"Do you use a Monopod"

[William]

A question to any one who shoots at Air shows, We have a F-18 Hornet flyover on the Coast today @648 km/h, I'll be shooting with a Sigma 120-400, , Would you use a Monopod or just hand hold with a high shutter speed, Also what mode do you shoot in , I dont want to miss this - Bill

[Mary Anne]

Bill I use a monopod all the time for Macro.
The other day a Helicopter flew over head.. Monopod completely useless. :D

[William]

Thats what I'm thinking as well Mary Anne, I have no idea at what angle they will be at , I know 600ft , But they may be straight over head or at an Angle to me :confused013Wont have much time to line things up or get an exposure reading :(

[Jorge Arguello]

I went to RAF museum last year. It was sunny so it was mainly hand held. If you have tripod, put legs toguether. When the airplanes are flying it will be hand held for sure, it was hard to follow them at high speed.

[William]

Thanks guys , Hand held it is , Gotta go now and get my spot , Will report back later :D

[Wayne]

For moving aircraft mono is a hinderance. Keep shutter speed high if fast moving (which they will be), I use aperture priority and for those fighters as a single subject or a tight group f/5.6-f/8 for sufficient DOF. Burst mode helps if you have a fast body too.

[William]

Thanks guys, Just one chance , And they were fast, I'll post this here as well in the main forum, It may help someone to learn , Taken with the 30D, Sigma 120-400 @352mm, f8, 1/1250th sec exposure ISO 160, Hand held in Manual Pattern metering , A rough edit

"F-18 Flyover"

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6177/6264826105_947d815a8f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/57507865@N06/6264826105/)
"F-18 Flyover" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/57507865@N06/6264826105/) by sunrisechaser (http://www.flickr.com/people/57507865@N06/), on Flickr

First time at this sort of thing - Bill :)

[dbax]

Looks good Bill, nice and crisp. Lots better than my efforts at 85mm :(. They caught us by surprise at Point Danger, turned in from the west rather than fly past to the west and back over from the south.
I'll just slip one in here, they probably aren't worth another thread.
Very heavy crop :(
http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/ll404/dbaxoz/Ausphotography/12v2.jpg

[William]

Got a few like this as well David , Pretty diappointing really , The display , Not your image , You had no second chances :D

[camerasnoop]

Depends on how heavy your gear is. I use a monopod, but it can be a bit tricky, especially if the bloke next to you is virtually standing in your pocket like at Avalon. A bit late for you now though.:)

[Kym]

I have both a tripod and monopod.
I've been using the monopod with the 500mm for birding - much easier than the full tripod.

[peterb666]

I have used a monopod for that sort of work but I more frequently use a tripod now with just one leg extended - I thin have the option of using it as a tripod when the space is available and I don't need to move around quickly.

[alextdel]

very nice shot, the depth of field is great.

[William]

Thanks guys, Well after the fact as they say , I should have used a Monopod , The news Paper guy had a monopod , But then he was using a 500mm Prime , You know one of those big white ones that make you feel inadequate , I'd say if you have enough room use a Monopod , Lenses can get heavy after a while , You still need to set it up to have full movement :)

[Lance B]

I use a Manfrotto monopod when using my 300mm f2.8 with TC's. I use both the Manfrotto Neotec 334B and 685B, which are able to be adjusted by a single hand as they are spring loaded which is invaluable when shooting birds or planes. Instead of fumbling for clips or screw locks, it is a simple task of one hand clasping the trigger handle and extending the monopod up or down to suit. Either are the best monpods I've ever used both being quick, and sturdy. The 334B is lighter and shorter than the 685B and easier to attach to your backpack but still very sturdy even for the camera + 300 f2.8 + TC which would weigh in the vacinity of 4.5kg all told. The 685 is longer and a tad heavier but easier to operate as it has a foot clamp so that you can put your foot on it to allow for ease of extending it up. I guess you could fashion something to fit the bottom of the 334B to do the same thing if needed, which I might do as it is just as good as the 685B as far as sturdiness is concerned. You might even be able to get the foot clamp as a spare part from the 685B and use that but I do not know.

It used to be frustrating doing birding using my old clamp or screw lock monopods as I would be forever fumbling with said clamp system in order to move the monopod up or down and therefore missing the shot. With these monopods, it is a simple one handed pull of the trigger handle and push down or pull up, whilst your foot is on the foot clamp, the monopod and then fire the shutter.

Another way to use the monopod rather than use a ball head is to use the hand strap that comes with the monopod, see below link and click on 685B monopod, and slip your hand through the strap and cradle the end of the lens barrel with that hand and use your other hand, as normal, to hold the camera. This allows for quick and easy manoeuvrability without any real loss of stability. I have used this from time to time with my 300+ TC combo with excellent and quick results.

http://www.manfrotto.com/product_list/8374.76909.76914.0.0/Neotec

[Wayne]

Both times I have shot at Avalon Airshow, I shot the 400/2.8VR + D3 handheld. I had the mono with me, and found that with high angle of incidence, and fast panning it is very impractical, and with a crowd even more so. If you have the subject close to the horizon, then the mono is much easier to handle. I have also done same (in San Diego) with a Wimberley WH200 gimbal, and it was better than the mono by far except when shooting really high.

The Kirk MH-01 mono head helps, but still not a perfect solution.

[William]

Some good comments on this subject, In the end you really need to be able to go from below horizonal to full verticle and 360deg rotation, If you can achieve that your on a good thing , I took the punt and hand held at a high shutter speed hoping for the best , For the Quiksilver Surfing comp with this lens I used much the same settings , But standing in the sun all day , I used the monopod , Good chat guys :th3:

[peterb666]

Thanks guys, Well after the fact as they say , I should have used a Monopod , The news Paper guy had a monopod , But then he was using a 500mm Prime , You know one of those big white ones that make you feel inadequate.

He was probably underequipped in areas that didn't show. Hand-holding the big Sigmas for any length of time, even though they are very light for the type of lens, isn't a lot of fun.

[Wayne]

Some good comments on this subject, In the end you really need to be able to go from below horizonal to full verticle and 360deg rotation, If you can achieve that your on a good thing , I took the punt and hand held at a high shutter speed hoping for the best , For the Quiksilver Surfing comp with this lens I used much the same settings , But standing in the sun all day , I used the monopod , Good chat guys :th3:

I shot the Boost Surfshow at Bondi earlier this year, and definitely made sure I packed the mono, holding that combo for a few hours almost horizontal is very hard work.

[hus]

I do indoor sports and for someone with a back problem monopod has become must use item, as for shooting a speeding jet you'll be taking out a lot of spectators trying to follow the jet with a monopod attached to it. :th3:

[rellik666]

I'm with Wayne on this, having shot many airshows, good panning technique and frequent rests is what is required! You need too many degrees of freedom to photograph airshows for a monopod. Unless it is left to right low level, a monopod is just going to get in the way! Did you see mr primes pics?

[William]

No Roo, Give me a link :umm: - Bill

[rellik666]

:lol: No did he show you.....or did you know who he was? Just curious....a good lens does not a photographer make! ;)

[William]

:o I must be missing something Roo :confused013