Manfrotto Head

Lawrence

Senior Member
I was considering buying a tripod (2nd hand as funds permit) and was looking at the manfrotto range for speed and ease. Most are out of my league.

So my parsimonious brain got to work and I removed the old fashioned head from my Velbon and figure it will take a manfrotto head. Progress YAY.

Heads should be cheaper than entire tripod.

Now I am thinking why not get a monopod and I will have the best of both worlds. Sturdy tripod and monopod.

Question then is which of the monopods should I look at starting from the very least and working upwards?

Weighed my camera with my current heaviest lens: 1.6 kilos

Hope all that makes sense.
 
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wev

Senior Member
Contributor
I couldn't be happier with my Vanguard carbon CP324 monopod, but it looks like it is out of stock everywhere.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
For a monopod, look at the Benro line. Excellent value. For heads, look at the Manfrotto 496RC2. I park my D300 with grip on it and it's rock solid.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
For a monopod, look at the Benro line. Excellent value. For heads, look at the Manfrotto 496RC2. I park my D300 with grip on it and it's rock solid.

I second the 496rc2, very robust with D800 and 70-200 2.8. I got it with the Manfrotto 681b monopod which is a real beast of a thing.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
One further thought. The 496 does not pan left/right without loosening to ball. This may or may not be an issue for you.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
One further thought. The 496 does not pan left/right without loosening to ball. This may or may not be an issue for you.

Yeah...it's the 498RC2 that pans...but slightly more expensive. It's not an issue for me, though. :)...although it might be an issue for Lawrence.
 

weebee

Senior Member
For a mono pod I went with the Giottos Professional MM9750. I put a 3pod quick release plate and base on it. The mono pod is excellent. It gives you a very secure means of supporting your camera. I'm thinking a tilt and pan ballhead would work good with this. I have the K3 ball head on my tripod and love it.
fp3ph1_1.jpg


This is the one I'm thinking on getting, a H1 ball head It handles 22 pounds. At first I was thinking a tilt/pan ball head on a mono pod would be stupid. But, it is a popular thing to do after studying on it. So, I think I'm off to my favorite internet joint to buy one.
 
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Lawrence

Senior Member
For a mono pod I went with the Giottos Professional MM9750. I put a 3pod quick release plate and base on it. The mono pod is excellent. It gives you a very secure means of supporting your camera. I'm thinking a tilt and pan ballhead would work good with this. I have the K3 ball head on my tripod and love it.
View attachment 69078

This is the one I'm thinking on getting, a H1 ball head It handles 22 pounds. At first I was thinking a tilt/pan ball head on a mono pod would be stupid. But, it is a popular thing to do after studying on it. So, I think I'm off to my favorite internet joint to buy one.

Ok guys give me a heads up on this one. Giottos MML3290B I can get one locally for about the same price.

It looks good to me. Just reading up on it now.

Quick edit. The one I can get excludes any head which sort of defeats the point at this stage although I still want a monopod which I think will be more used by me than a tripod at this stage.
 
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weebee

Senior Member
Ok guys give me a heads up on this one. Giottos MML3290B I can get one locally for about the same price.

It looks good to me. Just reading up on it now.

Quick edit. The one I can get excludes any head which sort of defeats the point at this stage although I still want a monopod which I think will be more used by me than a tripod at this stage.

I have a mono-pod from Giottos, different model. And I really like it. They are very well made.
 

snaphappy

Senior Member
I picked up my manfrotto monopod and tripod used and am happy with both of them. They'r older models but sturdy and easy to use. I did buy the 498 Ball head new because the 3 way tilt didn't tilt back enough for night time starry sky shots. I do find the ball head creeps a bit with my 70-300mm on it which can be annoying. The 3 way tilt is actually easier to make smaller adjustments and I like it better. My monopod has a small bullhead on it but since its a monopod it doesn't much matter as long as its sturdy which it is :) Monopod is great for going on walks, it doubles as a walking stick until I add my camera and helps steady my wussy shaky arms. I'm cheap so I just patiently wait for great used deals locally
 

weebee

Senior Member
I picked up my manfrotto monopod and tripod used and am happy with both of them. They'r older models but sturdy and easy to use. I did buy the 498 Ball head new because the 3 way tilt didn't tilt back enough for night time starry sky shots. I do find the ball head creeps a bit with my 70-300mm on it which can be annoying. The 3 way tilt is actually easier to make smaller adjustments and I like it better. My monopod has a small bullhead on it but since its a monopod it doesn't much matter as long as its sturdy which it is :) Monopod is great for going on walks, it doubles as a walking stick until I add my camera and helps steady my wussy shaky arms. I'm cheap so I just patiently wait for great used deals locally

Using my mono pod as a walking stick is what I enjoy as well. I always carried a hiking staff with me when I went on walks anyway.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Ok guys give me a heads up on this one. Giottos MML3290B I can get one locally for about the same price.

It looks good to me. Just reading up on it now.

Quick edit. The one I can get excludes any head which sort of defeats the point at this stage although I still want a monopod which I think will be more used by me than a tripod at this stage.

Instead of the Giottos (which is a great monopod), why not get this one? Amazon.com: Sirui P-306 6-Section Aluminum Monopod: Camera & Photo
 
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