Monopod recommendation?

[Amor Lucis]

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone might be able to recommend a carbon-fibre monopod plus head - and what kind of head would be best (I've never used a monopod before)? The use would be for bird photography with my Sony 200-600mm. I'm 1.68m (5' 6.5" in old money) if that makes a difference.

Cheers,

Martin

 

[spudhead]

hi I use the same lens on a gitzo 6x monopod and in fact much bigger heavier long lenses, I think the spec on gitzo site states good to 30kg

 

[Amor Lucis]

hi I use the same lens on a gitzo 6x monopod and in fact much bigger heavier long lenses, I think the spec on gitzo site states good to 30kg

Thanks for that suggestion. Would that be the GM4562? I think that was on special deal (32%off) at B&H yesterday and I *almost* snapped it up but decided to wait until I had suggestions first. Now I missed it. Darn!

I'm not averse to shelling out the money (I have a Gitzo as my main tripod), but I'm hesitant in placing much faith in "max load" specifications because there is no clear standard for measuring that. Does it mean until it bends too much or snaps or the joints slip or ...? Obviously, not all carbon fibre is of equal strength and there are differences in manufacturing tolerances, etc., but I see very different max load specs for what appear to be very similar monopods. I'm no engineer, but my guess is that thinnest leg is the weakest element and different tripods with the same thickness of thinnest leg suggest vary different max loads.

Intuitively I would think fewer legs results in a sturdier monopod, all else being equal of course.

Anyway, this is why I ask for recommendations, because in the end real world experience tells a clearer story than marketing claims.

Cheers.