the one thing that separates a hobbyist from a pro is the gear I hate to break
it to you but nobody is gonna pay you to shoot their wedding with your 18 to 55
kit lens the barrier of entry to be a videographer or photographer is so low
that people are able to capture incredible imagery with little more than
their cellphones and no real education and cinematography or photography
amassing tens if not hundreds of thousands of followers but again nobody
is paying you to shoot for them with just your cell phone unless you're
managing social media or something almost everyone has a smartphone these
days it's not enough for you to be passionate and have natural talent you
have to look the part you need something that helps make your shots look stable
and looks like it didn't come free in an Amazon basics bundle I love you Amazon
my first piece of camera support was a Manfrotto monopod and I used it
exclusively for 2 to 3 years mind you not as a pro but still shooting events
in music videos and even the odd interview now you might need a tripod
for the kinds of things that you're shooting but for me it was the most
important piece of gear I owned apart from my camera. It's lighter than a
tripod which was important because I was taking it on the subway and bus I wasn't
driving and it's so easy to reset your shots with a monopod rather than picking
up a tripod and re leveling the legs some make it a lot easier than this but
those are the more expensive ones there is a trade-off however instability and
you need to be there to monitor it can't stand on its own so you can't leave it
on a monopod as your B cam which is understandable when I finally bought my
tripod I got this amazing fluid head that I can use on my monopod as well and
I fell in love all over again it's Manfrotto to a fluid head it's
really good not only could I support my camera with a super light portable piece
of gear but I could also pan and tilt and get some really nice looking shots
it's not like I couldn't pan or tilt at all before the
just made it so much easier and the movement of the head itself was buttery
smooth buying better gear is not a substitute for practice and experience
but you're kidding yourself if you think better gear doesn't help produce better
work this summer I was fortunate enough to shoot more weddings than ever before
and at one I met a guy that was shooting with this weird blue monopod we talked a
little bit about what we brought with us and then he goes hey have you heard of
Craig Adams and yeah I watched wedding film school
of course I've heard of Craig Adams which you guys should check out wedding
film school if you haven't yet I'm very helpful you'll learn a lot I
haven't seen Craig's review of the sear you monopod I hope I'm pronouncing that
right but after watching this guy's straight up believe his camera on this
monopod recording the head table to go check to see if there's audio levels on
his line out from the mixer we're good I was sold he straight-up left it alone
I needed this freedom I needed a new monopod I immediately went out looking
for a comparable Manfrotto version of this guy's Sirui P-204S I think that's
how you say that and I came across the Manfrotto MXM XPRO500 and holy shit
I was in Manfrotto knows how to make a sexy-looking piece of aluminum. It has
the same locking clips as the one on my men proto tripod and they snaps so
nicely they're so easy to use that's so secure and the fluid socket connected to
the feet locks to just like the Serie one so I should be able to leave my
camera on it like a tripod right wrong not only is the Manfrotto monopod not
sturdy enough for you to confidently leave your camera standing alone you
can't get a steady shot out of it unlocked you can move it all around and
with the neat swivel motion but locked it still f***ing moves there's still
shake to it I didn't record myself trying it out in the store but it was
really disappointing having the mana suade during a panner till with the
beautiful MVH500AH that they include with it like I really wanted this head
it is so much cheaper to just buy the monopod and the head together than it is
to buy the serie with the head which is what I ended up doing I just wanted to
buy the X Pro Manfrotto monopod because it came with the head and it's so much
sexier than the serial way sexier twist to lock isn't sexy do you hear the
snapping do you hear this snapping but then it came and Oh was I ever wrong
it's built so solidly and it feels so good to use look at this panning this is
not the head panning this is the monopod panning I actually liked the twist locks
more than I expected and you get a 6 year warranty so I'm not too worried
about them look at the size of these feet they're so big that I won't even be
mad when somebody calls this thing a tripod it even comes with a bag a bag
that would fit perfectly if not for the new head that I bought the MVH500AH
so the bag will fit the monopod paired with the 2-way Manfrotto head that's
probably gonna be my move for shoots where the only piece of support
equipment I need is a monopod why did I buy a new head the 2-way fluid head that
came with my tripod is great I love it I'm really happy with it and all the
work that I've done with it however it uses these smaller Manfrotto plates
there's nothing particularly wrong with them I actually prefer putting the
smaller ones on my camera versus the long plates because they give you this
piece of metal that comes out to help you twist them in eliminating the need
for a coin or tool it's beautiful but before I left the camera store that
I used to work at I purchased a glidecam HD-4000 it's great for a different kind
of movement that you can't get with a monopod there's kind of flowy tracking
shot like if you were doing real estate and walking into a room you
can't get that with a monopod if you were following the bride and groom
through the aisles or something you can't really do that with a monopod a
monopod is easy to pick up and move around but it is stationary so this was
a pretty big investment but the discount was good enough to spark a now-or-never
dilemma or my wallet ultimately lost if you've ever used one I bet you used it
with some kind of a quick-release plate built into the top because they're
designed to be disassembled when putting on a camera and this just doesn't work
when you want to quickly pop your camera in and out because the balancing does
take a while with a quick-release plate you only need one major balance and then
you can just do little micro adjustments as you pop it in and out this is the
quick-release plate that you need and it takes those big Manfrotto plates and if
you are like me shooting with the smaller plates and you want to save time
you're not gonna want to switch plates as well as switch pieces of equipment if
you're shooting at a wedding you might not have time to switch plates you could
be switching at a moment's notice oh I just want to make another point on this
camera head it gives us sort of counter balance that helps smooth out tilting
shots with bigger cameras and lenses so you can get shots like this without even
touching the monopod plus it has this brilliant quick-release system where you
unscrew it a little bit push it down and the whole plate just kind of pops out
you don't have to fiddle with trying to line up the the plate you just the whole
thing it's beautiful I love it hundreds of dollars later and I can do this
do you see this shit look again
in about 15 seconds I can move from monopod to glidecam mind
you I didn't rebalance here I also use a slider for a lot of shoots and the
smooth tilt of the MVM500AH is a nice addition for an even more dynamic shot
the slider is for a different kind of movement such as peaking around a corner
or to reveal something I'm probably gonna end up selling my old man photo
monopod but I'll definitely keep the tripod legs for use with my slider
that's one thing this monopod can't replace yes you can buy cheaper versions
of everything I talked about and yes you don't need expensive gear to shoot
good-looking photos and video but I'm able to operate faster and look cooler
doing it that's gonna do it for this video if you learn something or if I
helped you decide on your purchase drop a like and subscribe if you haven't
already thanks again your support is what keeps this channel going
this video was not sponsored by Sirui, Manfrotto
or glidecam but it totally should have been