naviquan

Gitzo
- one of the
best compact
monopods

If you take pictures while traveling (and most people do), chances are high that you wished you had with you a tripod to capture scenes in low light conditions. However, there could be reasons why many of us (for whom photography is a hobby or just a way to record memorable moments of our adventures) do not carry or even have a tripod. Tripods are heavy, bulky, and in many places (like museums, churches, etc.) are prohibited anyway. Hopefully, there is an alternative to a tripod - a monopod, a single-legged support for cameras.

SLIK Pro 381 -
low cost carbon
fiber
for tall people

Monopods are very convenient - many of them are small and light and will fit any carry-on. It's much easier to open a monopod: after all you deal with one leg and not three! It's easier to point with them - you just tilt/rotate the leg any way you want. This single leg, at the same time, represents the biggest problem with monopods. They provide less support for cameras, and you need to master some techniques to use monopods. But even with this drawback, they may significantly broaden your ability to take nice pictures in low light.

We research and evaluated a number of monopods that may be suitable for less burdensome traveling. We had in mind primarily nonprofessional photographers; however, pros as well may find useful our summary table comparing monopods side-by-side. About our selection - the most important criterion we used is the folded length of monopods. We did not consider monopods longer than 20 inches. We also did not consider some monopods that we believed would not be suitable even for amateur photography. For example, Velbon Ultra Stick 50 monopod is lightweight and has a quick release system for extending the leg. It is less than 13" (32 cm) when closed. The problem is that when fully extended it is only 42" /106 cm which make it very difficult for most people to use. Other monopods were not included because of their poor quality.

We certainly recognize that we could miss some monopod models. Also, new monopods appear on the market rather frequently - if you know a good monopod, please let us know and we'll gladly add it to our table.

I. What to consider while selecting a monopod

In addition to folded length and weight (where the less is more), you may find important the following:

Benro MP-86 - with
folded length of
15.7" supports 22lb
and costs $60

1. Extended length - it should allow you to have the camera's viewfinder at your eye level. That's a very important parameter that will impact significantly the convenience in using a monopod. For example, my eye level is at 63 inches and my camera (Canon 1D body) with the monopod head I am using is 10 inches from the bottom of the head till the viewfinder. Also, I fill comfortable enough to bend my body/knees by not more than 8 inches. This tells me that with my height and shooting preferences the extended monopod length should be from 45 to 53 inches. Note that since longer monopods will inevitably have more weight and be longer when closed, you should not generally buy taller monopod than necessary.

2. Robustness - since monopods with their one leg are not stable by design, you may want to eliminate all other factors that may increase instability as much as you can. Robust monopods with strong tubes withstand vibration and various torque forces better. You need also to look at the monopod foot and its construction - the best monopods have rather complex design of the foot that allows for holding better its position on slippery surfaces, at large angles; they may also use friction to reduce instability coming from involuntary movements of your body and hands.

3. Convenience - mainly, it's about how quickly you can open a monopod and adjust its height; whether you are comfortable with monopod's locking system (which may be a personal preference) and how smooth and safe (yes, you can actually damage your fingers with some monopods) this system is.

4. Load capacity - unless you use a small P&S camera, you need to make sure that the monopod’s load capacity is enough to support the weight of your heaviest gear.

Obviously, there are many other factors (from manufacture's warranty to monopod's color) - we summarized our research by creating a table where you can compare characteristics of various monopods side-by-side. There are also brief comments about most important design and usability features of monopods researched. This table may help you identify a monopod that suites your needs as well as shooting and traveling habits.

Manfrotto 3229 Swivel
Tilt Head with Quick
Release

While buying a monopod you may want to look at monopod heads. There are three reasons for that: (1) tilting camera with monopod will decrease further (and rather significantly) the stability of the monopod; (2) camera firmly attached to monopod impedes your own mobility (especially if you are in a sitting position while using monopod); (3) with camera firmly attached to monopod it's impossible to do "portrait" shooting.

There is a debate among photographers regarding the type of heads to use with monopods - I think it's a matter of personal preference. For me, tilt heads make more sense with monopods than ball heads. After all, tilting is all you need, and too much degrees of freedom with monopod can be counterproductive since you can already rotate it any way you want. If you need to by a tilt head, consider Manfrotto 3229 Swivel Tilt Head with Quick Release - it's a small, simple and at the same time well designed head capable of supporting up to 5.6 lb (2.53 kg), street price around $33.

Some photographers recommend getting an L-bracket for "portrait" shooting. The theory behind this recommendation is that the camera's center of gravity should coincide with the monopod axis for better stability. Obviously, if you tilt the monopod head to its extreme position to rotate camera vertically, it will not be centered over the monopod. I think that while the theory seems sound, in practice an L-bracket is not neeeded for "portraits." Anyway, you will have to compensate various multiple forces while shooting with monopod by tilting the whole thing off the vertical line. Isolating and taking care of just one of such forces does not eliminate the need to take care of others.

Talking about monopod problems with stability, I have to mention that there are other gadgets available aimed at alleviating such problems. One of them is a shoulder brace (for example, Bogen / Manfrotto 3248 Shoulder Brace). While this device can help, I do not think it's something we can recommend for traveling. Perhaps more useful (especially if you a pro or serious hobbyist ) could be a monopod support bracket (for example, Bogen / Manfrotto 3422) somewhere in your bag. This device effectively transforms monopod in a kind of mini-tripod to allow the camera and monopod to stay on their own on a flat surface.

Finally, I would like to point out that if you are traveling by plane think before you put your monopod in a carry-on bag. If it has a spiked foot (or you have a spiked foot that can be attached to your monopod - like Bogen / Manfrotto 3257), airport security may not like it (with obvious consequences).

II. General recommendations for using monopod

There is only one recommendation I can give specific to using monopods - try to increase the stability of your body since the stability of your monopod will depend on it. Position your legs firmly on the ground; if you can sit, do it by all means. If you can lean against a tree or a wall - do it as well. Maintain contact between your head (eyebrow bone) and viewfinder and its eyecup if you have one. Press the camera with monopod down with your hands. Hold the camera firmly - at the same time stay relaxed. If you are not, you will inevitably shake the camera when pressing the shutter button. Inhale, exhale half way, hold your breath and gently press the shutter button.

III. Some additional information on monopod manufactures we considered

Giottos MM 8680
- "Heavy duty"
champion

• Benro (http://www.benro.cn/) - founded in 1996, a Chinese manufacturer of tripods, monopods and heads with a good reputation amongst photographers worldwide for the performance and value.
• Bogen / Manfrotto (http://www.manfrotto.com/) - Manfrotto Group is the head of the Imaging and Staging division of Vitec Group PLc, a multinational business quoted on the London stock exchange; founded by Lino Manfrotto in 1974. In 1993 the Group acquired Bogen, the US distribution company. Currently, distribution channels of the group include the name of Bogen.
• Cullmann (http://www.cullmann-foto.de/) - CULLMANN Foto·Audio·Video GmbH, a German company specializing in photo and video accessories; founded in 1968
• Giottos (http://www.giottos.com/) - a well known manufacture of photographic equipment; founded in 1988 with HQ in Taipei, Taiwan.
• Gitzo (http://www.gitzo.com/) - Gitzo was founded in France in 1917. In 1992, Gitzo became part of the Vitec Group - the same holding company that own Manfrotto. Gitzo has a worldwide reputation for excellence in the photographic industry.
• Induro (http://www.indurogear.com/) - Induro is a relatively new brand created in 2006 by MAC Group (formally known as Mamiya American Corporation) with a Chinese manufacturing company to market tripods, monopods and heads.
• Monostat (http://www.monostat.com/) - a division of Life Systems Design AG, a Switzerland company specializing in distributing of products for research labs.
• SLIK (http://www.slik.com/) - SLIK Corporation, a Japanese company originally created in 1948. SLIK's production facilities are located currently in Thailand known as SLIK Co., Ltd.
• Velbon (http://www.velbon.com/) - a Japanese manufacturer of photographic accessories. Founded in 1958.

IV. And the winners are...

General Use

Gitzo GM2560T - if you ever used this monopod, you will never want to replace it with anything else. With 14.3" of folded length and 0.7 lb weight, it can be carried easily all the time and fits even small bags. It's maximum length is 56" and good enough for many people. It allows for quick opening with its ALR system. Finally, the monopod's load capacity is about 10 lb: to give you a perspective, I can tell that the combination of Canon 1D Mark III and EF 70-200F2.8L IS USM is 5.8 lb (2.5 lb + 3.3 lb, both are heavy and bulky) is almost two times less than this monopod is rated for. There is only one minus - its cost. With $224.95 retail price, it is the most expensive monopod among those researched.

If you want to find less expensive alternative, look at Induro MC25. It retails at $110 and has similar specifications - just a bit longer when folded and heavier.

Heavy Load Yet Compact

If you have heavy equipment, but still want something small when closed, consider Benro MP-86. This aluminum alloy monopod supports 22 lb, has folded length 15.7" and costs around $60 only. However, its weight is 1.7 lb.

For Tall People

If you concern is the monopod's length, consider SLIK Pro 381. It opens to 63" and weights only 0.84 lb (it's made of carbon fiber). Its quite affordable - only $99.95 - not bad for a carbon fiber. One big minus is its folded length - almost 20". This should not come as a surprise; you cannot get good length when extended out of nothing. One additional thing I wanted to mention is that this monopod is one the most robust and steadiest monopods made of carbon fiber.

Heavy Duty

If you really need a long monopod with high load capacity and still within 20" of folded length, look at Giottos MM8680 or Monostat RS16K All-Round. Both are expensive ($182.95 and $188.95 respectively), both have folded length of 20", both support 30 lb or more of load and both are heavier than other compact monopods (1.2 lb and 1.4 lb respectively). Perhaps not accidentally both provide large rubber feet (Monostat's monopod relies on friction-bearing design of the foot for better stabilization).

V. Monopods for traveling side-by-side