Monopod with or without legs/feet?

Camera Fun

Senior Member
Looking for thoughts on monopods with or without legs/feet. I need a better/taller model and have gone back-and-forth on legs/feet. My initial thought is to not get one with them. I don't see they would increase stability that much and might actually get caught on things when moving around (even when folded up). Any thoughts?
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Looking for thoughts on monopods with or without legs/feet. I need a better/taller model and have gone back-and-forth on legs/feet. My initial thought is to not get one with them. I don't see they would increase stability that much and might actually get caught on things when moving around (even when folded up). Any thoughts?

Mine are without feet. My thinking is both of my legs when added with the monopod give me a total of 3 legs. If I had feet on mine, I wouldn't ever leave it standing on its own anyway.
 

Iansky

Senior Member
To me the monopod offers flexibility to move easily and also an easy item to carry and use for extra stability when a tripod is not practical.

I have a 10yr old monopod without feet and feel the extra edge of stability feet may offer they still take time to put in place and can get caught of surrounding obstacles and people.

Sorry for the ramble and I agree with no feet and a clean monopod.
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
I have both with and without. I like having my mono with feet, but I paid money to buy the mono with big feet because many of them the feet are too small to be effective. I have used it where tripods are not allowed and need longer exposure. How I use it, with a remote in mirror up mode to minimize movement. Of course, I would never walk away from it, but I can let it go for the long exposure.

It's footprint is about 1.5 feet in diameter.

Manfrotto 682B https://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-682B-Standing-Monopod-Black/dp/B000186QGI
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Just wondering but would a monopod with feet be stable enough to support a flash for off-camera flash shots?

I can get a DSLR with a large lens to balance with mine. But I sure a heck wouldn't walk away from it. One bump or nudge, and you're buying new gear.

Buy a proper light stand for holding a speedlight.
 

hark

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Super Mod
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Just wondering but would a monopod with feet be stable enough to support a flash for off-camera flash shots?

Not really. The setup would be top heavy. Quite often people use some type of modifier with their flash (umbrella, softbox, or a small gadget to fasten directly to the flash). But the thing is even if it would work, the height wouldn't be high enough for most shoots unless you are doing something closer to the ground. You can modify tripods to hold flashes (which would be more stable than a monopod with feet), but again most tripods would have a height problem. If you had an assistant to raise up the monopod and hold it up off the ground, that might work okay.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Just wondering but would a monopod with feet be stable enough to support a flash for off-camera flash shots?

Not with a reasonably sized light modifier.

Now, using a monopod for a lighting assistant to position the OCF and be out of the frame ... that's possible. But it doesn't require the monopod to have feet.
 
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