The Manfrotto MVM500A video fluid monopod review
So if you read my previous blog post you'll have seen that while I was recently up in Yokohama shooting a wedding I stopped by my favourite camera shop Yodobashi Camera and picked up the new Manfrotto MVM500A monopod for video. Although I had a devil of a time carting it back through Yokohama and Tokyo with my other camera gear and luggage it was well worth the investment.
Although I'm no professional videographer I do like to make the odd video for my Youtube channel for a bit of fun and also find this monopod fantastic for getting smooth panning shots while shooting stills at slower shutter speeds as Im able to smoothly pan the subjects with long lenses and still shoot in the range of 30th or 40th/second and still get a relatively high "keeper" rate. Much higher at least then what I could do hand held or with my old existing regular monopod.
I bought the monopod for just over 30,000yen or about $300US but looking on Amazon.com now I see they have it at a discount. You can check it out or buy the monopod from this link. http://tinyurl.com/mnjtgd2
Buying anything on Amazon via my link also helps me keep my business going a little bit and allows me to keep making these video reviews so thank you for using it!
Here's my video review of the new Manfrotto MVM500A
And here's a couple of test photos I did using the monopod with my Canon 1DmkIV and 300mm f2.8L lens at 40th/second shutter speed. As you can see I was able to track my good friend pro surfer Danny Melhado below and keep him sharp even at this crazy slow shutter speed while allowing the water to become blurry. Below that is one of Danny's students going much slower thus the water is not as blurred but you get the idea.
Although I'm no professional videographer I do like to make the odd video for my Youtube channel for a bit of fun and also find this monopod fantastic for getting smooth panning shots while shooting stills at slower shutter speeds as Im able to smoothly pan the subjects with long lenses and still shoot in the range of 30th or 40th/second and still get a relatively high "keeper" rate. Much higher at least then what I could do hand held or with my old existing regular monopod.
I bought the monopod for just over 30,000yen or about $300US but looking on Amazon.com now I see they have it at a discount. You can check it out or buy the monopod from this link. http://tinyurl.com/mnjtgd2
Buying anything on Amazon via my link also helps me keep my business going a little bit and allows me to keep making these video reviews so thank you for using it!
Here's my video review of the new Manfrotto MVM500A
And here's a couple of test photos I did using the monopod with my Canon 1DmkIV and 300mm f2.8L lens at 40th/second shutter speed. As you can see I was able to track my good friend pro surfer Danny Melhado below and keep him sharp even at this crazy slow shutter speed while allowing the water to become blurry. Below that is one of Danny's students going much slower thus the water is not as blurred but you get the idea.
For this shot of Danny above I also applied an oil filter to the water in Photoshop to make it seem almost like a painting and to increase the blurry feel even more.
So do you need this monopod if you just want to shoot stills? No but it will allow you to get more creative and nail more of those slower shutter panning shots.
What about for video? Do I need one of these? I would say YES! Of course tripods are great and cant be beat for stabilisation. But for times when you can't use a tripod or are in a hurry like at weddings then this thing is perfect. It will also allow you to get shots you just couldn't get with a tripod, getting into smaller tight spaces, standing up on a narrow bench say.
Highly recommended! Again you can pick one up on sale from Amazon by clicking here!
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