Please critique my setup

[Nyezhov]

It's almost time for me to start traveling around, including a 10 dayer or so to Cambodia. I am a rank amateur in photography, but the only way to ever get good is to keep taking pictures. I'm still learning my camera, it Lumix g85 that is smarter than me. Because of certain physical limitations I have, gear that I carry has to be as light and compact as possible, especially if I a going to be out all day. I have a light tripod, but it's bulk prevents me from bringing with me what I need to wander around for a day with everything that I need. Even the super ultra lightweight carbon fiber tripods are too bulky for my purposes.

 

So what I did was buy a carbon fiber monopod. it's not as stable as a tripod, although more stable than me. It will work for pictures, but is tough for video. So what I did was buy a light collapsible three-piece tabletop tripod that I disassembled. It's easy to take apart and put together. The ball head is lighter than the ball head on my tripod, although it lacks a separate ball lock so does require a bit of finesse. The legs screw into the bottom of the monopod, and the whole thing collapses. I am trying to rig up a strap to carry the whole thing when collapsed. this way, when I take the camera off the monopod, it all fits very nicely in my pack, and I always had the option of just putting the peak design strap or wrist strap on. The whole monopod with feet and ballhead weigh a little over a pound, as compared to a pound and a half on my tripod, with far less bulk.

 

I could have bought dedicated legs for the monopod, but the ones that I have seen around town or a bit heavier than the legs off of this mini tripod, although they are probably a bit more stable. But this way, I have the benefit of a second little mini tripod that I can assemble in a matter of minutes.

 

I would appreciate any suggestions from anybody as to how I can improve this set up. I'm going to try it over the next few days and see how it works on video. If I carry the mini tripod pieces with me, I have the option of just reassembling everything for macro photography, or I can even drop the monopod all the way down and use it that way. Your suggestions or thoughts would be helpful.

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by Nyezhov