get a bogen 680 681 for 60 dollars . Use the money you save to buy the gitzo carbon tripod and Rrs ball head. I have a RES lever clamp on my 680 monopod its supports my 500 f4 w/o a problem and the lever clamps are faster and easier to set up
Jim R
Thanks for the useful information. I am sorry for posting in the wrong section. I am new to this forum and did not think of the gear section. Just starting out with Canon gear so that's where I started. Sorry about the inconvience.
