Customer Reviews

Canon Monopod 100 for SLR Cameras & Lenses

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Never did find more than the one photo of this Monopod on the Internet so thought I would upload some since it arrived here..

Time will tell of course, but it does seem sturdy and the locks are very tight to start with etc. The mini ball head, while not the quality of one costing what the whole monopod costs.. seems to be capable and holds my heavy DSLR with grip firmly.
Again, we'll see what some wear does to it and edit this then.

Update after some use..

Well, working very well and clamps are still nice and tight, socket and ball are also doing just fine.

I find that I'm not going to leave the monopod screwed in my battery grip while I walk to next shot etc. It seems to put extra pressure on the grip to camera mount that you don't want.
But this is nothing that this Canon product does that another will not however. No problem if the camera is setting on the monopod, but best not to hold horizontal etc.

Update 8/06

Price seems to push high now and then.. my review is based on a price of $30 ,other brands come into consideration at $50 and up.

Canon unit is still working just fine and giving no signs of wear or trouble, I'm still happy with it for the price I paid.

Update; July 8,2007

This monopod is still doing well and I have no complaints.

Update; Nov 2009

Showing some wear but still working as it should and no reason to replace it.

I love this monopod! I'm a person who uses my camera nearly every day (Canon EOS Elan 7 35mm). This item is one of my favorite accessories for the camera -- so much easier to travel with than a tripod! It's sturdy, but lightweight, easy to use and is very portable. I am mostly using the monopod to support my camera with an enormous, extremely heavy 500mm telephoto lens attached. I'm actually able to hold that huge lens steady with just the monopod -- not one blurry photo! I've dragged it all over the Bluegrass of Kentucky ... across fields of horse farms, and even to the racetrack. I've taken it out into the wilderness to photograph elk. I had to keep closing it down and extending it out every time we got in and out of the vehicle, which was often. Also recently traveled all over Arizona with it to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Canyon De Chelley, etc. I was constantly opening and closing it, taking literally hundreds of photos (about 14 rolls) with no problems at all. I'm wondering if the other reviewer just got a defective one. I wish I'd bought one of these years ago! I highly recommend it.

I purchased this monopod a couple of weeks ago now because I am shooting a Canon 20D with the Canon EF 100mm-400mm f/4.5 L IS lens. I also purchased the BG-E2 Battery Grip and the E1 Hand Grip thinking those would be enough to help steady the camera enough with this L lens on the front. I was wrong. I still love my hand grip for security reasons with my other lenses, and my battery grip I can't say enough about. This monopod, however, is the ABSOLUTE BEST. My shots have improved to the point where I have literally no blurry pictures at all. I have shot well over 5,000 frames using this monopod and I have only had maybe 10 shots that were blurry.

I attach the monopod to the ring mount on the lens and just start firing away with absolute confidence that my shots are going to be perfect. And they are. The monopod can handle the weight in the horizontal mode just fine. The vertical mode is a bit weak with the support, but it's not that big of a deal.

I stand 6'4" tall and the monopod is the perfect shooting height for me. I don't have to bend over at all to look through the eye-piece on the camera.

This is a PERFECT addition to my equipment and I am loving this.

I bought this monopod about 3 weeks ago after reading the reviews here. I'm not sure if I got a defective unit but I've had these problems from the gitgo:

-I noticed the 2 lower sections will not open and close smoothly, they would get stuck about 2-3 inches from the lock and you'd need force to expand/retract them. Very interestingly, if the section right above the one I'm trying to expand/retract is unlocked then the operation is smooth and flawless!
-The ballhead does not support my Nikon D80 and lightest lens (18-55mm) a less than 2 lbs combo, which is much lighter than the 4.4 lbs weight limit indicated in the specs. The camera just slumps in one direction or another regardless of how hard I try to make sure the ballhead is locked tightly.

Again, it might have been a defective unit, but I thought I'd point my observations out anyway. I wanted to buy this from Amazon, it wasn't in stock, it was sitting in my shopping cart and when it became available Amazon bumped the price to $40+, so I went elsewhere and got it for $30.

This monopod looked well designed -- comfortable grip, light weight, extra length, easy-to-use swivel head, very compact. Unfortunately, after just 3 uses, the bottom lever just snapped off with hardly any pressure. The plastic is too brittle to support the pressure of holding the leg in place. Other users have noted this defect as well. I can't see any way to repair this. Adorama's return policy requires you to return defective products within 14 days, with complete packaging intact. I really wish this monopod had been made of more quality materials for the levers -- it really was perfect in every other way. Now it's unusable.

This is a great monopod for the price. It is lightweight and well built. The only downside is the ball head isn't really made to handle the heavy weight combinations of camera and lens (such as the EF 100-400L IS on a 20D). It will work fine while shooting with heavy lenses, but you'll need to carry your rig by the camera/lens while transporting.

Appeared to be a rather sturdy monopod but after about 3 weeks of shooting various sporting events, on section of the retractable leg is sticking quite badly now. I'd say spend the extra money for a better product.

One of the best buys I've made. Very well constructed and very light weight. I toyed with buying a unit that had a more traditional pan and tilt head with handle but .... why? This simple to operate head does a great job. I took some shots in a museum under very bad lighting and a 3 second exposures, came out great with this monopod.

UPDATE: December 2009 -

I have adapted this mono pod to become a mini-Body-Pod.

A description. I removed the little hand strap and added a shoulder strap in its place. I purchased a waist flag pole carrier that's really just a belt with a cup that would normally carry the bottom of a flag staff in a parade.

Here's how it works..... The monopod is kept collapsed (no leg extension at all) and the bottom of the monopod leg in dropped into the flag pole cup on the belt. The belt is worn so the cup is at waist level in front. The shoulder strap is worn around the neck as a camera strap might be worn. If need be, the monopod leg length can then be adjusted to rsise the camera to 'your' viewing height.

What you have is a hands free camera carrier. This is great for both still cameras with a long lens and for video cameras. It s a very stable platform for both. It makes it very easy to smoothly pan right/left for video and stills or to hold the shot place for long periods.

(You can find the "Waist Style Flag Carrier" via Google or, [...] )

This rig also works very well in locations where a tripod and monopods are not allowed.

I shoot a lot of telephoto pictures and hate lugging a tripod around. This monopod, combined with the image stabilizer in my camera allows me to take some nice close-ups of birds with minimum hassle and without the extra weight and bother of a tripod. The results are not quite as sharp those I get with my tripod but are mostly quite good enough. They are noticeably crisper than hand held.

Combined with a quick release attachment for my camera it also doubles as walking stick, which is very handy when negotiating slippery stream beds.The pan head seems a bit fragile being made of plastic but seems to hold my less than 2 pound camera/lens combination quite well and it rotates smoothly. I don't know how durable it is but so far so good. The monopod also strikes a nice balance between weight and stability. I'm satisfied

1 Year Update:

The ball head is getting a little loose and requires quite a bit of torque to keep the camera level. This is using an ultra-zoom. For landscape mode it's still fine but turning the camera on its side for portrait view shots it tends to flop. I do use it often but am looking to buying a metal head model especially now that I'm transitioning to a DSLR with a hefty zoom. The ball head on this is not robust enough to handle a two plus pound camera, though I don't imaging that this monopod was ever intended for that use.

I decided to purchase the Monopod for my new Pentax Digital Camera when I am using the 75mm-300mm lens. It has worked out extremely well--great purchase! As anyone who has tried to use a telephoto lens without support will tesitfy, it can be very difficult to keep a steady hand. I have found the compact size and lightweight construction make it easy to carry while taking pictures.