In your experience, what is the best carbon fiber monopod and what acccessories do i need to buy for it? Thought this might be a good way to start toward seeing what a tripod can do for my photography, since the monopod is lighter and easier to carry around.
Forum police? I bet you were on the school safety patrol when you were a little runt. Nevertheless there are Canon branded tripods. Unfortunately none of them are carbon fiber. I have a little Gitzo G1080 I'm pretty dad burn fond of as a tripod 'pod: fits in my carry-on, is feather light, strong as a bull and rock solid with my 40D and moderate sized lens. My big Gitzo stays in the studio most of the time.
I have a Gitzo and a Manfrotto CF monopd but prefer my old (cheap) Slik one because it's very light and easy to carry around. Connect it directly to a lens tripod ring.
I use my Gitzo 1155T as a monopod all the time. It's their lightweight "foldover" tripod, and I just squeeze the legs together when I want to use it as a tripod on occasion. I sent the Gitzo monopod back as the folded length was a lot longer then the 1155T, and it didn't fit in my backpack. That being said, if I were a sportsshooter that involved running up and down a field a lot, and changing the monopod height often, I'd go for the dedicated monopod, since it's quicker to adjust 1 leg than 3. But for me, when I ride my bike along the coast and want to be prepared for surfing shots if they arise, I throw my camera with the 400 5.6 in my backpack, and the 1155T nestles right along side of it for a perfect backpack fit. In addition to packing size, it has one nice advantage over the monopod - when using it as a monopod, if I want to take a break, I just spread the legs apart, leave the camera lens mounted, and just relax. Works great with the 400 5.6. I don't know if I'd want to try it with a 400 2.8 though.
Motorman wrote:
In your experience, what is the best carbon fiber monopod and what acccessories do i need to buy for it? Thought this might be a good way to start toward seeing what a tripod can do for my photography, since the monopod is lighter and easier to carry around.
Thanks,
Motorman
Charlie, go for the tripod, with the lenses you have listed in your profile, the Monopod won't do much for you. The tripod will make your Macro shine. Your largest lense listed is a 70-200 so I think you'd be better off with a tripod.
Motorman: Gitzo carbon fiber monopods are arguably the best - but they are quite expensive.
I have seen some tests that show monopods give about 1 f/stop addition over hand-held - not that much from my perspective. Most people use monopods to help support very heavy camera / lens combinations in situations where they will be taking photos over extended time periods and also need a level of mobility - outdoor field sport games is one typical application. For example - handholding a Canon 1Dx and a 400 f/2.8 through a football or soccer game can be more than most people want to endure.
If your objective is to get better photos in other applications, a light-weight tripod with a ball head may suite you better. This will give you much more stability than any monopod can. There is a LOT of information available on tripods on the FM site (try a search) and on many other sites.
Gitzo is often a favorite for carbon fiber tripods, but they are pricy and there are many other brands available. There are many excellent ball heads available such as the Really Right Stuff, Kirk, Markins and others.
There are more and more posts here that belong in other forums. This is clearly not a Canon Forum issue....tell me you can see that, right Just post in the right board or eventually we will have all kinds of subjects here..."thought police", good grief...like a teenager in sixties. Why not use that logic and put Landscape, or People, or Sports, or Lighting, or Nikon posts here too? It helps keep the board in some kind of working order, sheesh. Like this really needs to brought to the attention of a thinking adult with even a smidge of common sense...
Sometimes you just need to sit back, take a deep breath and ponder what's important in life. If scolding a new poster for starting a new thread in the wrong forum tickles your pickle, well all I can say is you should cut loose and enjoy life before it's too late.
Like this really needs to brought to the attention of a thinking adult with even a smidge of common sense...
Nice one. The delicious giggle for the morning. Some folks prefer a more random approach to organization. I like my stuff all in a heap!
Actually the Canon tripods I saw weren't bad. Obviously made by someone else and rebranded.
I agree...and no one is scolding here...just pointing out how discussion boards in general work. My tone, if edgy, was directed at those of us who have been here a while, not a new poster who may not know of the many other FM boards. But true enough, my apoligies for getting irked at this.
PS I prefer to call my heaps "piles", but my wife is not impressed with any word-smithing.
Just post in the right board or eventually we will have all kinds of subjects here..."thought police", good grief...like a teenager in sixties. Why not use that logic and put Landscape, or People, or Sports, or Lighting, or Nikon posts here too? It helps keep the board in some kind of working order, sheesh. Like this really needs to brought to the attention of a thinking adult with even a smidge of common sense... 
