brooklyn-camera I wrote:
What type head to use when shooting football from the side lines using a mono-pod? I shoot with a Canon 7D MKII with battery grip and the lenses range from Canon 100-400 which gets heavy after a while. Have a Canon 70-200 f/4 which needs no mono-pod. Also shoot with a Canon 70-200 f/2.8. I enjoy shooting without the use of a mono-pod but my 71 years old arthritic hands are starting to tell me something.
Now I am using a Manftotto 679B mono-pod which has been replaced a few times when the players run into it. The head I now have is a BENRO BH2 which at times is a pain because I need to lock the head in place after every play. The hands start to lock up a bit by the 3rd. quarter.
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What type head to use when shooting football from ... (
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IMO, all you really need is a single-axis, tilt movement head... simple and light. A panning axis isn't needed with the head because that can be handled simply by rotating the entire monopod, lens and camera as a unit.
Something like this (around 10 lb. capacity):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/822708-REG/Oben_VH_R2_VH_R2_Swivel_Tilt_Head.htmlOr, a heavier duty (26 lb. capacity):
https://www.adorama.com/sundt01.htmlOr lighter duty (5.5 lb. capacity):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1157933-REG/benro_dj90_monopod_head_with.htmlI just think monopods should be kept pretty simple. Anything I use would need to be Arca-Swiss QR compatible. And I'd prefer a screw knob on the QR platform, instead of a lever like one or two of those use.
That said... while I've used them in the past, I don't have one on a monopod right now. I've been using an old ballhead instead. It's a small Manfrotto head that I had laying around and decided to modify and put back to work on one of my monopods... I replaced the ballhead's proprietary QR platform with one that's compatible with Arca-style releases that I use on everything. Nice thing about this particular ballhead is that all its movements are locked or released with a single knob. It also makes the monopod into a pretty serious weapon that a gladiator or Spartan would have appreciated!
I've read posts by one or two people using gimbals on a monopod.... And I thought that was a bit of overkill. But I recently came across this
http://www.lensmaster.co.uk/m1.htm simple, lighter weight, side-mount gimbal made specifically for monopod use. That might work well shooting sports, with any lens that has a tripod mounting ring.
Yeah, I know all-too-well what you mean about the "hands locking up". I get some cramping in mine too, late in the day during those really long shoots.... especially when it's a bit cool or hot. I find it helps to take a low dosage of ibuprofin before and every so often during a shoot. Also, eat bananas before and during shoots. Tonic water with quinine can help quickly in emergencies, giving lot faster relief from cramping than bananas. It comes in six packs of 8 oz. single serving bottles.... but tastes terrible "straight" (I use several squirts of water flavorings per bottle to keep from gagging on plain tonic water).
Finally, yeah, RRS is great stuff (why else would they name it that!). But I'd feel pretty dumb spending $250 to almost $400 for a monopod head!