I recently wrote about the pro-caliber tripod I put together with components from Gitzo and Really Right Stuff. This time I'm writing about a monopod that I put together at the same time. However, unlike the tripod, it took two tries to get a good monopod solution, and at that, I'm still not 100% happy with it.

Update: I made some changes, described in updates below, and now I'm happy with it.

I had no problem with the monopod leg itself, a Gitzo GM3550 6X Carbon Fiber 5 Section G-Lock Monopod. It's got the G-Lock section logs that are so nice to use, and it's long enough to suit my 6'4” height.

The problem I had was with the Really Right Stuff BH-25 Pro mini ballhead. It fit on top of the Gitzo leg perfectly, and looked like it'd be great:

Really Right Stuff makes wonderful stuff, and as I wrote on my tripod posting, their flagship BH-55 ballhead is so finely crafted and so precisely made that one somehow feels a strange desire to lick it. It's not really possible to overemphasize the quality of and workmanship involved here.

However, their mini BH-25 is not at all in the same class. I like to think that I'm not a total wimp, but I couldn't clamp it strongly enough to stop my D200 + 17-55/2.8 from moving around. It lacks the smooth feel of its big brother (more like big third cousin). I was disappointed.

So, I called Really Right Stuff and asked if perhaps I was doing something wrong, to which they said “yes, the BH-25 is not really appropriate for a monopod.” They said that I should send the BH-25 back to them for a full refund, which I later did.

They feel that any ballhead is not really appropriate for a monopod, and instead suggested what a Manfrotto #3232 swivel head, with a Really Right Stuff B2-Pro clamp:

Update: I got rid of the Manfrotto swivel described here... details further below.

I ordered it while on the phone with them, and they offered to send it pre-assembled so that I'd not have to spend the 30 seconds to do it myself. I thought that was nice.

With this setup, the head allows rotation on one axis, and the monopod can be easily rotated about another. Its advantages are that movement on each axis is separate, and there's no movement on the tilt axis (movement you don't generally want with a monopod, especially if you have a rotating color on the lens); this all combines for less floppage, which is a Good Thing.™

Here's my camera mounted on it:

I've used it a few times now, and still need more practice, but one thing I'm not happy about is that it requires a wrench when switching between a lens with a mounting foot and one without. A quick-release clamp on a camera is mounted at right angles to one mounted on the foot of a zoom lens, and since the Manfrotto swivel moves on only one axis, the clamp installed on top of it needs to be rotated 90° when switching lenses. That requires a wrench, and sort of defeats the whole purpose of quick-release clamps.

One way to solve the problem is to mount the zoom's quick-release clamp sideways. This would be a perfect solution except that the plate is intended to be mounted lengthwise with two bolts, and could tend to allow rotation when mounted with just one bolt. It'd be a kludge, at best.

Now, if Really Right Stuff (or anyone) produced a right-angle quick-release clamp for a zoom, the problem would be solved.

Update: I ended up dumping the horrid Manfrotto swivel for a Really Right Stuff product that came out a few years later, their High-Capacity Monopod Head, a wonderful product that makes my monopod solution complete.

I need more practice with my monopod, and I need to read stuff like this guide to using a monopod. I used it somewhat clumsily when photographing the scruffy wet birds the other day, and quite a bit yesterday at the train station.

Here's a picture my sister snapped of me while I was snapping pictures of the kids:

Had I known she was taking pictures of me, I would have pretended to use a better stance. It's good that my feet aren't together, and good that I'm draping my free hand over the head of the long 70-200 f/2.8 zoom to dampen vibrations, but the tripod is straight up and down, which is not as good as having it angled out away from me like a third tripod leg.

The problem was as described above: I didn't have the wrench with me, so I couldn't reset the clamp for the zoom lens, effectively disabling any sensible adjustability on the head. I could adjust only so far as I could tilt the thing, and that was it.

It was still a pleasure to work with, and I'm sure the results were much better than I would have gotten handheld. I'll probably adjust the clamp for use with the zoom, and generally forgo the monopod when using a shorter lens. We'll see.

As I mentioned yesterday, I let Anthony use my camera with the monopod. You can't tell in the picture below, but the big zoom was attached, so at first I was a bit tentative to let him handle things...

Here's the shot he was taking...

After a bit, I let him do it on his own, and all by himself he took this shot of me and Josh (that was included in my previous post):