Unipods/Monopods

[volks]

Does anyone here use one and if so, how well does it work to reduce camera shake ?

[Old Timer]

My monopod is an indispensable accessory in certain situations. I use it for my heavy 300mm lens on sports sidelines especially when I use a 1.4 tele converter with it. I also will sometimes use it with macro photography when I'm too lazy to get out the tripod and I need a little extra support with slow shutter speeds and low light situations. I highly recommend it for long heavy lenses.

[volks]

Thanks Old timer, just the feedback I was looking for. I'll get one, since it will surely help to keep the camera a little steadier.
You comment about the 1.4 tele converter is of interest. Is that for the Nikon 300 or some other brand, since someone told me that Nikon does not have one for my 70-300 vr lens.

[Old Timer]

I have a Kenko converter that I have used mainly with my 80-200mm f2.8 and with both my 300mm lenses. It has given me very expectable results and is a ton cheaper than the Nikon version. For the amount of times that I use it the additional cost just didn't compute. I use it extensively for wildlife and bird photography with the 300mm as well. I don't have the 70-300 so someone else will have address that issue.

[Franglais]

The Nikon teleconverters are only compatible with some Nikon lenses. See this chart:

http://www.nikonusa.com/en_INC/IMG/A...omp_chart.html

It looks like the compatibility is determined by the maximum aperture of the lens.
- Nikon autofocus is supposed to work with lenses of maximum aperture f5.6 or wider.
- Put a 1.4x converter on a 70-300 f4.5-f5.6 and it becomes a 100-420 f6.3-f8 i.e. way outside the official limits.
- The situation is the same with any converter. The Nikon one includes a safety feature to stop you making a mistake

Teleconverters are intended for wide-aperture lenses like the 70-210 f2.8.

Having said that - yes I do have a monopod (Manfrotto). I find it is useful in some cases:
- It is almost as cumbersome as carrying a tripod. Useless for situations where you need to compose and shoot quickly with both hands free. I know two people who use a monopod all the time - because they have trembling hands
- It is much less stable than a tripod. It stops up-and-down movement but not rotational movement
- You can't use a monopod (or a tripod) with VR so finally you might not gain anything compared with the lens by itself with VR turned on.

I use it at least once a year for a stage production with a very heavy 80-200mm f2.8 (no VR). I'm sitting down for two hours with the camera+lens supported by the (heavy) monopod zooming in and out according to what's happening on stage. It works pretty well for that.

[SmartWombat]

I have a 4-section carbon fibre monopod.
Because it's 4-section it's short when folded, so causes less problems carrying it on the camera.
It's lighter too and I prefer it for international travel.

In some situations it's better than my 3-section aluminium Manfrotto because I can shoot lower to the ground for better angles on slopes. Brands Hatch circuit has a few spots by bridges where that's useful.

[volks]

As always, thanks for the feedback. I think Charles made a good point ( that did not occur to me ) that there may be little gain if any at all of the unipod with the vr turned off.
I'll play around with it in my favorite camera store.

[volks]

This is direct from Nikon.

The Vibration Reduction technology built into some Nikon lenses or the COOLPIX 8800 can reduce or eliminate vibration during shooting. When the camera is on a tripod there will be very little (if any) movement so the question arises if VR should be used or not.

There are two techniques when using a camera/lens mounted on a tripod; keeping the pan/tilt head loose or fluid (when panning or moving with a subject) and keeping the pan/tilt head locked down and rigid while using a cable release (time exposures or for the new HDR techniques).

With the following lenses/cameras VR should be “Off” when the camera is mounted on a tripod and the pan/tilt head is locked down and using a cable release:

105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro Nikkor
18-200mm f3.5-5.6 ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor
24-120mm f3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
70-200mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR AF Zoom-Nikkor
70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
Coolpix 8800
With the following lenses/cameras VR should be “On” when the camera is mounted on a tripod and the pan/tilt head is loose (fluid) while using the cameras shutter release button:

105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro Nikkor
18-200mm f3.5-5.6 ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor
24-120mm f3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
70-200mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR AF Zoom-Nikkor
70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
Coolpix 8800
Nikon VR technology in the following lenses can detect minute vibrations that emanate from tripod legs.With the following lenses VR can be “On” when the camera is mounted on a tripod for either technique:

200-400mm f4G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
200mm f2G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor
300mm f2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Nikkor
For all lenses VR should be “On” when the camera/lens is used on a monopod.

[Franglais]

...
For all lenses VR should be “On” when the camera/lens is used on a monopod...

That's interesting. I think that I'm going to have to try it out one day.

[Franglais]

Edit: I have a day off and it's a nice dull day. I did the camparison with a 70-300VR at 135mm 1/30 f8 on the D800, Manfrotto 190DB tripod and 479B Monopod extended to shoulder height. Each time I did three identical shots and chose the best one out of the three.

These are screen captures from a 100% view of the center of the RAW image on Lightroom

1. Hand-held no VR
2. Hand-held VR
3. Monopod no VR
4. Monopod VR
5. Tripod with mirror lockup

I never realised before but the view in the viewfinder when using a monopod is much more stable with VR on that with it turned off.

BTW I spent months doing this sort of test on the D800. If you want to get the maximum out of the thing then you have to use perfect technique (Tripod and mirror lockup). But most of the time - you don't need that much detail anyway

[Loupey]

A monopod is indispensable to me - I have 2 and I use them far more than all my tripods combined (I have 4 or 5 of those).

I use my monopods to shoot macros (300mm + extension tubes), telephotos (500mm and 300mm+2xTC), and sports (70-200mm zoom with and without 2xTC).

I always leave my lens stabilizer "ON" when using a monopod.


Lastly, since I hike alone, I carry my monopod like a staff and keep people from thinking I am an easy theft target. It also makes a great walking stick.

[volks]

Thanks for sharing those shots Charles, and guess some of us learned a bit :-)