I picked up the Manfrotto 679B Monopod last week because I was heading to the 10 hour Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta on Saturday.  As a motorsports fan, I’ve been trying to make it to this race for the past 4 years; however, scheduling conflicts had prevented me from going – until this weekend.

Since I’ve been to Road Atlanta before and carried around my trusty Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I expected that it might get a little heavy during a 10+ hour trek through pre-race festivities and during the race itself.  Adding a monopod to my personal kit has been long overdue.  A little shopping around proved that the 679B was probably the best bang for my buck.  Turns out that I guessed right – the 679B is a real winner.

The Manfrotto 679B Monopod is built in 3 sections, two of which are telescoping via thumb-latches located at the top of the two lower sections.  The 679B features a 1/4″ and retractable 3/8″ screw attachment for attaching your camera or lens collars.  The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 lens comes with a detachable collar, which attaches securely to the 1/4″ screw and really balances well on the monopod.

The rubber foot on the 679B is thick and robust, providing a solid footing on all the surfaces I encountered.  It’s now more of a red color than the black rubber due to the vast quantity of red clay around the track at Road Atlanta.

Fully extended, it reaches about 63.5″, which I found to be about right in most situations. (I’m about 6’0″) Granted, there were a few instances where I could have used an extra inch or so due to the downslope that I was standing on.  If you were inclined to add a tripod head to it, then you’ll get a little extra reach out of it.

A tripod head would also allow you to adjust the angle to your liking.  However, I found the tripod collar on my Sigma 70-200mm lens to permit sufficient maneuvering of the lens – such that a separate head would be unnecessary and probably more cumbersome for the subjects I was shooting.

There’s nothing really sexy about the Manfrotto 679B Monopod – it just works.  It’s well built but still relatively light and compact.  It can support up to 22 pounds per the specs – I bet it would hold more just fine.  As a tool, the Manfrotto 679B can really make your job easier and help you produce better pictures through a much cheaper image stabilization system than you’ll find in high-priced pro lenses.

In short, I’ve got nothing but praise for this light and affordable monopod ($45-50).  If you’re in the market for a monopod or plan on shooting a sporting event for an extended period of time, the Manfrotto 679B Monopod deserves some serious consideration.

Most of your serious photography retailers will carry the Manfrotto 679B Monopod.  I recommended shopping at Amazon, Adorama and B&H Photo.  These are the trusted online vendors where I personally shop for almost all of my photography gear.