Introduction
I was recently doing some video work, a kind of vlog/interview type thing, for a community garden project in North Dublin. For the better part of 10 minutes, I was holding the combined 1.4kb of my 60D, 17-85mm, and Rode Videomic to near eye level. Sadly, this hurt my scrawny arms like hell and over the course of the video you can see the gap between the guy's head and the top of the frame close several times before I realise I have to readjust.
So, it was pretty obvious to me that I needed a monopod (tripod is too bulky for my needs), and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for one that had what I wanted. As I rarely do any paid video work, I couldn't justify (or afford) to spend too much money. On the other hand, I'd had a poor experience in the past buying crappy cheap tripod off ebay, so I wanted it to be a brand I could trust.
I eventually settled on the Manfrotto MMC3-02 Compact Monopod and Manfrotto 234 Monopod Tilt Head, which I purchased off Amazon UK for about £33.50. I couldn't find any comprehensive reviews of the monopod, but knew Manfrotto to be a well recommended brand.
Build Quality and Usability
The MMC3-02 is well built for the most part, but certain aspects of the build quality reflect its price. Weighing in at 290g, 39cm when collapsed and 145.5cm when fully extended, the monopod has a maximum load capacity of 1.5kb.
The metal seems quite strong, and I can't imagine any situation where it would bend or dint besides letting it fall of a cliff (which has actually happened to me with a tripod). The plastic connecting the different aluminium sections on the other hand feel like quite a light plastic. They hold the tripod in place steadily enough, but this is not a monopod I'd let dangle from my backpack when hiking, or in any other situation it might repeatedly bang off anything. The grip is textured to provide friction when holding, although it does not have any grooves for fingers. Although I'm not sure if that would be standard for monopods, it is a feature I would personally like. There is also a wrist strap with a cover for the camera mount (1/4-20 screw) attached.
The 234 Monopod Tilt Head feels sturdy enough to survive a fall, but mechanically it is not particularly well made. I find loosening the adjustment knob a little bit will make it be able to tilt (though with some effort), but loosening it any more will not make it any easier to tilt. It's more on/off than a gradual loosening. It's also not smooth in tilting, so anybody looking to tilt while filming should give this one a miss.
Conclusion
For the most part, I'm pretty happy with my purchase. It's a fair bit short of being perfect, but for my needs I think it was quite good value for a fairly low price. For others, the monopod is a fairly simple question of how rough are you with your gear. The head should be fine for photographers, and videographers who don't plan to adjust the tilt while filming.
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