When shooting on a monopod, my only qualm is the lack of steadiness that a tripod offers. This is due to the points of contact with the ground. Obviously, as its etymology suggests, a mono-pod only has one (mono) foot or limb (pod). If I only had one foot, I would have serious issues with [...]

A lot of readers ask me about the portability of the Manfrotto 561BHDV-1. Here is a common question from OTech reader, Ryan: “Hi, I just ordered the Manfrotto 561BHDV-1 and noticed on the specs that the minimum height is 2.5′ is this with the head or without? My main concern is that I am traveling [...]

Monopods are great for situations where a tripod is not practical or allowed. They’re fast, portable and these will provide you with additional feet to really get your camera steady. You can retract the feet when it’s not needed, and use these as your average monopods. If you’re shooting video, you will want a fluid [...]

I’m in Mexico right now trekking around the Yucatan. My tripod has been a best friend of mine, especially in low lighting conditions. Traveling with gear and maintaining a light load can be challenging and no one wants to be bogged down with equipment while they’re in another country. In trying to lighten up, I [...]

Often I get asked about good monopods on the cheap. There are two factors I always ask first: 1, are you shooting photo or video? 2, do you own a fluid head or ballhead? If you are looking to shoot video with a monopod, I recommend that you either purchase a quality fluid head and [...]

Recently I got to review one of Skier’s DSLR rigs. The first thing I noticed was the close attention to detail that went in to making this rig. The Skier DSLR rig comes with adaptable accessories so you can build it up with your own gear. This is awesome for those of you with random [...]

In an original blog post on Manfrotto Monopods HERE I went over the 560B and the 561B from Manfrotto. So many of you asked which fluid heads could fit these monopods so I wanted to do a quick video explaining what can be mounted. Due to the spring loaded 3/8 male threading on the universal [...]

Shooting with a monopod gives you quick and easy portability. Manfrotto makes two of my favorite monopods and here they are in a side by side comparison so you can see what each has to offer. Also shown are two smaller monopods by Velbon and Sunpak. These smaller Monopods are great when traveling light, but [...]