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Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

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Andy_99
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Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Andy_99 » Sat Feb 25, 2017 4:44 pm

Hi,

Just Purchased a Manfrotto XPRO Land Aluminium Photo Monopod.

Question to the floor - Should I purchase a Tilt or Ball Head for it ?

Seen loads of Photographers at Sports events etc. using them without but when using it for aircraft shots would an adjustable head be of use.

Thanks in advance

Andy

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Skip
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Skip » Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:51 pm

What size lens are you gonna use on it? I use a video head on my monopod to hold the 500mm prime
The last time I saw an F22 at Lakenheath i DIDN'T photoshop it...
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Supra
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Supra » Sun Feb 26, 2017 3:18 am

Used for a static, straight flypast, landing or take-off shots it would be well worth it. But for flying-displays proper where the subject assumes unpredictable 3-dimensional manoeuvres it will have limited advantages IMO.
You will need the agility of an Olympic Racing Ferret & the attributes of a escapologist to avoid taking a selfie in a confined air-show crowd!
I have this thing going-on whereby I constantly note the number of photographers that assemble their super-duper Mono-pod Head or tripod with NASA-built mega-money gimbal plus a £10 - £15K camera/lens on it.....& don't take single shot all-day!! :huh:
Best thing is you borrow & try one first! My Bud' bought all three top-quality items you mention, NONE of which has left the house.....because you can't actually buy the fourth thing needed. Ability? ;)
No jealousy here btw. I currently use the whole focal range including a 500 & 600 prime, sometimes with a converter, but all hand-held.

Andy_99
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Andy_99 » Sun Feb 26, 2017 2:32 pm

Supra wrote:Used for a static, straight flypast, landing or take-off shots it would be well worth it. But for flying-displays proper where the subject assumes unpredictable 3-dimensional manoeuvres it will have limited advantages IMO.
You will need the agility of an Olympic Racing Ferret & the attributes of a escapologist to avoid taking a selfie in a confined air-show crowd!
I have this thing going-on whereby I constantly note the number of photographers that assemble their super-duper Mono-pod Head or tripod with NASA-built mega-money gimbal plus a £10 - £15K camera/lens on it.....& don't take single shot all-day!! :huh:
Best thing is you borrow & try one first! My Bud' bought all three top-quality items you mention, NONE of which has left the house.....because you can't actually buy the fourth thing needed. Ability? ;)
No jealousy here btw. I currently use the whole focal range including a 500 & 600 prime, sometimes with a converter, but all hand-held.
Great points Supra :D I'll leave it for now & get used to using it without a fancy head on it.

Will be using it with either a 100-400 or my 70-200 f2.8, a lot of the time I agree will be using it handheld but thought the monopod would be a useful addition for shots where the subject is a bit more constrained in position.

Case in point will be Barcelona F1 testing week after next, where 4 days of 9-6 use of the camera may take a toll on the arms & shoulders.

Supra
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Supra » Mon Feb 27, 2017 1:10 am

That's so spooky! I was going to mention car & motorcycle racing in my list of circumstances where a mono-pod can be a great advantage, due to the largely 2D motion & predictable position of the subject on the track. With these you can risk a narrow depth of field for super background blur & accentuation of the subject.
I love the IQ of my Canon 100-400 Mk II & find it very easy on the upper torso for extensive use, compared to the larger primes! I had 20 days out of 21 in Japan wielding a variety of camera/lens combi's & emerged okay, the only toll was on sleep!!
Good luck on your F1 trip.

Andy_99
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Andy_99 » Mon Feb 27, 2017 12:39 pm

Supra wrote:That's so spooky! I was going to mention car & motorcycle racing in my list of circumstances where a mono-pod can be a great advantage, due to the largely 2D motion & predictable position of the subject on the track. With these you can risk a narrow depth of field for super background blur & accentuation of the subject.
I love the IQ of my Canon 100-400 Mk II & find it very easy on the upper torso for extensive use, compared to the larger primes! I had 20 days out of 21 in Japan wielding a variety of camera/lens combi's & emerged okay, the only toll was on sleep!!
Good luck on your F1 trip.
Thanks Supra, can't wait

Gasmanwj
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Gasmanwj » Tue Mar 07, 2017 2:46 pm

How did the trip go? Did you find the monopod useful or ended up converting back to hand holding?

Andy_99
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Andy_99 » Tue Mar 07, 2017 10:16 pm

Gasmanwj wrote:How did the trip go? Did you find the monopod useful or ended up converting back to hand holding?
I'm actually there now :) day 1 completed did a mix of hand hold & monopod stuff. I'm there for the next 3 days so will have lots of practice time.

Will get the 70-200 F2.8 tomorrow to play at getting tons of background blur going on, used the 100-400 all day today.

Andy_99
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Andy_99 » Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:04 am

Well here's my report

As mentioned monopod is great for using when the object to photograph is moving in a pre-determined axis or when you want to pick a preset focus point for multiple frames.

Here's some of my results (if the link works)

viewtopic.php?f=112&t=143304

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lardyboy999
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by lardyboy999 » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:02 pm

What you should be asking is "ball or aerosol" surely?

https://youtu.be/d6IBiR9m3vY

Sorry, I couldn't help myself...... :whistle:
Last edited by lardyboy999 on Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Supra
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Supra » Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:29 am

Good to see your results Andy_99, you seem to have a nice haul there. Hopefully you've now answered your own question regarding expensive mounting heads?
Without any criticism intended, did you go for any crazy low shutter-speed stuff at minimum depth-of-field, as your timescale probably allowed a short 'extreme session' in which you could afford
a few duds that didn't make the final cut?

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Pen Pusher
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Pen Pusher » Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:31 am

There is another option. A V mount bracket

Image

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/7days ... wh2-vmount

Brian

Andy_99
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Re: Should I get a ball head for my Monopod

Post by Andy_99 » Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:38 am

Supra wrote:Good to see your results Andy_99, you seem to have a nice haul there. Hopefully you've now answered your own question regarding expensive mounting heads?
Without any criticism intended, did you go for any crazy low shutter-speed stuff at minimum depth-of-field, as your timescale probably allowed a short 'extreme session' in which you could afford
a few duds that didn't make the final cut?
I may have some in those still waiting to be processed :P The sun was so bright most of the day using settings for minimum DOF was still giving me pretty fast shutter speeds - Note to self for next time remember to take some stopper filters with me.

Thanks for all the advice though it did prove I didn't need to add a complicated head on the monopod to use it.

I'll also look out for some motorsport events up in the NE to practice with, as the sun's not likely to be quite as intense.

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