Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I tried two other monopods before I settled on this one. I was looking for a lightweight monopod carry when hiking and biking with my Nikon D200 or Canon Pro1. The Pro1's 200mm equivalent zoom often requires support to eliminate camera shake when taking dawn, evening or deep forest (low light) photos. Even the Nikon's 18-200mm (27-300mm equivalent 35mm) VRII lens benefits from using a monopod. The Pro1 weighs 1.5 pounds and the Nikon D200 3.5 pounds. Here are the features the Opteka MP100 has that I consider important: 1. it's amazingly light weight 2. it's very rigid (considering the light weight) because the round leg has a locking channel 3. it's sturdy enough to use as a light walking stick 4. the quick action lever leg lock system means it adjusts height quickly which I find very important 5. the carrying case with strap keeps it from banging against another metal object when traveling 6. the 67" length allows me to set the camera at eye level (I'm 6' tall) even if I'm up on a step 7. folded up and attached to the camera, it can be lik a pistol grip I've been using it for 6 months now and I'm very pleased it. I fold it up but leave it attached to the camera when I'm walking around, so it is always available. At $13 it is a fantastic buy.