Tripod and monopod

In your travels to Asia, were there any situations that you regretted not having a tripod? I can't seem to walk out the door without at least a small Slik travel tripod. You mentioned some very impressive results from the monopod, but on your next trip will you be going back to a tripod?

— Dan Kehlenbach

Actually, I carried a Feisol carbon fiber tripod with me in Asia. I love their tripods (this is my second one). As I reported in my podcast about that trip and what worked and what didn't, I never used it! Not once. The Manfrotto 685B monopod has become my standard stabilization tool for the Panasonic G1 camera.

Will I take the tripod on my next trip? Probably, but it's not a certainty. Wow, five years ago I would not have predicted this statement in my wildest dreams.

Weight is a factor. And, of course, what I'll be photographing comes into play. For example, all the work I did at Fort Worden required exposures in the 5-45 second range. Tripod territory for sure. For panoramas and stitched images, I'll still use a tripod. In Japan and China however, I rarely needed shutter speeds longer than 1/6th of a second and was comfortable using the monopod and image stabilization in the camera. In those few occasions that did require longer shutter speeds, I simply propped the monopod against something — a chair, a doorway, a fence — and used the timer to release the shutter. It worked just fine and the photographs are tack sharp.

I did learn one thing that I stupidly needed to learn. Although I could hold my camera on the monopod still for 1/6th of a second, that doesn't mean the image will be sharp if the subject is moving. Duh! I lost some shots for this reason. (I'm now in the market for a powerful, small, and battery-compassionate flash unit.)

There are two keys to the monopod concept that have made me a confirmed fan. I'd used monopods over the years and hated them. Too slow, too much hassle for the benefit. And then I learned about this Manfrotto — the 685B — which works like a dream. Michael Reichmann talked about it over at Luminous Landscape. Simply pull upward to the height you want; use trigger-release to collapse. No twisting and tightening multiple joints to extend or collapse. A wonderfully engineered tool.

The second key was the addition of a ball head with a quick release. I'm using both the Manfrotto 486RC2 (my standard) and its smaller cousin the 484RC2. The quick release plates are so convenient for swapping cameras. The single level control for the ball head is fast and easy. Combined with the aiming flexibility of the monopod itself (tilting, swaying, and rotating at will off its single-point foot) with the universal positioning capable with the ball heads makes composing images a snap. On the occasions when I didn't get the verticals or horizontals exactly plumb, I could fix it by cropping or even pixel stretching in Photoshop.

Like I said, this world of monopods is all new to me so you old long-time users are probably smiling now that an old geezer like me is finally catching up to you in this knowledge. Old dogs can, I guess, sometimes learn new tricks.

Comments

[Dan Kehlenbach]

Mr. Jensen,

Thank you very much for your insight. I too have been intrigued with monopods - looks like I'll give them a try.

Very Respectfully,
Dan Kehlenbach