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A S C R A P B O O K O F S O L U T I O N S F O R T H E P H O T O G R A P H E R
Reviews of photography products that enhance the enjoyment of taking pictures. Published frequently but irregularly.
A Monopod With A Twist
5 August 2013
Five twists, actually. There's the four locks that extend the 18-inch WalkAbout monopod to 60.4 inches and the one on top with the embedded compass. The one on the top is a nicely colored metallic bulb that lets the monopod function as a walking stick, too.
WalkAbout. 18 inches collapsed.
The metallic color accents might be considered a twist, too, come to think of it. But they're just accents, fortunately. The rest of the monopod is a sober, non-reflective black, including the foam grip and the hand strip.
We thought 18 inches was a bit big for the collapsed size but that fits easily in carry-on luggage. A lot easier, it should be noted, than a tripod. So you can travel with it further than you can walk.
Compass Top. Unscrew it to reveal the tripod screw.
The rubber foot is removable.
Our own favorite walking stick has a flask hidden in its case but that's the only feature we can find missing in the WalkAbout. And our walking stick doesn't have the 1/4-inch 20 standard tread screw, which (after emptying the flask) makes it really hard to balance a camera on top. So we're in the market for a monopod.
Feet & Locks. Removable foot, twist locks.
What intrigues us about monopods these days is how remarkably useful they are for video. We've been editing our handheld and tripod-mounted wedding video recently and the difference is remarkable.
We're stabilizing much of our handheld video in post production, a step we can skip with the tripod-mounted clips. You often can't tell whether a still was captured from a tripod but you can always tell if a video was handheld.
But with a tripod (as we point out in the wedding video story), the head determines how smoothly you can pan (or just follow the action). For stills, that's never an issue, so most tripods sport heads that just aren't suitable for video. Enter the monopod that can swivel elegantly on its single foot like Fred Astaire.
The $59 WalkAbout just might be the ticket.
Colors. An array of color accents to choose from.
MeFOTO Introduces Colorful WalkAbout Monopod
Available in eight metallic colors, the MeFOTO WalkAbout is a monopod with compass that photographers can also use as a walking stick.
NORTH WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- MeFOTO has announced the immediate availability of the MeFOTO WalkAbout, a monopod that can also be used as a walking stick available in eight colors. Each WalkAbout monopod includes a compass making it ideal for outdoor photography and hiking. The WalkAbout monopod also provides extra mobility and allows for quick setups when photographing sports, weddings or events.
Photographers can choose from gold, blue, green, red, titanium, purple orange and black. The MeFOTO WalkAbout has a weight capacity of 30.9 pounds making it compatible with a wide variety of point-and-shoot and dSLR cameras, while only weighing 1.4 pounds.
"The MeFOTO WalkAbout brings eye-catching metallic colors to a product that has traditionally been lacking a colorful personality," said Brian Hynes, MeFOTO's product marketing manager. "We wanted to make an affordable, hard-working monopod that photographers could find in the color of their choice."
Aluminum alloy material is utilized extensively in the construction of these tripods to take advantage of cast, forged and CNC machining techniques, all accentuated by an elegant series of robust surface treatments accented with color.
Features include:
- Removable compass knob
- Maximum extended height of 60.4 inches
- Minimum height of 18.1 inches
- Quick Twist Rubber Lock Grips with Anti-Rotating Legs
- Standard 1 4-20" thread for mounting camera
- Foam Grip
- Hand Strap
The new MeFOTO WalkAbout monopod is available now. Suggested retail price for the new monopod is $59.