Using a ball head with a long lens on a monopod & plate problems

gilbouk

gilbouk

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I have had a lot of problems securing my Nikon D500 and Tamron 150-600mm for use on a monopod. I currently only have a ball head - and have learnt it's easier to control if you drop the ball into the notch and to side mount the rig allowing for only up and down tilting which is the only plane of movement I require. See the below video - this is the technique I have been trying to use and I've found it much easier to control compared with mounting the camera directly on top of the monopod.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edIKz_9Otbc


The only problem is that when doing this the weight of the camera and lens is pulling the ball downward into the notch at a greater angle than 90 degrees - the weight is causing extra friction and the ball does not tilt freely. The only way to get it to tilt easily is to apply a lifting force so that the stock on the ball is closer to 90 degrees to the vertical of the monopod. This is not ideal. Without some lifting force, if you try to tilt the camera up and down, this action loosens the plate off from the foot, as the tilting is along the same plane as the plate is tightened and loosened. So rather than the tilting coming from the ball, it's coming from the twisting of the plate which eventually loosens off completely from the lens collar foot.

My question is - with a higher quality ball head, would it be able to support the weight of my rig without going beyond the 90 degree angle to my monopod which in turn will avoid the loosening action when I try to tilt up and down?

Or is there a collar with a Arca Swiss mount built in which would would remove the 'joint' and only allowing movement through the head?

Or would I best mount vertically with a tilt head instead - so that the tilting doesn't act along the direction the plate is mounted, therefor loosening it off?

Cheers for any advice - really keen to sort out my birding with my monopod without the need to constantly unmount, and tighten up the plate.
 
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Get an L bracket and leave ball head on upright
 
Mark twiglet said:
Get an L bracket and leave ball head on upright
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Do you mean, do away with my collar on the lens, and fit the L bracket onto the body? How would an L plate differ from just a standard plate on my camera - as I'll always be shooting landscape?
 
I use the following manfrotto bits on a monopod.
- Head = https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/monopod-tilt-head It does not have much friction resistance but such is life.
- Plate = https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/rapid-connect-adapter-with-sliding-mounting-plate-357pl
https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/rapid-connect-adapter-with-sliding-mounting-plate-357pl
The supplied 1/4" / 3/8" screw with the head is not long enough to grip well the plate system so I have replaced it with a straight 1/4" bolt and the plate is fitted on the head. All the bits can be bought cheaper than the prices shown on the manfrotto website.

If it helps a little.
 
Ball heads don't work well with heavy lens or monopods.. Have a google / eBay search for 2 way monopod heads, not expensive either, I paid less than £35 for mine (arch Swiss style) and I use it with a 600mm f4 so plenty strong enough. Hope this helps
 
Ball heads will definitely work with large lenses if you have one designed to do so. I have used a Sigma 150-600 with a Sigma MC-11 converter on my Sony A7R2 with absolutely no problems at all - in fact it worked just as well as a Wimberly Gimbal ( which I also own ) but a lot lighter. You need the ball head is in its specially designed side notch. I would also suggest a long Arca-Swiss plate on your lens foot to get it balanced close to its centre of mass so it neither swings up or down when you let go of it.
Here is a link
https://www.acratech.net
If you Google Acratech you will find videos of it used just as you want.
James
 
I have to ask, why use a monopod when a tripod with a fluid head will give more support and control?.
 
Nikon D500 and Sigma 150-600 sport .. Nikon 300mm f2.8vrii .. Nikon 600mm f4 .. I use a Gitzo monopod with a Wimberley mkii head. Gives something to hold on to and is easy to use. The monopod is also light to carry when hiking as well. I use this setup on the cliffs near home .. if it's something that needs faster panning then i will hand hold .. a really good ballhead can suffice as long as you can lock everything solid when needed. As suggested above, a plate on the foot to allow you to balance everything is critical .. I can take my hand off my camera (with it on the monopod) and it's perfectly balanced ..
 
Thanks folks - any recommendations on a long Arca-Swiss plate that's unlikely to 'self loosen' from my lens foot (Tamron 150-600).
 
realspeed said:
I have to ask, why use a monopod when a tripod with a fluid head will give more support and control?.
Click to expand...

It's just for ease of use when on the move. Often there's not enough time to catch birds when on the move if you have to spread the legs and level the tripod.
 
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jbw said:
Ball heads will definitely work with large lenses if you have one designed to do so. I have used a Sigma 150-600 with a Sigma MC-11 converter on my Sony A7R2 with absolutely no problems at all - in fact it worked just as well as a Wimberly Gimbal ( which I also own ) but a lot lighter. You need the ball head is in its specially designed side notch. I would also suggest a long Arca-Swiss plate on your lens foot to get it balanced close to its centre of mass so it neither swings up or down when you let go of it.
Here is a link
https://www.acratech.net
If you Google Acratech you will find videos of it used just as you want.
James
Click to expand...

Many thanks James - the Acra-Swiss might be outside my budget at the moment - but having had a look at the GP series - looks like an impressive piece of kit - also with the possibility of using it for panoramas too. The side notch looks as though it will support a heavy lens without getting jammed up with the weight, like with my current head.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OffEGXjhbk
 
I might be getting the wrong end of the stick here but I don't understand your description of the pan/tilt if you are employing the same technique as in the video. With a monopod, I pan by turning the whole monopod with camera - no panning movement allowed within the head at all (and me moving relatively behind the camera to keep my eye to the viewfinder). Tilt is achieved by articulating the ball in the socket (and using the method above, tilt not pan is in the same plane as the mounting plate)

I just tried the above technique with my Red Snapper RSH-12 ballhead and my 50D/Sigma 150-500 (camera & lens weigh in at 2.9Kg): mounting plate dropped into the vertical slot of the ball-socket (which would normally give a portrait orientation) but with lens collar/foot rotated round 90° to keep my camera 'landscape'. When the friction is slackened off, the plate is about a couple of degrees below the right-angle but the camera tilts without problem (there is a slight rub of the mounting platform against the ball-head body [socket] at extreme angles of tilt - beyond 45° from the horizontal). If I increase the friction to avoid the 'droop', then it is too tight to tilt by moving the ball and the mounting plate is forced to rotate - which is what I would expect. Can't you just slacken the friction off and tilt by rotating the ball? Any adjustment to get the horizon level would be done by the angle at which you hold the monopod. I can't imagine anyone naturally holding the monopod a true 90° so as to rely on the mounting plate being at a true right angle for a straight horizon. Off the tripod, I always rely on what I see through the viewfinder to get my horizon straight.
 
weybourne said:
I might be getting the wrong end of the stick here but I don't understand your description of the pan/tilt if you are employing the same technique as in the video. With a monopod, I pan by turning the whole monopod with camera - no panning movement allowed within the head at all (and me moving relatively behind the camera to keep my eye to the viewfinder). Tilt is achieved by articulating the ball in the socket (and using the method above, tilt not pan is in the same plane as the mounting plate)

I just tried the above technique with my Red Snapper RSH-12 ballhead and my 50D/Sigma 150-500 (camera & lens weigh in at 2.9Kg): mounting plate dropped into the vertical slot of the ball-socket (which would normally give a portrait orientation) but with lens collar/foot rotated round 90° to keep my camera 'landscape'. When the friction is slackened off, the plate is about a couple of degrees below the right-angle but the camera tilts without problem (there is a slight rub of the mounting platform against the ball-head body [socket] at extreme angles of tilt - beyond 45° from the horizontal). If I increase the friction to avoid the 'droop', then it is too tight to tilt by moving the ball and the mounting plate is forced to rotate - which is what I would expect. Can't you just slacken the friction off and tilt by rotating the ball? Any adjustment to get the horizon level would be done by the angle at which you hold the monopod. I can't imagine anyone naturally holding the monopod a true 90° so as to rely on the mounting plate being at a true right angle for a straight horizon. Off the tripod, I always rely on what I see through the viewfinder to get my horizon straight.
Click to expand...

Your right weybourne, my original post should say tilt (I've not reworded it) - as you quite rightly said, the panning, left to right would be through movement of the monopod foot.

With regards the friction - I'm already loosened completely off, but still get a lot of friction due to the weight pulling the stock downwards - further into the vertical slot. When I apply a tilting action, the friction is so high, that the movement ends up coming from my plate which loosens itself off from the lens foot. I'm guessing my head is not up to the job / weight
 
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I was very impressed with that Acratech GP ballhead in the video but then discovered they are over £400!

My Arca-Swiss type Red Snapper RSH-12 is only £60. Using the technique in your first post, I did get some friction due to weight of the camera/lens but not enough to make it difficult to move and certainly not enough to loosen the plate. Red Snapper sell the Arca-Swiss type plates for £6.95 too. I don't know if it is still available, but if I recall correctly, there was a discount offered by Red Snapper for TP members.
 
I was going to suggest the item I see you've bought in the classifieds...I have it and it works fine
 
tom24 said:
I was going to suggest the item I see you've bought in the classifieds...I have it and it works fine
Click to expand...
Do you find the plate secures sufficiently to your lens collar? Or does it work loose?
 
Gil Bev said:
Do you find the plate secures sufficiently to your lens collar? Or does it work loose?
Click to expand...

Now I remember what you were buying which should have the plate system that I was suggesting to you in my earlier comment. It works fine for me ... mind you the plate in my case was new so possibly more grippy. It does not make sense to me to change from that to a ball head but ... Same lens by the way, but probably I don't make that much use of it.
 
Gil Bev said:
Do you find the plate secures sufficiently to your lens collar? Or does it work loose?
Click to expand...
Doesn't get a chance to work loose, I check these things every few minutes.
 
I use a Manfrotto MH057M0-Q5 057 Magnesium Ball Head with Q5 and have had no issues
 
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