Manfrotto 235 flex head & 276 monopod

[Malcolm_Stewart]

Yesterday was Thursday when Rocky visits Milton Keynes market with his camera stall. I spotted yet another monopod (I've lost count of how many I've bought over the years) and it felt firm enough to be safe, and yet light enough to get taken out. More interestingly it came with a Manfrotto 235 Flex Head which I haven't seen before, and the only reference I can find on the web is in Polish. The translation makes interesting reading.

The beauty of the flex head (52mm high & 38mm diameter) is that it's made out of firm rubber with 1/4" socket and 1/4" camera threads, and goes between top of monopod and camera/lens. There's enough flex in the rubber, which is waisted, for it to allow easy movement of my heavy tele lens and camera but without any risk of the flop you can get from a ball head.

I gave it a try later with an EF300 f4L lens mounted to the head, and my EOS 1D MkIII attached to the lens. There was more than enough flex for shooting ducks at the local pond, and at the same time I had no worries about the lens/camera combo falling over as with a ball head. Pity that the 235 Flex Head doesn't appear to have been imported here, and it's certainly not listed in last year's Manfrotto catalogue. (The two items cost me £13.)

[Mark_Norton]

Very interesting, I find the flop from a ball head is a real problem, especially when using the Nikon D3 and their 200-400 zoom which is a heavy old thing; I've almost dropped the combo a couple of times when releasing the ball head. With a ball head, the all or nothing grip could lead to a very bad day, and it's important to mount the camera at, or as close as possible to the centre of gravity. Until you are used to it, dealing with a heavy combo calls for extreme care.

I use a Manfrotto NeoTec tripod so I'm going to see if there's anything equivalent to what you have found.

[beejaybee]

The beauty of the flex head (52mm high & 38mm diameter) is that it's made out of firm rubber with 1/4" socket and 1/4" camera threads

Odd for a Manfrotto item? Most everything else is threaded 3/8" or has both 1/4" and 3/8" fittings.

I find the flop from a ball head is a real problem ... With a ball head, the all or nothing grip could lead to a very bad day, and it's important to mount the camera at, or as close as possible to the centre of gravity.

I am not a fan of ball heads (that's putting it somewhat mildly).

The real problem with adjusting the CoG to balance a ball type head is that the position of the CoG varies wildly with the elevation; if it's adjusted correctly when level then it will be front heavy if pointed down or tail heavy if pointed up, with a positive feedback effect in the event of slippage. This applies to other types of head as well, but for some reason ball heads seem to suffer more, possibly because they tend to flop in tilt simultaneously with elevation.

The SpeedGraphic catalogue features the "Novoflex Forked Joint" (£49) which looks as though it may be useful in the same applications as the Manfrotto flex head, but I have no personal experience of either.