<\/center><\/p>\nOK, so the price has gone up since I bought mine 15 years ago (a modest annual inflation rate of 2.3%), but the device remains unchanged. It has only three sections, cam locks and a screw top head. You provide the ball and socket head of your choice. It always<\/i> rides in the trunk of my car, outfitted with a Leitz head and a Manfrotto QR plate – the easier it is to use the more likely it is to be used. If the cam locks loosen, as happened with mine, a metric socket and a few seconds of work allows the lock nuts to be snugged up and function restored.<\/p>\n
So does it make a difference?<\/p>\n
Nothing like an academic test. Here’s the target I used – a charming book titled “Cakes and Ale – The Golden Age of English Feasting”; just the thing for one who denies the bad reputation of English cooking and likes nothing so much as a good Shepherd’s Pie. Or Fish and Chips.<\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\nTo make things fair I used manual exposure – ISO 160 resulted in 1\/8th (good for blur!) at f\/5.6 (good for definition). The lens was a non-IS 50mm Canon EF f\/1.4, which I know to be superb. In each case – hand held, monopod, tripod<\/b> – I took three snaps.<\/p>\n
The enlargement is 15.8x, meaning a (rounded) 120″ x 80″ (yes, you read that right) print from a 1″ x 1.5″ original.<\/p>\n
Here’s an enlargement of the hand held<\/b> one, best of three:<\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\nNot so good, and really not usable.<\/p>\n
Here’s the best of three on the monopod<\/b>:<\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\nA whole lot better – marginaly usable in an 18″ x 24″ big print – one sixth the size of what you see here for the full frame.<\/p>\n
Now here’s the tripod<\/b> version – any one of three is the same:<\/p>\n
<\/center><\/p>\nSo I learned a couple of lessons from this quick experiment:<\/p>\n
- \n
- A monopod makes a huge difference (though I already knew that)\n
- A tripod – a really good one with a braced column – is the only way to go (I got my dream Linhof 20 years ago)\n
- You can’t hold a 50mm lens steady at 1\/8 second\n
- Taking three pictures with a monopod rather than one makes a significant difference to your chances of success – the best was way better than the worst. Now that was a real surprise.\n<\/ul>\n
The tripod used was a braced center column, alloy Linhof model from the 1970s going by the moniker of S168<\/a> (the maximum height, column retracted, in centimetres, or 5′ 6″). I used a Novoflex<\/a> magic ball head with a Manfrotto QR plate and released the shutter by hand. Delayed action, mirror lock-up and a cable release would all likely help matters.<\/p>\n
Those lusting after a Canon 5D should note the absence of grain above ….<\/p>\n
And here’s what that Manfrotto monopod delivers in the real world:<\/p>\n
\nHearst Castle from one mile away, Canon 5D, Leitz Telyt 400 mm, Manfrotto 3016 monopod and QR plate, Leitz B&S head<\/i><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The monopod wins for cost-benefit every time A recent discussion with a friend somehow made its way around to monopods. “My dear chap”, quoth I, “the single greatest bargain in the photographic world is the Manfrotto\/Bogen Monopod. $30 and it’s yours.” My buddy, a technical sort, felt it necessary to check my ramblings, and came … Continue reading Shake a Leg<\/span>