Home made Monopod (mini how to)

[nick_cool]

Home made Monopod (mini how to)

I wanted a monopod to take some photos with my DSLR to the mountains while trekking.

After a short research I realize that one good way to have an inexpensive and yet strong monopod was to make one.

The target was to have a light, transportable and easy to set up monopod, able to be used as trekking pod.

For me it was important to transform the dead weight of a specific photographic monopod into a help during trekking.



Here there are the components of this simple monopod:

1 trekking pod (u$s25, 260g), take care about how you will place the bolt
1 ball head (u$s15, 60g), I picked the lighter and cheaper one
1 ¼” x ¾” bolt, nut and eventually washers

Here is the procedure:

1)drill the top of the monopod with a ¼” drill
2)adjust the bolt with the nut
3)place the removable ball head

Once in the field just place the camera and enjoy it!



If the head of the pod is made of one solid piece of plastic, you can cut the bolt head and screw and glue it to the pod.

Of course you can fix the camera to the ¼” bolt directly (yes most of the cameras are this size), but you will loose the freedom to level the camera provided by the ball head.

I used it successfully with my Nikon D90 plus the 18-110 lenses in “El Chaltén”, Patagonia, Argentina.

Cool shots!
Nick


PS the idea has been seen before, this is just my approximation, I hope it helps.

 

[Patrice]

Good idea.

I bought two adjustable height trekking poles that have a removable wooden ball screwed on to a 1/4-20 stud: perfect dual purpose stick for about $25 each.

 

[table1349]

Good idea.

I bought two adjustable height trekking poles that have a removable wooden ball screwed on to a 1/4-20 stud: perfect dual purpose stick for about $25 each.

:thumbup:

 

[Mike_E]

There's a gun rest for rifles that works pretty well too. It's designed to rest the fore-stock on and has a padded Y shaped cup on a telescoping pole. Resting the lens in the cup gives as much support as a monopod and has the benefit of not needing to secure your camera to a head.

Something like this (although I got one from Wal-mart for around $10) POLECAT monopod telescoping shooting rest - Roc Import.

 

[nick_cool]

Last week I tested it in “El Chaltén” (Patagonia, Argentina), a world class trekking destination that I have visit several times.

It was the first time I used a trekking pole and a monopod, and it resulted to be very handful for trekking in the mountain as well as very effective to mitigate hand shaking during shoots.

The “two in one” idea was efficient during the trips, because I did not have to carry a dead weight and unpack it every time I needed, or carry it by hand, a dangerous idea when you are descending. I have seen people with specific monopod and few professionals with heavy tripod during the trip. The ones using monopods did not show any advantage over mine in this case.


It was good too to make the ball head detachable, keeping the trekking pod lighter when the camera was not in use. To choose one with the proper height it is important also.

What to improve?, maybe the ball head can be replaced by a better head, I should find a light one. The one I used got disassembly during the third trip, and I had to glue it later to avoid further surprises.

Cool shots!