Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As you are discovering, there is a whole bunch of monopods available these days. Some with adjustable heads, some cheap, some really expensive and all of them described as being capable of accommodating a variety of cameras. The reviews going along with the variety of monopods all mentioned how steady, or not, they were with larger and heavier cameras. The pictures I found of monopods all made them look like lumpy sticks. I was confused.
I researched monopods for weeks and narrowed my choices to three or four. I wanted one with a movable head, but not a big elaborate contraption with a lot of adjustments capable of holding larger format still and movie cameras. Those professional type monopods were out of my price range and more than I needed to steady the small pocket digital camera that I have. I also didn't think one of the `cheapy' monopods would have been worth the gamble in order to save money.
I thought the Canon 500 monopod was slightly more expensive than I wanted to pay, but it seemed to be what I was looking for so I ordered it. I crossed my fingers and waited for the thing to be delivered, but with some trepidation.
When the monopod arrived I immediately knew my decision was the right one. The Canon 500 was very well made. It was solid yet not particularly heavy. It collapsed to a small twenty inches or so. When extended there was no play at the joints and the unique locking system made changing the height fast and precise. The Canon 500 comes with a small hex wrench to use to adjust the tension on the locks. I thought they were set perfectly at the factory, but imagine they might require some tweaking with a heavy camera or after many hours of use. Providing the wrench was a nice touch.
The basic, yet quite functional, adjustable head works perfectly with my smaller digital still camera, but it feels like a larger and heavier camera would do well with it too. I suppose there is a limit to how much weight the Canon 500 could handle, but it certainly seems like the monopod would hold a pretty large camera. There is some high impact plastic in the adjustable head, but there is some well machined metal too. I don't get the feeling that it is flimsy or likely to break easily. It appears quite tough and sturdy to me. It doesn't have a panning handle and that might be a problem when using the monopod with a video camera.
The Canon 500 has a nice foam rubber grip at the top so one could use the thing as a walking staff. That grip is also nice to have when steadying the monopod while shooting a picture. There is a wrist strap attached to the monopod for some reason or other.
I am over six feet tall and when the Canon 500 is extended to the max it is plenty long enough for me to use the composition screen on my camera at eye level. The monopod is purported to be 64 inches long with all of the four sections pulled out. I haven't measured it, but that sounds about right and the camera itself adds a few more inches to the height.
This is a five star monopod without a doubt.
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Canon Monopod 500 Floor Standing Monopod 4782B001 Tripods
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