My Problem with Monopods

September Kiss

Pasture Hollow

Once again I promise that this will be a quick tip. I have to get ready for my Basics of Digital Photography course which begins next week, and I also have a New England Photography Guild blog article due in a couple of days. I'm still waiting for the appearance of the relaxation part of my retirement.

 





 



This week, I have a very simple story to tell. Let's see if I can tell it simply.

Monopods Monopods don't have the stability of a tripod, but the theory behind it is sound. A single stick that is easy to carry around and provides substantially better stability than when hand-holding your camera. With my deteriorating left hip a monopod also serves as a secret cane, masquerading as a photo accessory.  I have two monopods, the first is of traditional single purpose design intended solely as a camera support and the second is a hiking pole which is

Hiking Pole Camera Adapter

equipped with a camera mount in its head. The camera adapted hiking poles are becoming more popular and are easy to use. Just unscrew the ball at the top to reveal the screw-type camera mount. The poles work well to provide convenient stability, but they are not as solid as a dedicated monopod.  For my purposes, both have one major problem.



A Question of Compatibility 
 My DSLRs have L-brackets which fit Arca Swiss heads and, unless I go through the major hassle of removing the L- bracket, they don't fit on the standard monopod screw mount. I faced a similar connection incompatibility on my old, heavy, Manfroto tripod and solved the problem by attaching an Arca Swiss adapter to the tripod's proprietary Manfroto head. The result was a chunkier, but more stable tripod that I use most of the time for shots within close proximity to my car. For hikes and travel I still depend on my much lighter Carbon Fiber Gitzo. It's great to have a choice to match all situations.


 




My "New" $30 Tripod

 







Monopod Solution
 I used a similar solution for my monopod dilemma. It was easy to screw a simple and cheap Arca Swiss adapter to the stick's screw head and for just $30 I have a monopod that works for my L-bracketed DSLRs. I feel as if I should somehow make this sound more complicated, but the happy fact is that it is just that simple. The mount also allows me to easily shoot in either landscape or portrait orientation.  With a standard screw mount the camera is fixed in portrait mode. To make my old monopod work as a serviceable walking stick, I improvised a grip, wrapping the top with tennis racket handle tape. The Arca Swiss adapter makes it a bit a awkward to grab the top of the stick, but otherwise it works well.  It is light, easy to carry and fits nicely into most of my camera bags and packs. The adapter is also easy to remove if a camera requires the traditional screw mount.

Other Problems
A problem with monopods is that the camera is rigidly fixed to the pole. When shooting in any direction other than straight ahead the pole must lean forward or back and this can affect stability. One solution is to attach a flexible connection, such as a ball head, to the top of the monopod, but the added weight can adversely affect the balance of the pole and make it difficult to use as a hiking stick. Lighter ball heads are available but they may only be sufficiently sturdy for smaller cameras. By the time you add a heavy head, strong enough for a full size DSLR, you might do as well with a regular tripod. For now I'm happy with my feather lite Arca Swiss Adapter.  When I must angle the stick, I can stabilize it against my foot or even slip it into my shoe.

 

My old monopod had been gathering dust in the back of a closet for years.  It's nice when something so simple can bring an old friend back to usefulness. The question is, what took me so long. Now if I can only find a use for all my old film cameras.  Door-stop comes to mind.

Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com

My "New" $30 Tripod

Sturdy Tripod

 

Stability on the Cheap

Of all the equipment available to supplement your photographic efforts and empty your wallet, there is probable nothing as

Focus Stack

important as a good tripod. A tripod is obviously critical to stabilize your camera when conditions do not permit sharp, hand-held images, but perhaps more importantly it makes you slow down.  It enforces a level of care in the framing of your images and permits the precise collection of multiple images when attempting focus or exposure stacking. A heavy tripod can also serve as a vicious and readily apparent cudgel when wandering alone in sketchy neighborhoods.  A good tripod can be expensive.  You may pay $400-$900 for a high quality carbon fiber tripod and the ball head will add an additional several hundred dollars. Aluminum tripod legs are cheaper and their increased weight can actual provide enhanced stability.  If you don't have to lug them for miles into the back-country, they can be a good choice.  There is no single perfect choice, but have I have just fashioned a "new" tripod for only $30, that allows me to combine the best of both worlds.

 

 
There are Few Things More Expensive Than a Cheap Tripod

I am sure that at some point I have pontificated about the importance of a high quality tripod. I distinctly remember saying, "You can buy a cheap tripod and end up replacing it every few years, and all you will ever have is a cheap tripod. Or you can spend the money for a good tripod and have a good tripod for the rest of your life".  Although obnoxiously smug, I have taken this commandment to heart and  discarded several flimsy tripods before settling on a sturdy Manfrotto (3021BN) and a Manfrotto ball head. The tripod was not the most expensive I had seen, but it was solid and although a bit heavy, I was happy with its performance. A few years later I decided to invest in a lighter carbon fiber Gitzo Tripod

L-Bracket

with a Kirk, Arca Swiss, ball head. The new "sticks" were easier to manage on my backpack and the Arca Swiss head accommodated the new L-Bracket that I had attached to my camera. L-Brackets allow easy switching from horizontal to vertical camera positions with improved stability. The addition of Arca Swiss L-Brackets to my cameras meant that my Manfrotto tripod, with its incompatible head, was immediately relegated to the dust at the back of the closet. 

Gitzo with L-Bracket

 

My lite but sturdy Gitzo tripod has served me well for the last seven years. but there have been occasions when I would haveappreciated the greater weight and stability of my old Manfrotto. This has become a significant issue when using my 2x Extender on my 100-400 Zoom. When fully cranked to 800mm, it is a challenge to keep the camera steady, especially when wind is an issue. That sad Manfrotto kept calling to me and I finally decided that I had to do something. I looked at a number of possible approaches to adapting the tripod for Arca Swiss. The most expensive would be to buy a new Arca Swiss Ball head, but I didn't want to spend the several hundred dollars that would be required for a decent head. A search yielded various Arca Swiss adapters that might replace Manfrotto's proprietary system, but they all involved brutally removing the current clamp from the ball with the potential for damage or destruction of the head. 

 

 

 

 

A Simple Solution

 I finally settled on the simplest solution. I found an Arca Swiss clamp that I could attach to the Manfrotto plate. If it worked I could always go back to the Manfrotto system if needed. The only question was whether this Stacked plate arraignment would be sturdy and stable enough for my gear. I decided that if this didn't work I could always go to plan B and force the Manfrotto Plate from the ball. I chose an Arca Swiss Plate that was not the cheapest available and had generally good reviews. Happily, the $29.95 plate attached firmly. The only modification required was that I had to mount the plate backwards on the Manfrotto system to keep the quick release lever from interfering with the Arca Swiss adjustment knob.

 

 

 

Super Moon 800mm Stable

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been generally thrilled with the results, using my Manfrotto routinely when I'm shooting within easy range of my car and the Gitzo when packing my gear into the woods. So far my modified Manfrotto has be stable and flexible. Camera stability is a critical factor for obtaining sharp images and the combination of a light packable tripod with a more massive set of legs, to be used when stability is more challenging, is a perfect solution. It is especially perfect when the "solution" costs only $30.


Jeffrey Newcomer
Partridgebrookreflections.com

Simple Gear to Improve Your Photography

Pemaquid Light

 Sue and I are getting ready to head off to Camden Maine for a few days at the beginning of next week.  Hopefully we will catch some nice color, but as a result, this week’s blog will be a short equipment recommendation.  It great to talk about the latest cameras or big lens’, but some of the most important gear are not the most expensive, but things that fit, almost invisibly, into your everyday process.  For me one of those simple but essential pieces of equipment, which I use on every shot, is my L Bracket.


Gearing up at the Maine Media Workshop

Marshall Point Light

Back several years ago I took a wonderful workshop at the Maine Media Workshops with Vermont landscape photographer David Middleton.  Early fall was a perfect time to explore the Maine coast with a small group of enthusiastic photographers.  I had been attracted to David’s workshop after reading his book on photography in Vermont.  It was a helpful guide but what really interested me was David’s no sense approach to photography.   Over the course of a week we had a wonderful and exhausting time shooting the coastal icons including Marshal Point Light, Rockport Harbor, Stonington, and   Pemaquid Light.  I had a great time and caught some wonderful shots, but the most long-lasting part of the workshop came at the end.  It was just a wrinkled piece of paper.




Throughout the week David gently critiqued, both our
photographic technique, and our equipment.  He kept coming up with recommendations about how I could up-grade my kit.  Among other things, he suggested a new, sturdier tripod and ball

David Middleton hard at work

head, a set of variable neutral density filters and an L-Bracket.  It was a substantial list and I told David that I would need a note for my wife justifying the purchase of this essential equipment.  And he came through.  On a crumpled piece of paper he scribbled the list of gear along with his assurance that the acquisition of these items would make me a more proficient and satisfied photographer and therefore a much more pleasant spouse.  Surprisingly Susan went for it and didn’t crumble as I gleefully went on a  B&H shopping spree.  Off all the equipment that David recommended the L-Bracket probably had the most significant impact on my day-to-day photography.

 

The L-Bracket
Simply stated an L-bracket looks like a roll cage added to the outside of your camera.  It allows the camera to be quickly attached to a tripod in either the horizontal or vertical position and makes switching from one orientation to the other a very simple and fluid procedure.

 

Walpole Town Hall Color, Landscape

Portrait Orientation

The L-bracket has a number of important advantages over a fixed attachment to a tripod.  After taking shots in the horizontal (or landscape) position, I often want to grab the same scene in the vertical (portrait) mode.  With the camera fixed to the plate, I have to flip the body over to the side of the tripod.  The result is that the framing changes as the camera moves

Miss Aligned
& Unbalanced

down and to the side of its original position making recomposing necessary.  Additionally, with the camera hanging off to the side, the tripod becomes less stable and more subject to accident and vibration.  With the L-bracket, the camera stays centered stably over the tripod legs and the framing of the image is not altered.  The difference is especially noticeable when photographing subjects which are close to the camera.  You will be surprised what a difference this makes in capturing the exact composition that you want. 

 

L-Bracket Aligned & Stable

The L-bracket also provides some protection to the camera. This is an unintended benefit and the bracket doesn't cover the entire body, but this "roll-cage" has saved me a few times from drop-related damage.  Besides it  looks cool.

 

Engulfed, Portrait

L-brackets are available for a range of cameras.  They are generally custom designed for each body to allow access to all the important
buttons and connectors.  Arc-Swiss is the most common connector and you must have a head which takes this system, but older tripods can usually be adapted for this connector.  L-brackets are widely available.  Mine came from Kirk photo, but really Right Stuff is also a reliable source.  Depending on the camera they range in price from $125-nearly $200.  It may seem like a lot of money for a piece of metal, but it is well worth the expense.   This is something you will use on every shot, so don't skimp on the quality. I typically order my L-Bracket at the same time that I order a new camera. 

Bracket Custom Cut for Connectors

If you don't have one already I would strongly suggest that you consider getting an L-Bracket for your camera.  You will find it makes a simple but persistent improvement in your work.

Really Right Stuff has a nice video which demonstrates the use and benefits of L-brackets.

 Jeff Newcomer
partridgebroo0kreflections.com