Monopod in China

[adpix]

Would a monopod be practical on a tour of China?   My concerns are with crowded and restrictive sites.  I won't be a 'free range tourist', but rather part of a Viking group on a cruise up the Yangtze and on planes to major cultural points around the country. 

Or, put another way, could I get by with just the new Nikon 20-120mm/f.4 VR lens?

Thanks for any advice,

Bill Jackson

[c_soars]

I'd imagine one of the larger gorillapods would prove very useful, allowing you to get night/self shots by using ledges, rails, boulders etc.  Digital ISO and VR should cover any daytime shooting, and at night a monopod won't be of much use. 

[Anders_HK]

Dont worry!!! China is more civilized in these ways than most places. I travel China many times a year and set up my tripod pretty much wherever I please  , just be tad forward, smile and be friendly. 

If any issue arise, just be friendly, smile and thus use that to get out of it.

My tripod has been as carry on strapped to my Tenba PBP on all flights I taken it with me on worldwide since 2002... granted not to USA... my current Gitzo since some 3-4 years back is not small 

Regards
Anders

[john beardsworth]

I'm rather intrigued by the idea of your going as part of a Viking group. I thought that kind of tourism went out of vogue 1000 years ago

John

[adpix]

As a bit of background to my query about monopods, I was frustrated on the Nile when I could not capture the chiaroscuro effects within the temples and ruins without a tripod. A little baksheesh might have blurred the regulations, but temps up to 105-degrees in March forced me into a stripped-down guerrilla-photography mode.

As to John's wonderment at my antediluvian tour, I have to admit that I came to the idea grudgingly.  After years in advertising and now fine arts photography, I am used to traveling on my own. But that's not how Egypt wanted me to see the Upper Nile, even if I can mumble a bit of Arabic. So I took the Viking tour and was  happily surprised. Unlike an ocean tour, where the point seems to be to eat, drink and regress to an infantile state, the river cruise was filled with erudite people who had actually studied for the test. The  tour guide was responsive to our needs and made it possible for my wife (painter) and me to work on our own (we're used to getting it done and getting out of there). After the tour ended, we spent another week in Cairo on our own to explore the back streets.  So I can't imagine a more efficient way to get an overview of China in just three-weeks. But later we hope to return to selected spots in The Middle Kingdom and make images at our own pace

[john beardsworth]

Bill, I'm not calling anyone "antediluvian". I've no idea what a Viking group may be, other than a bunch of angry Scandinavians! Joke....

[riwong]

I just came back from a tour of China.  I brought  a monopod, tripod, tabletop tripod, and superclamp.  I ended up using all but the monopod.  I have done the Yangtze river cruise before the last lock was finished.  I have the 24-120 VR but unless you have a D3 or D700 you will need a fast lens to shoot from the ship. VR will not freeze movment so as the ship travels up or down river you still need a fast shutter speed to freeze motion.  I ended using my 70-200 2.8 as my ship lens. 

On this last trip I decided that I needed my fast lenses and full frame to work the markets and villages that we were going to visit.  I ended up with a full frame body, 20mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 180mm 3.5, 24-135, and 70-300.

When I was forced to hand hold my camera I used mostly my primes.  I used my zoom with tripod 100% of the time.  I was using my Sony A850 because it is full frame and Image stabilization is built into the camera so all lenses I use will be Image-stabilized.

I even though I did bring my monopod I ended up using my tripod as a monopod when traveling through crowds.


Night shots or lowlight photography will need your tripod. And If you want to shoot that grand vista at the magic hour or a village lit by Red Lanterns.





So if you want to be ready to capture that sunrise or sunset, street photography at night, and grand vistas that stretch out to the horizon, then yes you will need a tripod. I have found that when tripods are baned I can get by sometimes with a super clamp and my tripod head.  example in a church I take a seat and clamp my head to the back of the bench in fround of me.  how's about the railing or the post of fencing around exhibits.

I have done many cruises and they are great to scout out new locations but the downside is that you don't have that much freedom when you are on a tour but you do have free time to explore on your own.  When people are shopping or eating I step out and shoot, when they put you up in a hotel for the night I stay up and explore and shoot.  I wake up at 5am and shoot before breakfast. But this is mostly low light photography so you will need a tripod.


Link to my China travel journal: http://riwong.smugmug.com/Travel-Journal/China-2011-Winter-EdVenture/China-Winter-EdVenture-2011/15327641_KvEg4

[stever]

i've trried monopods on cruises and tours and decided it's not worth the trouble - the monopod is little or no benefit over handheld for panoramas, and of no use for precise framing or long exposures.  i always seem to have trouble moving the ledges, boulders, rails to where i need them for a gorrillapod.  have similarly found that a tripod is much easier than carrying a table so i can use a tabletop tripod - although some people seem to be clever at this

i have a Velbon ultra max i which collapses to 13 inches.  very flimsy, but using an angle plate and nodal slide, i can balance the camera and fire with a wired or wireless cable release (or timed release) for panos and low light -- and you can extend one leg and use it as a monopod which i haven't had much use for

the Nikon 24-120 will be fine on full-frame most of the time, but cruising you need something longer, like the 80-400.  on crop frame the 24-120 is still not long enough and not wide enough in cities where 28mm eff is barely wide enough,  i would also suggest something like a 50 1.4 for low light shots

[adpix]

Thanks for the great ideas, evaluations and examples.  I'll be packing, unpacking, and repacking until 5-minutes before I head to the airport.
But I have realized that I like the idea of using a monopod more than the actual experience of using a monopod.  So I  have to test just what advantage it gives me. It may be overstated.

Earlier in this conversation I alluded to shooting on the Nile last spring. So now, when I look at the demonstrations in Tahrir Square and the chaos at the airport, I worry about the plight of  landscape photographers now in Egypt.   On the other hand, it could be a great opportunity for making a career change to photojournalism.

Bill Jackson

[Brian Carey]

Lovely work riwong !

There's no problem deciding what to use for me. A tripod give you so many options and opportunities than a monopod or handheld!.