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New Kit: Ultimate monopod setup? Here's mine...


iPeace

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A new friend thoughtlessly relieved me of my would-be travel scope and mount after I threatened to take it along with me on holiday to the Aegean. Serves me right, I suppose, and there's always the bins.

Still, the loss left me with an upgrade itch, which I have now scratched with the following setup:

Sirui P-424S monopod

Vanguard GH-200 trigger grip ball head

A few pics will say more than words.

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I will provide a full review of these in due course.

:happy11:

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For starters, you get a very nice bit of carbon in a very nice bag.

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It stands on its own three feet and extends to an impressive height of over 1.90m.

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The blue knurled bit can be twisted loose in order to free the bit above for panning around.

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(continued)

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But you can use it as a traditional monopod too - the extra rubber foot is included.

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But you don't need to remove the tripod foot to use it at an angle - the lower blue bit twists up to allow the stick to swivel in the lower ball socket.

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You don't actually need to remove the tripod foot to use it in old-fashioned monopod mode; just fold up the tripod feet.

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(continued)

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All up with trigger grip ball head and bins - strudy enough to stand on its own, but not something you would leave unattended when extended to its maximum height!

:eek:

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The trigger grip ball head has a high-quality feel to it and easily holds these bins. Will surely hold larger, heavier bins with no problem whatsoever. It's flexibility has no limits - you name it, you can adjust it, and it stays put where you want it.

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Now this is the life. Binocular observing with a heated seat.

:cool:

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The knob at the front loosens to allow the mounting plate to swivel 360. This gets you the ideal orientation for being able to use the trigger to tilt up towards the azimuth. It goes all the way up.

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Everything, both on monopod and ball head, works smoothly and is very sturdy. Really very, very nice.

It's looking good. Will report on usage.

Thanks for reading.

:happy11:

 

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2 hours ago, iPeace said:

A new friend thoughtlessly relieved me of my would-be travel scope and mount after I threatened to take it along with me on holiday to the Aegean. Serves me right, I suppose, and there's always the bins.

Still, the loss left me with an upgrade itch, which I have now scratched with the following setup:

I'm overcome with guilt and remorse... I'm bereft at having caused you such suffering...

I feel bad it won't be me there on Thursday in person to be administered the flogging i so rightfully deserve... I hope Susie suffices... :icon_biggrin:

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1 minute ago, Racey said:

I'm overcome with guilt and remorse... I'm bereft at having caused you such suffering...

I feel bad it won't be me there on Thursday in person to be administered the flogging i so rightfully deserve... I hope Susie suffices... :icon_biggrin:

I was rather depending on Susie not so much as a surrogate, but to deliver that which you so wholly deserve.

:happy11:

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4 minutes ago, iPeace said:

I was rather depending on Susie not so much as a surrogate, but to deliver that which you so wholly deserve.

:happy11:

Me too... :icon_biggrin:

And on a cloudy Friday night too :hello2:

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  • 2 weeks later...
52 minutes ago, Ken82 said:

Would this be the correct adapter ? 

image.jpg

Perfect. Sorted.

:happy11:

I've read some accounts of users replacing the stock adapter; I have no experience with this type so can't comment. This will certainly fit.

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1 hour ago, iPeace said:

I've read some accounts of users replacing the stock adapter;

No need to replace this one, it is a good one. (The ones people replace are the plastic ones - they are like the mineral named for Wilfred R. Welsh)

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23 minutes ago, Ken82 said:

Ipeace, would you say the binos are stable hands free when the tripod is deployed ? 

I can only comment on these particular bins, so mileage may vary. The shorter the extended length of the monopod, the more stable it is. Personally, I would probably only use the tripod feet when sitting down - the monopod being extended to a far lesser height than when standing up - and then, mostly as a convenience so as not to have to continuously hold the assembly upright; both hands temporarily free to consult your sky atlas, consume beverage of choice, pull beanie down further over ears, whatever. You *could* observe hands free when sitting down, I suppose, but I certainly wouldn't consider it a full replacement for a traditional photo tripod.

Management summary: if you want to observe hands free, a full photo tripod is definitely the better option - you can obviously still use the trigger grip ball head. I would not recommend this monopod purely for hands free observing. Cannot imagine that *any* monopod with tripod feet would be very good for this.

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1 minute ago, Ken82 said:

Thanks ipeace I was planning to use it at star parties where I can just walk around using it :)

Many monopods will work for that - but this one does extend to a very nice max. length, and has all the additional features you could ask for. Your body is a lot more stable when sitting down, so it's great that when you get around to sedentary observing this monopod maximizes your comfort.

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thanks a lot iPeace for the heads up! 

Just received the P-324SR version, which extends to 160cms (plus spike) and weighs 830g with tripod base removed (otherwise 175cms/1.45g) . Will be mainly using it seated along with a Shakespeare Rucksack chair. Incremental raising and lowering of the (1.7kg approx) binos and adapter is very easy and smooth with the twist locks, and the 360 degree rotation function is also useful (top blue twist lock). The supplied case is much larger than it needs to be (would make a great gift for a mafiosi hit man) but has a long, well-padded shoulder strap.  

http://www.sirui.eu/en/products/monopods/ps-series/

http://www.campingworld.co.uk/en/gb/Shakespeare-Deluxe-Rucksack-Chair/m-9069.aspx

 

 

 

 

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