do monopods work?!

im confused as to how a monopod keeps steady without some kind of small feet. wouldnt the pod move while im taking pictures? (i dont know if that makes sense)

It's not meant to be completely stable like a tripod. Monopods are good for cameras with telephoto lenses which can be very heavy. Most heavy tele lenses have a tripod collar to mount a tripod or monopod directly to them instead of the camera. Monopods are also smaller and lightweight so they can go where tripods cannot.
To me, monopods are an afterthought. I use a tripod for stability whenever possible. A tripod doesn't offer any more security than hand holding the camera IMO.

thank you sir, that answers my question quite well

A monopod works on rotational inertia, which is a function of length squared (assuming uniform mass density). While nowhere near as stable as a tripod, a monopod should do better than holding a camera in your hands (especially if it is heavy).

For a neat example of rotational inertia and the function of length, try to balance a normal pencil in your hand, with the eraser in your hand and the point oriented upward. It's almost impossible to do.

Now take a yard or meter stick and try the same thing. Hold one end in the palm of your hand with the stick pointed upward. It's actually pretty easy to maintain an upright orientation.

The yard/meter stick has a high rotational inertia whereas the pencil does not.

A monopod will eliminate considerable motion. Up and down motion is essentially zero. Longitudinal (forward/backward) motion is probably negligible. Lateral motion (left/right) is minimal, though not eliminated. Pitch should be essentially gone, as well as yaw. Roll is a function of the degree to which you have lateral motion, but again this should be minimal.

While you wouldn't use a monopod for long exposures, it's probably a very nice tool for situations where you want a steady camera.

Hope this helps!

that actually makes quite a bit of sense. your analogy is really clear. i definitely need to learn some of those words but i think that a monopod actually might be good for me.

my tripod broke, and i found it to be a bit cumbersome, so i was looking into monos.

maanico1 said:

that actually makes quite a bit of sense. your analogy is really clear. i definitely need to learn some of those words but i think that a monopod actually might be good for me.

my tripod broke, and i found it to be a bit cumbersome, so i was looking into monos.

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it would probably be best to get another tripod.
it may be a bit bigger but you can use it for long exposure shots, or as a monopod to support the weight of a heavy lens.
in order to get something that will work best for you, you may have to spend a bit more, but it will be a lighter, stronger tripod.
also most of the higherend pods have indepentant moving legs for odd placement and can fold flat for low shots.

Yeah I second the idea of replacing your tripod. I bought a Gitzo monopod and quite frankly I never use it, I prefer taking the tripod with me on treks and using it instead.

Personally I used my monopod on our holiday-trip to Thailand this summer, and I loved it!

It's more portable than a Tripod, and helped me keep the cam steady while taking landscape pictures, etc.

I tried taking pictures with and without the monopod, and the "monopod-pictures" turned out much more crisp and focused.

I got a Gitzo G1157G Carbon 6X tripod so it's lighter than my Gitzo monopod which is very heavy. I don't have the model number of that monopod but I think it's safe to say you could use it as a lethal weapon.

Looking back, I should have opted for a lighter monopod model.

A monopod is definitely not a replacement for a tripod, but a good supplement to your gear. I need one, that's for sure.

Monopods are great because unlike a tripod, they don't have a huge foot print and can be used on the fly. Some places don't allow tripods either. I went to a photography meetup at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and several people were using monopods. They help tremendously as far as stabilizing the camera so you can get better pictures than hand held in less than ideal conditions. If they would have been using tripods, it would have been a mess and they probably would have been asked to put them away because of creating problems with foot traffic through the zoo.

If you have the space and time to use a tripod, then great, but that's not always an option. As I've already said though, don't try and replace your tripod with a monopod, you'll be missing out on the ability to take crisp shots with any shutter speed slower than the focal length of the lens you're shooting at.

I've been doing some research into getting a monopod myself and came across this article with some suggestions for how to use a monopod to give more stability:

http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo5.php3

One thing about monopods is that if you go for a monopod which is rated much much stronger than your cameras you can use it for different perspectives. I bought a wireless remote and a monopod.. and now I can experiment with perspectives which were never accessible without it.