I am looking to get a monopod and a ball head that will work well with my D7200 and a telephoto lens. I am looking at a Bogen monopod with a ball head from the Really Right Stuff. I just don't know what is the best Bogen monopod and which ball head to get from RRS. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated
Monopod and ball head for horse racing photography?
- Thread starter leeinla
- Start date
Danno
Senior Member
I cannot tell you for sure on what you are looking at, but I would make sure that they can support the weight. I use my monopod and ball head with a Nikon 200-500 5.6 when I go to my nieces ball games and it can handle the weight and hold the lens level. It has a 50 lbs capacity. I have tried lighter and they will not hold the lens level I was always fighting it.
I got a deal from a friend on a used Arca Swiss ball head and a Gitzo Monopod and it will handle the lens.
Curious. Where will you be shooting Horse Racing? Keenland is about 30 minutes from home. I am thinking of going to the fall sale this month.
I got a deal from a friend on a used Arca Swiss ball head and a Gitzo Monopod and it will handle the lens.
Curious. Where will you be shooting Horse Racing? Keenland is about 30 minutes from home. I am thinking of going to the fall sale this month.
singlerosa_RIP
Senior Member
I've found ballheads to be rather clunky with monopods and long teles, especially the 200-500. Too many joints to go loosey-goosey. Probably why you never see a sports photog shooting with one. I've used a gimbal and it doesn't have the disadvantages of the ballhead (the ball). Unless you need the ability to move the field of view all over the place, direct mounting the camera/lens to the monopod simplifies shooting by reducing the number of controls/knobs you have to mess with.
Danno
Senior Member
gm 5540
Danno
Senior Member
I felt that way too until I got this used Swiss Araca. The control is precise and it worked well for me holding everything in place. It was solid and the Arca has a 50lbs weight limit.
I kinda have a unique situation in that I cannot stand long. My left leg is just not real cooperative. So the ball head allows me to adjust and lock things in place when I am sitting to shoot.
I use the gimbal on my tripod for sure. But the ball head really helps for the times that I use my monopod.
Danno
Senior Member
I use Arca Swiss plates. I have different ones for different applications. I have a 150 mm plate on the foot of my lens. It is sized for the gimbal, but works fine on the B1, and yes I think that is a fare price. I have another plate fitted to the base of my MB-15 Grip for that I use to simply mount the camera on the monopod or Tripod. It is 90 mm. I am believe the RRS plate will work, but I found you can get some reasonably priced plates on Amazon in the 10-20 dollar range that work fine. I just did a search on ARCA-Swiss and then looked for the right length.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
A pistol grip. I use a pistol grip on my Tripod and it is so much faster in changing positions. I have psoriatic arthritis and my grip was really bad for a while and finger dexterity was not good. The pistol grip was the best thing I every tried. I use the Dolica G100 Pistol Grip Head. The only problem I have with it is that I wish it had a different camera mount.