@LPowell thanks... hmm. I don't know what to do then, perhaps look into other options, i'd seen such good reviews of that manfrotto one, but i take your warning of uselessness very seriously. Well there's no stock anyways so plenty of time to weigh up my options.

@jimtreats

My monopod is the standard heavy duty model without the mini legs.
I usually pan with the head, sometimes the legs rotate if the head's pan drag is set high.

I finally got my Manfrotto 561BHDV-1, a couple of weeks ago. So far I'm very happy with it, but have yet to use it in a proper shoot. Will update this thread if I get any issues.

The only annoyance i have, is the hotshoe tightening screw is at its tightest when its been twisted to a horizontal position. When your camera is on top of the hotshoe, you can not get your finger above this screw to loosen it. The first time i over tightended it this way it required a screwdriver to lever between the lever and the camera to get it free. Bad design! Is yours like this @killagram ?

Other than that, everything else is great with it so far.

@killagram, did you get chance to test your tightening screws, are they as annoyingly oriented. Or have you found them adjustable? Cheers.

@killagram

Thanks for your reply. Before reading it I already had a go with it this afternoon, in prep for a shoot tomorrow. I did do what you described and unscrewed the screw in the lever, removed the lever, and then was able to tighten it as much as possible, and then reorient the lever to be better positioned. Now the platform is tight with the lever pointing nearly down. Meaning i can turn it another 20 degrees say to go real tight but still be far away from horizontal. Great stuff. This was the only thing i was frustrated with. I'm hopeful it'll work like a charm tomorrow on its first shoot.

Cheers!

It worked like a dream. Such an easy fix, and pretty much removing the only problem i had with the thing.

The monopod performed like a dream with its first shoot. Managing to hold the Gh2, 25mm f0.95mm and Ruige 7" monitor on the hotshoe all stable with the ball joint in the foot locked.

Inside this was a great tripod equivalent, with super fast move and startup time, along with much improved access to awkward positions. Outside however, especially perhaps with the monitor attached and acting as a sail it was particularly susceptible to the wind being noticeable when left alone. Still that's sort of to be expected i guess.

I look forward to using it again soon. Highly recommended monopod so far.

i have the same monopod and I have found it to be excellent and very versatile. I have even used it as a glidecam style stabiliser which worked much better than expected due to the weight of the monopod.

@LongJohnSilver Basically by using it in the same way as you would use a glidecam. Having a monopod attached to your camera and moving with it will give you a more stable video just by it's weight alone. There is a good video that shows what I mean here: (vimeo.com/12747827). Check the page on vimeo because he has a picture of his makeshift monopod on there.

He's made some more modifications to the bottom of his monopod to allow for better balance. I did something similar when I was using mine as a stabilizer. Also check http://www.positivearticles.com/Article/Cheap-Or-Free-DSLR-StabilizationSteadicam-Tricks/53493 which has some good points regarding finding the centre of gravity of the monopod.

Guessing not. Maybe the 562 is the 561 w/o head though.
To me, what has become a most important spec is weight. This is 3.2lbs.
I would also consider a Carbon Fiber model of whatever brand for mobility. Also, don't expect 'perfect' stability with the added legs on the monopod. Will rock in windy conditions.

Yeah, i think the first video shows some great technique with MP. Probably one of the most under-rated piece of hardware. I've noticed, i've been using it less of late. I just picked up a new tripod w/502 head. Just came in.

@longjohn silver. No you can't mount a camera at 90degrees, it's a two way head. You can't really get a slider horizonal movement. You can, with the legs on the ground, lean the monopod above the ball joint to the side and get a horizontal movement that way. It will be a little diagonal movement really, since your height will drop as well depending on the angle.

The movement will not be slider smooth. With practice you can make it pretty smooth.