Vertical Photos on 70-200 2.8 with Monopod

[victric]

This is my first time shooting sports with a monopod and I have a tennis game to shoot tomorrow. I have Manfrotto 234 Tilt Head and I want to know if its correct to loosen the collar so you can swing from landscape to portrait. Would that wear out the collar?

[Mr. Pickles]

You mean the collar for the lens? If so, that would be one of the two reasons it is there for. It is better than dropping a ballhead down the side....

[victric]

Yes, the len's tripod collar. So would you keep the collar loose and rotate the camera/lens 90 degrees or would you use the tilt head to do the rotating?

[Mr. Pickles]

I'd leave the collar somewhat loose. Does it stop at the 90 degree mark? Regardless, rotating the lens collar should be quicker than flopping the ballhead down to the 90 degree position. Doing that puts the whole setup in a weird balancing position. Also flopping the ballhead lowers the camera position...

[brian.austin]

You can leave the collar a little loose. It has a notched channel to keep it on the lens except at certain points. If it's not too loose, it won't come off...and even if it DOES become too loose, the mount comes off toward the camera body and can't let the camera/lens combination escape.

[stoph]

I have a ballhead that I use on my monopod when I use the 17-55 2.8 IS but when I'm using the 70-200 2.8 IS I find that loosening the tripod collar and rotating the camera is far better. The camera stays more centered over the monopod and I feel that it is much quicker to go from horizontal to vertical.