Trekpod - The Monopod With Legs

The Trekpod is a great camera accessory for any Nature Photographer.

A Trekpod is a Monopod, but better.

What is a Monopod?

Monopods are a hiking stick which you can mount your camera to the top of.

The Pros of Monopods

The benifits of a Monopod are it's size and portability. Monopods are lighter than a normal tripod and some can collapse making them even more compact. Because it can be used as a walking stick it is much easier to carry around. When you are hiking through rough terrain a Monopod will help steady you instead of knock you off your balance.

The Cons of Monopods

The problem with Monopods is that they do not work as well as a tripod. A good solid tripod will keep your camera stationary allowing you to take long exposures that are sharp and in focus. When using a Monopod you and your camera will sway from side to side and front to back. A Monopod is just a crutch, it will help you be steadier then you would be on your own. But it will not keep your camera still and you will only be able to take slightly longer shots than you would if you were hand holding your camera.

Monopod VS Tripod

The Monopod has portability on it's side, but the clear (without any motion blur) winner is the Tripod. It's great that you can take a Monopod anywhere, but once you get it there it doesn't keep your camera steady which is why you carried it there for.

The Trekpod takes the portability benefits of the mono pod and adds the stability of a tripod. This gives you the best of both worlds.

The Trekpod has legs the fold out at the base to act as a tripod base. These legs fold back into the Treckpod to form a Monopod. That way you can hike into your location using your trekpod as a monopod, then when you are ready to take your photos you can extend the trekpods legs to use your trekpod as a tripod.