Tripods and Monopods

[Groucho]

I used a "proper" mountaineering carabiner and attached the monopod's wrist loop to a belt loop on my pants when I carried it. It worked pretty well, as long as I stuck to walking instead of running.

I don't think a monopod helps much for the parades (since they're moving, you need fast shutter speed to avoid a blur), and they're far from ideal for fireworks, too. I brought mine into the parks a few times on our previous WDW trip, but left it at home for the subsequent DL and WDW trips and I probably will continue to not bother bringing it. YMMV of course.

 

[Bete]

I'm a hi def video camcorder person myself, but you can place velcro on the monopod in such a way as to to be able to attach the monopod to a post, etc. It works pretty good. It's not a tripod, but I was satisfied with my results.

With a camera and a monopod you'll probably have more bad pics than good, but with a memory card I never see that as really being a problem, as long as, you have enough memory cards.

The mountain clip is a good idea, too. My monopod came with a portable case and strap.

 

[The Grays]

Bogen in the US, Monfratto the rest of the world had at one point sold a strap for their tripods. It screwed in the the threads like a camera and then the other end had a strap that went srounf the legs ( I will have to look I think I may even have one tucked away). They also sell tripod cases and so does slik.

 

[Bojo]

Using a monopod I had good pictures at Orborne lights & OK pictures at Wishes & MMVCP parade. I agree that a tripod is best for fireworks and night parades, but a monopod can be beneficial in some circumstances (eg Osborne Lights).

As far as carrying it in the park, some type of belt clip or using it as a walking stick were my preferred options.

Enjoy your camera however you decide to take those pictures!

 

[ThurlFan]

When we were at Disney last January, the Emporium on Main Street sold a Carabiner with a large rubber o-ring on it that I think they sold to carry your water bottle on your belt. I bought one and was able to slide the o-ring on my monopod and then clipped it on my belt. I didn't carry it around the park all day, but when I did carry it, I could easily clip it on my belt so that I wouldn't have to hold it all the time.

I have one of these from the coke rewards website. They're going for 60 points (20 lids or 6 12-packs) so if you drink Coke products you can pick one up for free (shipping included). I loosened the ball grip enough that I could pull the ball out of the mount, then put the ball thru the rubber ring for the bottle top. This lets me put the carabiner part on a belt loop or camera bag strap and it will bounce around less when walking than if it were on the wrist strap.

I found the monopod useful for panning video (e.g. Lights Motors Action) and less so for photography except when using high zoom on my S3. I also did the velcro trick to attach the pod to fences, etc when possible and got decent results. But I agree that moving targets such as parades are not ideal candidates for monopod. Possible exception being if you wanted to smoothly pan with a moving float until you had *just* the picture you wanted and then take the picture. But as Groucho remarked, you'll still need the fast shutter speed or you'll get blurry pictures.

Another exception might be if you want to take a series of pictures to stitch together for a panoramic or 360º final product. You could set the pod straight up and down and just sort of pivot around it taking pictures.

 

[boBQuincy]

There may be some confusion on just what a monopod does. There are three main sources of motion when taking a still photo: front to back; side to side, and up and down. Of these front to back is the least problem, side to side a bit more but still not a big issue. The worst is up and down, and this is what a monopod prevents.

It doesn't take much of a support to effectively deal with this motion so an effective monopod can be very light as long as it is stiff in a vertical direction. Blur can be a problem even at shutter speeds considered "safe", the old 1/focal length rule of thumb. I have seen improvement in sharpness from using a monopod even at shutter speeds much faster than those considered safe! Funny enough, the lighter the camera the more likely it is to shake when we press the shutter release so little P&S cameras are not exempt.

The monopods I use weigh only a few ounces but are very stiff (good for 10 pounds) in the vertical direction, I almost always carry one and use it as much as possible.

 

[tx2tn]

Hello All

We are going back to WDW in early Sept. and want some suggestions on a monopod. I have a Canon A640 and would like to take some better fireworks and low light pics. The one thing that it must be is totally colapsible. I don't want to lug around some big monstrocity. Any ideas??

 

[YesDear]

I do not own one but many swear by a gorillapod.

My personal opinion is that a monopod is the last thing you want for fireworks in general and more so with the type camera you have. Monopods are really designed for long lens to provide additional support. For fireworks you will be taking longer exposures. The monopod would still require you to hold the camera totally still.

The gorillapod allows you to wrap the camera around a post, a stroller, etc and hold it steady.

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

 

[handicap18]

If your only using a PnS camera I too would suggest the gorillapod. They are small and light weight.

As for a monopod, that isn't going to do you any good for fireworks and most low light or night shots at Disney. To get those real nice bursts with the trails behind them you need a long shutter speed. Like 2-10 seconds. A monopod will not help. Same for night shots around the parks. Low ISO and longer shutter speed will yield the best results. A tripod is what you need.

Also there are lockers at the enterance to the parks and will hold a good size tripod folded up. But for a PnS camera, the gorillapod set on top of a trashcan (which all have flat tops in WDW) will do just fine.

 

[boBQuincy]

Totally collapsible, lightweight, compact... you're talking about an aluminum tent pole. I have used one of these as a monopod for years and it works great. Images are sharp down to about 1/15 second, not great for those long trails on fireworks but good for short bursts. A monopod also works very well for low light photos as long as the subject is not moving.

 

[Quicklabs]

Some of the Kata rucksacks are being offered with a free Manfrotto 790B Modo Monopod. Would this be iseful for night shots? SInce it's not really entirely stable, I guess I'm just not getting the point of having one....

 

[bob100]

Some of the Kata rucksacks are being offered with a free monopod. Would this be any good for parades or night shots? SInce it's not really entirely stable, I guess I'm just not getting the point of having one....

I never go the point either with monopods. I use one of those "gorilla" type pods and that works (assuming there is something to clamp on!)

 

[boBQuincy]

There are three planes of vibration, up/down, side to side, and front to back. There are also three rotational movements but these are of less magnitude than the vibration.

A monopod stops the main plane of camera vibration, up/down. Side to side is not nearly as much a problem, nor is front to back, so a monopod effectively takes out most of the vibration that causes blurred images. A monopod can help deliver sharp images at shutter speeds down to 1/8 or slower (so can IS but that is not always available).

A monopod can also help improve sharpness at higher shutter speeds, maybe even up to 1/125, where camera motion can still be a problem. The biggest problem is that most photographers do not think there is a problem and do not use a camera support.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You can also use it in some places where you can't use a tripod - like a museum, for instance, or from a seat. Mine fits on the side of my camera bag so I take it along, every now and then it comes in handy if that's all I have.

 

[Pugrpooh]

I saw some photographers at the football game last week using a monopod with those loooong lenses on their cameras. I just bought my DSLR so I don't see myself using a monopod anytime soon, but I did buy a Kata backpack through amazon the other day and it came with a free monopod.

I had already decided on the Kata backpack, and as long as the monopod was free, I thought I'd get it in case I ever did have the need for it. They're supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

Lynn

 

[Groucho]

It can be quite handy with a long lens, just for weight support if nothing else! Those giant lenses can get pretty heavy. Even if you leave the ball head loose (to allow more adjustment of angle), you can still gain some advantage.

That being said, I very rarely use mine, for whatever reason...

 

[boBQuincy]

It can be quite handy with a long lens, just for weight support if nothing else! Those giant lenses can get pretty heavy. Even if you leave the ball head loose (to allow more adjustment of angle), you can still gain some advantage.

That being said, I very rarely use mine, for whatever reason...

There's another issue of monopods, the ballhead or camera/pod connection. I find having the camera mounted to the monopod loses a lot of the quickness and flexibility that I use a monopod for. I don't bother with a head on mine, I just rest the camera (or lens) on top of it and it still stops the vertical vibration just fine.

 

[PoohJen]

I use it for sports shots with my 40D. The 40D is not as light and nimble as my XT, although I did use it a bit for football with my XT last year. For sports shots, where I'm moving around alot, a monopod is quicker to move around with, more flexible than a tripod.

 

[dburg30]

I actually need to get a new one! Wore my other one out (ok couldve been more that I got sand in part of it and it wouldnt slide very well, then it broke). I loved it. I have the BIGMA so it was nice to have it for support. I cant remember if it had 3 or 4 sections, but with it folded up and carried parallel with the lens, it was about the same length lol.. I would usually keep the head loose and just used it as a swivel. It still REALLY helped with keeping it stable..

 

[Quicklabs]

Thanks, all. I guess I'll find out its usefulness soon enough. I ordered the Kata backpack so I"ll get the tripod for free with it.