Monopod or Tripod
 

I 've been reading various reviews , forums , magazines and photographers views on tripods and monopods . The main point thats come up , is the situation the photographer is in , ie area - space - subject and how much room they have to carry either the tripod or monopod . whats your opinion on this .

Tripods for long exposures
Monopods for heavy lenses

Both have their good and bad points which you seem to know. If you can only afford of want one I would go with a tripod as you can use one without spreading the legs out if short of room. Just my thought others may have better ideas.

For my 300mm I use a heavy tripod which I am happy to lug around my local wildlife patch or strap to my push bike for longer trips. For this year I have bought a £50 travel tripod which seems quite sturdy for low level work which I hope will be ideal for butterfly and insect shots. My main bugbear with the heavy tripod is its legs getting tangled in the long meadow grass.

It definitely comes down to what and where you are shooting. For wildlife with a long lens I will almost always use a tripod, likewise when doing any long exposures. Shooting sports I will tend to either hand hold or use a monopod as it offers some support while being much easier to move around with. For portraits, lifestyle and weddings I will just shoot handheld as it is what suits the situation.

KIV - a tripod can be used as a monopod, but not the other way round