Naturally it's a bit spindly at full extension, butīetter than thin air when you're looking for some extra support! Its strengths and weaknesses? Well, while nothing of that weight's going to provide the support of a sturdy tripod, it's light enough to carry everywhere, light enough to leave dangling from the camera (preferably at least partially folded!) while moving about and (with those secure flip locks) very quick to deploy. There's a wrist loop attached to the head where it clamps to the top tube. 58x35mm with camera locking screw (no quick release) and a tilt locking screw which (unlike a headless monopod) also allows you to set the camera in portrait mode. It has a cork-surfaced platform of approx. The head, which Slik describe as 'one way' and is clamped to a fitting at the top of the tube, is mainly plastic but (perhaps thanks largely to its compact dimensions) seems quite stiff and sturdy. While I'd have liked it to fold to five shorter sections from packing (stuff it in your rucksack) and minimum height (close to the ground macro) perspectives, it's obvious that this would have required it to be thicker and heavier, so I'm willing to forgive it that. The bottom section is tipped by a rubber foot. With the plastic flip lock adjusters undone there's a little play between the tubes, but they lock both easily and positively to take that out and set the height very securely. 20mm to 11mm in diameter, it's not called a Slim Pod for nothing and (despite one review I read) not suited to use as a hiking pole! But, while you can make it flex slightly by leaning on it hard at full extension, I'd say it's quite sturdy enough for its intended purpose. To describe it in a bit more detail, with alloy tubes ranging from approx. So what is it? It's an ultralight four-section monopod (quoted by Slik at 290gĪnd weighing in at 278g on my electronic scales), extending to 1510mm (FWIW, I measured 1508mm), folding to 530mm (confirmed), allegedly taking a load of 1,240g (nearly three FZ18s?) and landing on my doorstep for £21.50 GBP inc. So what do you when the FZ18 is the bulkiest, heaviest camera you're prepared to carry for a range of outdoor activities, you think a tripod might be useful, but suspect you'd rarely carry one except when setting out with primarily photographic intent? Well, since a lightweight monopod looked worth a try to me, I bought this Slik Slim Pod a few weeks ago largely as a cheap experiment while humming and hawing about the pros, cons and feature sets of
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