Mike Holmes Loc: The Villages Fl

Has anyone tried the "Primos trigger stick gen 3"? It looks like a inexpensive alternative to a mono pod that is grip adjustable. A similar solution from a camera manufacturer is over $200 and this is $70 from amazon and appears to provide the same function.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Nope. No interest. I already have a monopod and don't need another.
--Bob

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

A monopod it a simple piece of equipment that will fall apart in your hands if built too cheaply. How much money will you save if that occurs? By using this device you are risking your camera body to grave damage. If that is your intention then go for it! Save the $130.00 and you can use it towards you next camera. What quality do you get for a monopod that retails for $70.00? After developement costs, profit, and shipping there isn't much left for material at @70.00.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Ditto.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

I have a vanguard veo 325 with a vanguard ballhead. Both to my door for 100.00. Great monopod. Great walking stick also. Adorma camera. My wife also has one. Tuff as nails.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

I have not tried it, but I have been eyeing it for some time. On several occasions I have toyed with it at local sporting goods stores where they are found in the hunting section since they are marketed as a rifle rest. They come in bipod and tripod versions too.

Positives: Very light weight, and the trigger action to extend and retract the monopod is very convenient and one-handed. This would allow for the fastest deployment of a monopod that I know. My subjects don't sit still for long, and this is why this monopod interests me.

Negatives: Seems flimsy compared to other monopods. I would NOT fix a hefty camera to it with a head. The cautions above presumably come from that point of view. I would instead use the V-yoke that comes with it and simply rest the big lens on that when using it. That is how I use my current monopod, and I am very happy with this arrangement. Used this way, i see no risk to the camera that would be the fault of the monopod. My camera rigs (I carry two) are carried in the field hanging from a vest and hip holster. I never fix them to the monopod.
Other negatives: not sturdy enough to reliably use as a walking stick. My current monopod is solid, and when i need a third leg to get over a ditch or down from a boulder, its' there for me. But this monopod does not seem suited for that. But if going out to level terrain this issue is not an issue.
When pressing the trigger to let the monopod extend, it must telescope out by gravity. But in the store it generally gets hung up by friction. My planned solution, should i ever get one, is to mount an L-shaped bracket to the foot. When being extended, I would simply step on the bracket, squeeze the trigger, and pull upward. So it would still be one-handed.

So the only negatives I know that could be deal breakers are if you want to use a heavy camera and fix it to a head (Don't!). or if you know you will also need a sturdy walking stick on uneven terrain.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

So it won’t hold a heavy camera or lens and it’s not a sturdy walking stick and it hangs up so you have to add a part to make it work. I’d pass on this one.
...Cam

Mike Holmes Loc: The Villages Fl

Monforten(spelling?) makes one but it $250. The idea of being able to use it one handed to raise and lower it seems like a good idea. I do not use a mono pod a lot so I am not excited about $250. I need to go to a sporting goods store and check it out. Thanks for your comments your annalist is very good, I would like it to serve as a walking stick. The idea of using it as rest for the telephoto lens is a good one for any mono pod. I have used shooting sticks and that is the way they are used to support your rifle.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

The vanguard I was talking about is on sale for 39.95. A 50.00 savings. It's tuff works well and is rated for 22lbs.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

And so do most $30 tripods. Unless the "new look with dark earth accents" feature on the Primos Trigger Stick is something you feel you really need.

Mike Holmes Loc: The Villages Fl

You are missing the point. I am looking for a mono pod that retracts and extend via a switch on the head. This allows the user to operate the device with one hand. As far as I know there are only two company's which manufacture a mono pod which has this feature.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

My advice is always the same, go to as many camera stores as you can and try them on with the lens and camera you intend to use most. It is the only way you will end up happy.

killroy

Own one, use it all the time with 7dmk11 w/ 100-400 lense. Built flimsy? Yes. But the handle too attach camera lense combo is solid. Use it for sports photography. Carry it with camera attached over my shoulder all the time. Zero issues. This is a mono made for hunting. Trigger is perfect for adjusting height on the fly. Can be used sitting or standing. Yes the stick will lengthen easily about for half the total distance, then hold trigger in and pull down on bottom half to extend fully. Now bottom half will stay extended and use trigger to make precise height adjustments while standing. Use same process in reverse to shorten. Height adjustments cannot be made quicker or easier.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

That appears to be a shooting stick for a rifle, I think it would actually work as a mono pod where you are just using it for a steadying factor, in fact the top would work for lenses that did not have a tripod collar on them. Just my point of view, Bob.
BTW , one of my monopod / walking sticks came with one of those tops also.

bluezzzzz Loc: Stamping Ground, KY

I've not used one of these either, but the president of our local camera club (a nationally renowned macro insect shooter) uses this, or one similar, and swears by it.

I believe he uses it with the yoke and doesn't attach his camera to it.

Marshall