The Battle Of The Leg - Part One

I was going to entitle this column, " Leg Art " but googled it and thought better of the idea. There are things on the image page that cannot be unseen. My weekly foray into the Camera Electronic storeroom sometimes takes me to shelves that are well beyond my ken. The drone nest where they are busily hatching for instance. Or the Leica vault. It's not that I don't understand Leica,...it's just that it is packaged so assiduously that I am afraid to open the grey cardboard outer selves for fear of marking them. But the biggest mystery patch is the video stuff. So it was with trepidation that I hauled home two video monopods this week for comparison columns. It wasn't until I got them home that I remembered that I have a third one that was custom-made for me some years ago. But to the commercial products first. Today it is Sirui that stands alone. Of course there is nothing at all new about monopods - Sirui, Gitzo, Manfrotto, Slik, Cullmann and any number of firms have made them for years. I use one for shooting at long shows - it takes the weight of the camera, lens , and flash down to the floor and lets me concentrate on the framing. Wouldn't be without one. But what of the video worker who might also want to remove the pressure on the arms and shoulder, but who has to shift the position of the camera so much more than the still cameraman? Is there anything that does this effectively? Yes, there is. The Sirui P326SR is a 5+ section carbon fibre monopod with adaptations for video on both top and bottom of the basic structure. The basic tubes are very smooth CF and are locked with twist collars - well-proportioned collars at that - that you can get quite a leverage on. If it were only still work that you were doing you might expect the central tubes to end in a rubber foot or spike at the bottom and a simple platform and screw at the top. Well, there is a simple 3/8" screw at the top on a hefty platform, but you can opt for a reversible screw to sleeve down to 1/4". This is an option if you are not going to but your video camera onto a pan-tilt head. If that seems counter-intuitive for video, look a little further down the shaft of the monopod and turn the big blue knurled ring form lock to unlock. This releases the platform and alows the top portion with the rubber handgrip to turn horizontally with a smooth fluid motion. Down at the bottom of the shaft lies a complex small tripod foot. With the legs folded and locked against the shaft it can go into the carrying case. When they are unlocked and swivelled down they form a steady foot that you can press down against - and " Glory Be " - once it is freed by turning the bottom blue knurled ring out of the way, the whole thing swivels on a ball joint. In practical terms, this means you are in control of training the camera in the horizontal plane via the top grip and laying the camera in the vertical plane on the bottom as you press fore and aft. The action from side to side to level the horizon is also effected on that lower ball joint. Since a video camera is never orientated in the portrait mode ( I mean never after you do it for the first time and people laugh at you...), if your panning and tracking are not going to be too exaggerated, this support movement may be all you need. If you need more, screw a pan-tilt video head on the top. Note, there is a progressive friction adjustment for that bottom pivot. And a rather fearsome-looking spike as a substitute. Keep spikes in mind...