Manfrotto Off road Aluminum Walking Sticks (monopod)

[rainrunner]

I saw these Manfrotto monopod hiking poles advertised in this months issue of Outdoor Photographer.
They are made in partnership with Fizan.

Wish they had the fliplock instead of twist lock.

$99.99 at B & H Photo
Manfrotto Off road Aluminum Walking Sticks

[AAdamsPDX]

Cool!

This is cool, too:
http://www.trail-pix.com/collections/al ... d-ballhead

Use the trekking poles you already have, plus a lightweight accessory pole as a third leg. I haven't tried it yet. I suspect it's nowhere near as stable as a "real" tripod for long exposures, but then I'm not going to haul all 6 pounds of my current Manfrotto on a backpacking trip.

[Guy]

I settled on this 14 buck solution a couple of months ago:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00585 ... UTF8&psc=1

Attached it just below the hand grip on a hiking pole, it's worked pretty well so far,

[mdvaden]

A few years ago, I bought a trekking pole with a camera thread mount from REI. It had like a cork looking know that I lost. So I bought a tiny SLIK ball head for the top, and that lets me tilt the camera which is a huge improvement. Think the pole was about $50 give or take.

Presently, I strap a carbon fiber monopod to the side of my pack, that I bought from Pro Photo. I picked the one that extended the highest in the $130 price range. Put a ball head on it too. Its in my truck so the brand I dont' know as I'm typing here.

[AAdamsPDX]

Presently, I strap a carbon fiber monopod to the side of my pack, that I bought from Pro Photo. I picked the one that extended the highest in the $130 price range. Put a ball head on it too. Its in my truck so the brand I dont' know as I'm typing here.

Well, that's genius in its simplicity. And monos are usually much less expensive than tris. Love it!

[jdemott]

My current hiking camera support is a Slik Sprint Pro with a ballhead. I used to carry a heavier tripod with a heavier camera, but it seemed to weigh more and more every year. Obviously, everything is a compromise--it is either too heavy, too light, too small, too flimsy, too expensive, etc. What I really like is having a camera that takes decent photos at ISO 800 or 1600, with an excellent image stabilization system, so I don't need a tripod for many shots.

The idea of using something that you already carry (a trekking pole) to do double duty is appealing. But, my concerns about the Manfrotto product would be that it isn't nearly tall enough (for me), and with a 5-1/2 pound duty rating one wonders how sturdy it is as a trekking pole. And you definitely need some kind of ballhead--just screwing a camera directly onto the end of a stick would be an exercise in photographic frustration.

[mdvaden]

Presently, I strap a carbon fiber monopod to the side of my pack, that I bought from Pro Photo. I picked the one that extended the highest in the $130 price range. Put a ball head on it too. Its in my truck so the brand I dont' know as I'm typing here.

Well, that's genius in its simplicity. And monos are usually much less expensive than tris. Love it!

Okay ... grapped the monopod so I can type the model.

SIRUI model P-326 ............. w/ MANFROTTO model 494RC2 ballhead ... guesstimating the combined weight to be about 1.5 lbs. ..... My Canon 85mm L 1.2 lens feels slightly heavier. The SIRUI monopod and ballhead leave the plate about 64 inches above the ground. With my DSLR mounted, that holds camera and the lens / view finder close to eye level for an average height adult.

My trekking pole is definitely lighter. But I like the way the monopod grips.

I'm curious to see what photos I get down the road with my new Tamron lenses with VC and the monopod. The 70-200mm 2.8 and the 24-70mm 2.8

Because the attached image is cropped from a hand-held shot of Castle Crags. I took this about 5 miles away handheld ... so monopod would be one step better. One image is a crop. The lens was the Tamron 70-200mm 2.8 on the Canon 5D Mk II

Amazon has the pod under $100 presently and states 1.1 lbs. for the monopod weight.

[mjuliana]

One of the advantages of ditching my DSLR for a Sony A6000 while hiking is the ability to use a lighter-weight tripod. I can carry a MeFoto tripod, the camera, 3 lenses, and a set of Lee filters. Total weight - 7.6 lbs.

I don't always use the tripod but I find it invaluable at times.

[mdvaden]

One of the advantages of ditching my DSLR for a Sony A6000 while hiking is the ability to use a lighter-weight tripod. I can carry a MeFoto tripod, the camera, 3 lenses, and a set of Lee filters. Total weight - 7.6 lbs.

I don't always use the tripod but I find it invaluable at times.

6 oz. can be important to some people. Your camera is close to 12 oz. compared to, say, Canon 19 oz. T6i. I carry about 8 lbs of lenses, but don't take long hikes. Usually 2 to 8 miles. But 10 years from now, I might assemble an extra bag configured entirely different.

Tripod is my preference. Maybe one hike out of 4, I will carry or strap one on. But I've been using a trekking pole and mount for years, and lately the monopod.