Favorite or recommended Monopod?

[AMOMENT]

I'm looking into purchasing a Monopod in the future. I'm researched a bunch and have found some that seem fitting but I have never actually used one and was wondering if any of you had any favorites? I have awful camera shake but also can't use a tripod constantly because I am often shooting kids and in a split second will be on the floor, back up again, this way, that way, you get the idea. I would need something that I could quickly adjust (as in seconds) in order for it to be helpful and practical for the type of shooting I like to do. Any suggestions?

 

[Trever1t]

A monopod is not the answer to your problem. Proper breathing and camera technique is your answer. I have a wonderful Monopod, adjust on the fly with one hand...I never use it, never yet.

I saw someone advised you to practice shooting on exhale, as if holding rifle sights over a target. Try it.

 

[Overread19 7]

Monopods tend to be popular with long telephoto lenses because the shutter speeds needed to hold them steady are more demanding than those for shorter lenses. Furthermore many big lenses like a 300mm f2.8 are very heavy and as such the monopod is there not just to help with the shutter, but also to significantly reduce fatigue on the photographer over the course of a day's shooting.


For shooting active kids with typical ranges for portrait work you would be needing fairly fast shutter speeds (unless you are using flash to freeze all the motion). As such you should easily be shooting at 1/200sec which should make it possible to shoot handheld (for a typical person) with up to around a 200mm lens (and for portrait/kid shots I'd be expecting you to be shooting with shorter lenses on average).

I am not ruling out that you might have a more pronounced shake than the average person - however as Trevor said I would encourage you to make quite certain that you are doing all you can in your pose and shooting style to ensure that you've a good solid grip on the camera.
Have a watch of this video here for some pointers:

 

[KmH]

Overread alludes to the fact that how much weight a monopod has to support has a lot to do with which monopods one would consider.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Just get a broomstick, screw a small square of wood to the end (perpendicularly), then put some self adhesive Velcro™ on it and the bottom of your camera. Leave the threaded hole open though.

This way you can remove your camera in the split second you require. A regular quick release mount will not be quick enough for your needs, particularly the styles that have a safety mechanism to prevent the camera from falling off accidentally.

Also, you can tie some cord to a bolt, and put that bolt into the threaded hole on the camera. Then you knot the other end, and stand on it for stabilization.

 

[SCraig]

I use a Manfrotto 679B aluminum monopod with 234RC head frequently and it does an excellent job for me.