Hey everyone!
I wanted to get on with another gadgets and gizmos of plenty and let you know about a
monopod that I have been using for a while.
I picked this up it's been months ...I want to say I picked this up around June or July
this summer.
The thing with monopods that you have to remember is trying to find a monopod that works well
with whatever situation you're in and trying to shoot.
I found that traveling with this monopod, the VEO Vanguard monopod or Vanguard VEO monopod
was really a lot better for me.
Because it is significantly smaller than the Manfrotto monopod that I own and it is a lot
lighter.
Just like the Manfrotto it does stand on its own and it can hold a pretty good amount of
weight.
One thing when you're purchasing this monopod is that it doesn't come with a head.
You also will probably need to buy the adapters for the screw size as well if you're going
to put a different head on this monopod.
This monopod is made out of aluminum and comes with three flippable compartments which make
it very easy to open and adjust as you see fit.
This is how much it compacts.
Very compact very light monopod.
I often take this with me if I'm going on little day trip adventures, if I'm traveling
for work and I know I'm going to shoot some behind the scenes type stuff.
I take this monopod with me.
If i'm shooting things a little bit more professionally I'll often use my Manfrotto monopod instead
and use this monopod to hold whatever sound device I'm recording with.
One thing I will say about monopods in general is that, depending on what you're trying to
achieve that is going to dictate whether a monopod is a good fit for what you're doing.
The thing about monopods that you have to remember is that it is one leg.
So, a lot of times if you're going to do something where you want to track things in your shots
later or graphics or anything like that I recommend using a tripod instead because you're
going to get more stability.
Once you set your sticks, your camera is less likely to move.
The thing about monopods is while you can get them relatively straight, a lot of them
do tend to have just a slight little lean.
For me making YouTube videos, little behind the scenes stuff, photography, things like
that - doesn't really bother me.
I can live with it.
But if I was working on, professional paid gig depending on the content of that gig,
probably wont use my monopods to shoot it.
If that makes sense.
All that being said this monopod is really great, it compacts really well, really easy
to use and just all around a great buy.
This monopod does not come with a head.
It only comes with the body itself, and this lovely little strap and keychain clicker,
so you can hook it on to things if you so wish.
So to go along with this monopod I went ahead and purchased the Benro S2 video head.
I can't remember how much I paid for it but I'm sure I will throw in a graphic right here-ish
about how much I paid for it.
Its a fluid head so it has some fluidity to it, has movement.
It also lets you turn 360 all that jazz.
It gives you that range of motion that you're used to with a video head, and its also very
compact.
It's a very small video head.
So its really great for mirrorless cameras, which is what I use.
I use the Sony NEX-5T mirrorless camera to shoot my YouTube videos.
That is my Vanguard VEO monopod.
Once again I really love this monopod, I use it a lot now.
Almost more than my Manfrotto now actually.
It's a solid monopod worth the money that I spent.
Something that I definitely recommend too is that, the thing about this monopod compared
to the Manfrotto for example.
The Manfrotto gives you a lot of range of motion with the ball swivel on the bottom.
Which is a good thing and a bad thing.
Good in the sense that you have a lot of range of motion, you can do some crazy tilts pans
whatever...but to make it stand still you have to make sure you bring that ball back
to the center and test it.
Is it centered?
Is it safe?
So you have a higher risk of your monopod falling over.
With this, with the VEO Vanguard you lose some of that range of motion but one thing
about this is that it always comes back to equilibrium.
It's natural tendency is to give you resistance to do some movement some tilt but always come
back to the center.
So keep that in mind.
Once again, it is about what specifically are your needs?
When you're out and shooting to dictate what kind of monopod you'll use.
So yeah, that's me the VEO Vanguard monopod I hope you enjoyed this video.
Let me know in the comments below if you already have one or if you're thinking about purchasing
one and I will see you when I see you!