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Two big thumbs up for the Bogen monopod swivel (Bogen #3232 or
Manfrotto #234). A ball head on a monopod is overkill, whether you
are mounting the camera body or the tripod collar of a big lens. Dave
Martindale's post tells you the two ways it can be used. I personally
use it to flop the camera body for verticals, and I tilt the entire
monopod/swivel/camera unit to point up or down. See this link at
Really Right Stuff:

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/tuto...ods/index.html

I wouldn't use the Bogen quick release, however. I use only Arca
Swiss-type quick release gear with dedicated camera plates from Really
Right Stuff or Kirk (www.kirkphoto.com).

--
Ponte Rotto


(Dave Martindale) wrote in message news:<beevsm$dvk$>...
>
> Manfrotto makes a "monopod head" that has only one axis of rotation.
> It's intended to let you flip the camera from landscape to portrait
> orientation, if you mount the camera with the head axis front/back.
> But you can also mount the camera so the head axis runs left/right, and
> then use it to tilt the camera up or down. This is a lot more practical
> than tilting the whole monopod if what you're aiming at is more than 20
> degrees above or below the horizon.
>
> The Manfrotto head is nice and rigid when it's clamped, and adds only a
> couple of inches of extra length. I think there are two models, the
> #234 and #234RC. The former has a plain screw mount for the camera,
> while the latter has a quick-release mount with a plate that you can
> keep mounted on the base of your camera. It lets you attach and detach
> the camera rapidly. Also, the clamping area of the quick-release mount
> is square, so you can mount the camera on the head in the orientation
> that gives either landscape/panorama switching, or camera tilt.
>
> In the USA, the same head is probably sold under the Bogen label, with
> some incomprehensibly different model number.
>