Field Trip

The field trip was a success. I learned a lot about the camera and the monopod. In no particular order of priority:

• The quick release worked about the way I’d hoped. I need to occasionally tighten the mounting plate on the camera, but it was easy to snap in and snap off.
• Tilt head can be a mystery for the TSA. The guy in Austin couldn’t recognize it, but he may have been new. Tampa didn’t have a problem with it.
• Had some improvement in the “shake” indicator. Found it was best when I was sitting on a bench. But I did take a few low light shots, standing up, that came out well.
• Overall weights weren’t a problem. I carried the monopod, head, camera, and extra lens in a backpack. They weren’t a burden. Didn’t always fit in the provided self/storage on a ride, but that’s a function of monopod length.
• Monopod just fits into the backpack on the diagonal. Most of the time I let it poke out between the two zippers. But, I could, in a pinch, wrap a plastic bag over the whole works and close it in the knapsack.
• I might want to get a longer hand-strap on the monopod. It was just as easy, however, to carry it in the middle, like an umbrella. I usually took the camera off the mount when I was moving to another location. This afternoon (Sunday) I was running another experiment and left the camera mounted as I moved back and forth to the clipboard, carrying the monopod.
• A pratical observation. Start extending the legs from the bottom, if you’re planning the full length. You might not be able to reach the lower leg if you have you hand in the wrist strap.

A Third Leg

Between primaries and planning a trip to Florida, haven’t been very active with this blog. Last big step was solving the air travel.

I’m back to focusing on the digital camera and gear. I’ve starting looking at monopods rather than tripods for the Antarctic trip. Weight and bulkiness seems to me the key factors. The use of a monopod is usually good for sporting and nature events where the photographers move frequently. That sums up my impression of Antarctica.

Assuming the land visits will be like the Galapagos. A fair amount of hiking, even along the beaches to see the wildlife. I think a tripod would be too bulky. A monopod will give me some stability.

Obviously, as the weight of the monopod goes up, so too the weight it can support. The smaller compact units, while reasonably priced, only support a 10-11 pound payload. If I had a huge telephoto lens, this would be a limitation.

I decided to weigh the Alpha unit with the 30-80 mm lens, the most likely configuration. Came out 1 lb 14+ oz. My film unit, with an 80-200 mm lens was 1 lb 15oz. The lenses themselves are spec’d at 6 3/16 oz and 10 9/16 oz. So I’m only looking at 2.5 lbs on the payload.

Bogen makes a light monopod. They also have a quick release swivel “head” that looks interesting. It isn’t a ball-mount. Just the ability to tip from horizontal to vertical. But it provides a mount for the camera that can be snapped in or snapped off the monopod. That is intriguing. That would save time if you can go from mounted to handheld without a lot of extra “screwing around.”

The tilt head adds 0.6 lbs. The tilt head has a max capaity of 5.5 lbs. Still more than enough for the 2.5 lbs of payload.

If I pick the equipment up this week, I can take it to Florida for a field test. We are going to visit Epcot. So, that would be my first real use of the camera and monopod.