for lack of
a better term for the camera. Hold a small package in your hands - it is very
easy to pitch up and down 20 or 30 degrees since the rotational axis is very
short. Now put the same camera on a monopod (or anything else for that
matter that gives it a much longer "arm" on the rotation). Look how far you
have to move it forward/backward etc to get that same 20 or 30 degrees.
It sounds complicated, but it isn't - simple test - take your camera, zoom all the
way in now try and hold it still looking at the subject. Without changing anything,
hold the back of your camera against a broom handle or something like that - see
how it changes the "up and down" part of holding steady. The smaller the camera
and the longer the zoom, the more this helps. As I said, it is not a replacement
for a tripod, but a monopod does provide a LOT of help when working with long
lenses (and it is harder to trip over too ! )

mikey
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Re: Monopod

Postby BarbaraC » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:27 am

gpsmikey wrote:(and it is harder to trip over too ! )


I've tripped over my tripod's legs so many times that I'm thinking I should do it on purpose, getting the entire business done and over with from the outset.

Barbara

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Monopod

Postby tjdowning » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:38 am

Thanks for the info. I agree that my tripod can be a little pain in the $%% opening and bumping into. The monopod sounds like a solution for me when I need that just a little extra steadiness. Can you keep the camera on it and close it to make it smaller so when you carry it around, like taking casual wedding pics, you don't have to lug around the tripod or keeping taking the camera on and off?
-Terri

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Postby gpsmikey » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:42 am

They typically collapse down to maybe 22 inches or so (same type of leg
construction as a tripod ... only one of them). Even that way, it helps
stabilize the camera. Take your camera down to the local camera store
and ask to play with a monopod. See what you think - if it works for you,
buy it from them and support the local shops.

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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Re: Monopod

Postby DickK » Wed Jan 16, 2008 3:58 pm

tjdowning wrote:...Can you keep the camera on it and close it to make it smaller so when you carry it around, like taking casual wedding pics, you don't have to lug around the tripod or keeping taking the camera on and off?...

Yep, sure can tho' just how convenient you'll find it to use the camera with it on there is going to be hard to judge -- I'm okay with it but others might not be. There are many of them made by lots of folks, I'm not advocating this one over any others but it's what I got. Sturdy, good construction especially at the mount and the foam grip at the top were what I looked for. You can get others for under $10 tho'.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Monopod-100 ... 650&sr=8-1

Dick
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Fuzzy Pics and Long Glass

Postby Jerry Cole » Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:03 pm

Dick,
Lots of good stuff in the responses. I won't argue with any of them ... but for hand held it is tough to beat a VR lens. It gives me a couple of extra stops and usually freedom from a "pod". No way I'm going to carry my tripod on my travels. Between boosted ISO and the VR, I can usually handle most of the shots that I take. (If I pay attention!)

With a zoom to 200 (digital adjustment to 300) it can be tough though.
Jerry
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Re: Fuzzy Pics and Long Glass

Postby DickK » Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:26 pm

Jerry Cole wrote:..With a zoom to 200 (digital adjustment to 300) it can be tough though...

And there's the rub as they say. My camera is a 35mm equivalent of 28-300mm (pure optical no digital) zoom. And that's far from the longest zoom on the market. It amazes me that it works as well as it does. No way it can be as good as a single focal length, of course, but when the whole camera costs less than many lenses and does the excellent job it does, the attraction for me was and is too much.

At that's part of the problem: they're attractive to lots of folks, experienced and not. These cameras are at a price point that many people who never owned an SLR & long telephoto will get one and suddenly discover that taking really good, sharp pictures is tricky. Heck, I'm right there with them, I've got a fair fraction of my own shots that aren't sharp and it isn't the camera's fault 'cause I've got a lot that are nice and crisp. The "trick" is to simply keep reminding myself that it may not feel like it but zoomed out means I've got a really long telephoto on the camera--never mind what the "feel" of it is telling me.

Dick
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle ((PSG, PSE & Fuji HS20 user)) Presentation Impact Blog

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Postby gpsmikey » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:43 pm

I agree with Jerry - VR is certainly the way to go and he is welcome to buy one
for me and have it shipped to my house (or convince my wife I really need one). :lol:
Otherwise, I think I am stuck for a while finding other ways to stabilize the lens
(and with the soccer I often shoot at 350mm equiv 35 on my Nikon).

mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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Re: Fuzzy Pics and Long Glass

Postby Jerry Cole » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:15 pm

Jerry Cole wrote:With a zoom to 200 (digital adjustment to 300) it can be tough though.
Jerry


In case I confused everyone .... I meant to say "35mm equivalent of 300mm"
Sometimes I confuse myself!
Jerry
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"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." Mark Twain

Leo

Postby Leo » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:04 pm

A monopod is the way to go and if u have a big lens make sure you put the monopod on the lens and not in the camera.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiofotografo/collections

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