Monopods

[Canuck Photog]

Hello everyone,

does anyone here use monopods often? If so, can you recommend a good brand? I'm looking for a 'pod that can support Sony DSR-300/500 series camcorders. There seems to be lots of monopods for still cameras and smaller camcorders...but monopods for pro cameras seem few and far between....

Cheers,

CP

[HamCam]

I once saw a pod that locked on to the camera base with a small plate just at the front where you would normaly latch the tripod plate. It was only as big as the area infront of the sholder pad.

A camera guy with the french CBC in Ottawa had one. But for the life of me I can't remember what the name of it is.

Other than that... Manfroto makes some I belive.

[American lost in Canada]

Support Communication
4949 E Metropolitain No 169
Montreal, QC Canada H1R 1Z6

514 498 3335

Ask for Pierre Pelletier He will take care of you.

[must-c-tv]

Ummm - maybe I'm missing something obvious.

But what about the Sachtler monopod? Ok, it's $750 - but, Sachtler is Sachtler. It should last forever.

B&H link is here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=164921&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

And the Sachtler PDF is here:

http://www.sachtler.com/data/sachtler/media/doc/DOC_272_2002418_174810.pdf

[ September 26, 2005, 04:23 AM: Message edited by: must-c-tv ]

[canuckcam]

I have the Manfrotto 681B quick-release monopod ($74CDN @ cinequipwhite.ca) "B" just means it's black and you pay $4 more for it. It's a latch-type lock on the monopod and it's really quick to extend and collapse. If you're an extra tall guy, you might want to look for another monopod.

With the Marbel Precision quick-release plate. ($174CDN to the door.) The plate is one of those "trade secret" things I think. You can't find a peep on it on Google. I got mine from SonoVideo in Montreal. 514-322-8774. The contact that Lost had up a few posts sounds mighty familiar, might be the same.

.. the combination above gives you pretty much the same thing as the Sachtler, although it's not carbon fiber.

[stix]

$145.00 ca from Support Communications for the quick release plate. I don't know what I would do with out my monopod! At my age using it for 10 - 20 min scrums is a must!

[HamCam]

Where is Support Communications located? I tried a google search and 411.ca search. No luck. Is it in some other province other than Ontario?

Starting to make my wish list for the next budget season.

[stix]

Support Communications
4949, E. Metropolitain 169
Montreal, Quebec
H1R 1Z6

(514) 865-1839
Pierre Pelletier (supportcommunication@videotron.ca)

[Shadowphantom]

I tried to use one of the one's at our shop once, and found I was better off just using off the shoulder. My advice it to run away as fast as possible. I would rather stick with a decent tripod or just shoot it off my shoulder. The monopod was too cumbersome and didn't really steady the shot much better than my shoulder.

Good luck with that though.