Comments on: Episode 4 – Essential gear, my monopod

By: aaron karapinka

aaron karapinka — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:04:55 +0000

If using a monopod is so important, why is the second shooter in the video not using one? You need to fire someone!

Becasue they are shooting with flash. Flash freezes the subject totally there is absolutely no need to be using the monopod in such an instance. During shower shutter speed shots and when background sharpness is important is when the tool would come in handy. Yuri is probably using it just because its comfortable for him to work with and for demonstration purposes.

The real question I have is why not a joystick head instead off the ball head? The manfrotto 327 or 324 seems like it would be a faster alternative and between that and keeping one hand on the camera I think you could forego the front handle. Or am I missing something? Would love to hear your thoughts Yuri.

By: Jingle Bell Run . 08 | Seattle Wedding Photographer Jingle Bell Run . 08 | Kip Beelman

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:55:53 +0000

[...] And after holding my Nikon D700 with battery grip and 70mm-200mm f/2.8 VR to my face for about an hour and 30 minutes, my arms and wrists were useless. My back took 3 days to recover. I now own a Manfrotto monopod with with custom bracket for switching between landscape and portrait orientation. I shall not bear the 6.5 pounds anymore. Check out my rig and why it’s great no matter what you’re shooting here. [...]

By: Jeff Grant

Jeff Grant — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:32:55 +0000

Hi Yuri, I just discovered this site, many thanks. I was wondering how the Hasselblad goes with the tripod plates. I have found that any time I use anything other than an RRS L plate on my H3D, that the torquing of the body loosens the plate.

Cheers,

Jeff

By: Carlos Porto

Carlos Porto — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:15:26 +0000

I use my monopod when I was taken landscape photography and it is very usefull like walking cane.
Thank you for sharing it.
Regards from
Carlos

By: Jingle Bell Run . 08 | Blog of Kip Beelman Photography | A Seattle-based wedding and portrait photographer

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:10:44 +0000

By: Nick Moore

Nick Moore — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:05:11 +0000

To the above post: Yuri is the primary photographer, while his assistants are allowed to play with his other cameras and try for other shots from different angles and different focal lengths.

By: me

me — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:43:04 +0000

If using a monopod is so important, why is the second shooter in the video not using one? You need to fire someone!

By: Mark Songhurst

Mark Songhurst — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:08:35 +0000

Do you use the ballhead much in this setup? I would have thought that the ability to tilt the monopod on it’s foot would negate the need for the ballhead?

Thanks for sharing your setup, this was an excellent article.

By: Mark J

Mark J — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:29:51 +0000

I like the honesty. No kickbacks here. I lost my shoe on my manfoto monopod. Just fell right off. I just wish I did enough shooting to wear something out. I usually just break stuff first. It’s the same with the cars I’ve purchased.

By: Neil Gaudet

Neil Gaudet — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:16:09 +0000

Yuri,

Just wanted to say thank-you! I know this wasn’t your intent, but I had been having a lot of focusing issues when photographing hockey. I had a lot of shots lost from missed focus on the boards instead of the players. When I listened to this video of yours you mentioned that monopods help with focus which surprised me as I felt it had more to do with stabilization. But I guess they go hand in hand. I took my monopod out to my last hockey game and my focusing rate improved dramatically. In fact I didn’t lose focus on hardly a single shot. Thank-you!