Arthur C : What is the length of the brace fully extended and fully retracted? Does the brace and shoulder contact fold flat against the monopod for traveling. Also can the shoulder contact be swung down and used against a person's belly or tucked into ones waist belt? Has anyone shortened the two long parts so the minimum length is less?ROBERT F : The shoulder brace is about 12 1/2 inches long fully extended and about 8 inches long when fully retracted. It does fold flat against a monopod for travelling. I cannot imagine that the brace could be tucked into a waist belt or against the abdomen, but I've never tried it. Last use was night time shooting at the Santa Fe event for burning Old Man Gloom, aka Zozobra, with a Nikon D200. It worked well (held against my shoulder).Ronald D : I bought this item in 2011 and hardly used it. It was more trouble than its worth. It was not as flexible as I wanted and the adjustments were more difficult to do quickly.
I purchased a Manfrotto Neotec Pro Photo Monopod; Holds 17.6 lbs.PART # 685B. It is the best monopod I have owned for usability and convenience. Below is a Utube video on its use. There is a video on Utube that show how easy it works and how good it is.ALBERT F : Way too many questions. Buy it! It's cheap. You don't like it return it. I love it.Arthur C : Thank you Quang.QUANG L : What is the length of the brace fully extended and fully retracted?
-For arm lengh: min 7" max 11"
Does the brace and shoulder contact fold flat against the monopod for traveling?
-Yes.
Also can the shoulder contact be swung down and used against a person's belly or tucked into ones waist belt?
-Yes. There is a plastic gimble ball to connect the shoulder rest and the arm part. That means you can turn in any direction.
Has anyone shortened the two long parts so the minimum length is less?
You mean to cut it short? It is only 12" when fully extended. To me it's a perfect length to work with.Arthur C : Thanks Richard for answering all my questions. I had seen feedback from a couple folks that said they couldn't get their eye to the viewfinder at the shortest setting. I am average height so I should be fine then.Arthur C : Thank you for your feedback, it is much appreciated.Arthur C : Great, thank you so much for your detailed answers. They are a big help.JOSEPH B : Fully Extended from monopod to to shoulder contact is 11 inches. Fully retracted is 7 inches. The brace does fold against the monopod but not totally flast as the shoulder brace keeps it from being flat. However it is flat enough for traveling. The brace fits on the tripod screw on top of the monopod so unless that is at the height of your belly, you cannot brace it against the belly or waist belt. Would be awkward at best. Since the two parts ot the brace interlock to change lengths, it would not be advisable to shorten either one of the adjustable parts. However you can remove the length with the shoulder pad and the remaining portion should lay flat against the monopod body. Hope this helps answer the question. The brace works well for me even with a 300mm plus 2X extender.DALE M : The fully extended length, from should pivot to camera bolt is 12.5 inches. The retracted length is 8.5 inches.
Yes, the shoulder brace can be used against the belly or tucked into the waist belt.
You can cut the sliding members to a shorter length but you lose the snap which holds it in position. The shorter it is, the less effective the stabilization. But then it doesn't stabilize very much anyway.RICHARD L : Stephen,
1 - Fully extended the brace is 12.5 inches long
2 - Fully retracted it is 8 inches long
3 - Yes it folds flat against the monopod when not being used
4 - Yes, I have used it against my chest / belly and at my belt line, however, this latter might depend more on your torso length.
5 - You could only shorten the longer part closest to the monopod and then only by 2 or 3 inches. I can't see why anyone would shorten it though.
Hope this answers your questions.
Dabster H : I have a Nikon D 300 which fits a Sunpack head on my monopod and tripod.
Will this brace require an adapter bushing (3/8 to 1/4 in.) to be attached to my set up?JEFF O : It comes with 3/8 and 1/4 adaptorSTEPHAN P : You do not need to buy an adapter as this Shoulder Brace will fit either 3/8 or 1/4 in. sockets, it has a very neat set-up (actually it is an adapter in itself), and it takes a mere second to change, I really like this feature of the Shoulder Brace, a clever set-up - I think you will like it too.
StephanDALE M : It works with any head which can screw into your camera.
The brace fits between your tripod head and camera. Hence instead of screwing the tripod head into your camera, you screw the shoulder brace into your camera and then screw the tripod head into the shoulder brace. Hence any tripod head which can screw into your camera can screw into the shoulder braceLEONARD L : On the female side mine has a 1/4" to 3/8" bushing installed. I think it came that way but it might have been mine.
On the male end it is 3/8" which might be big for your Nikon.CHRISTOPHER W : The unit include both 3/8 and 1/4 adapter bushings and I used it for my Nikon D700 without problem,MICHAEL S : It comes with a 3/8" adapter, so you'll be in good shape.IRVING W : Contact Manfrotto directly and get the right answer without hassle--and ask more questions.AUREL A : You can mount it directly on your QR plate since it has a 1/4 20 adapter built in.
HARLEY C/O SUS V : I'm thinking of buying this for a niece who is one-handed. Is it light-weight enough to leave attached to the camera? Easy to operate with one hand?CHRISTINE W : It is very light weight and can stay easily attached. it would also be able to be used one handed. However, I have not found it very helpful for stability.MICHAEL D : I use the Manfrotto Shoulder Brace with my Manfrotto monopod and it helps me keep the monopod very steady when using my Nikon 200-400mm zoom lens. I do a lot of bird photography in the wildlife refuges of the Upper Texas Gulf Coast. I discovered that I can get around in the underbrush much faster with a monopod than lugging a tripod. Until I attached the shoulder brace, quite a few of my images were not as sharp as I needed. The shoulder brace has helped solve this problem. I would recommend the Manfrotto Shoulder Brace.DAVID K : I have only used the brace a few times and found it useful, Weight is not an issue and mounts very neat on the monopod. good luck.
DavidDUDLEY H : Cathy
This shoulder brace is designed to be used with a monopod. It doesn't lock in the open mode like in the picture. The shoulder support swivels freely all the time.It would not be very stable used with just one hand. Also if it is not attached to a monopod, the camera would swivel on the mount and not be locked into one position. Again not usefull for one hand operation. However used with a monopod it works great. hope this helps.
DGHDICK P : IT IS very lightweight and I leave mine attached to my monopod not the camera. It is very easy to operate and I believe it can be operated with one hand .JAMES B : Hi,
I find it is almost too light weight for my purposes, as it is mostly plastic, and
it feels quite flimsy when attached. You also have to find a way to stabilize the bottom of the monopod this thing attaches to. I tried resting the monopod in my belt loop, but this didn't work very well. Someone else may adapt themselves to it better than I could, but I was disappointed with this purchase.
The price is low for a reason.RONALD T : RIGHT PRICE CAN'T GO WRONGHARLEY C/O SUS V : Thanks to every one who answered. I bought her two different monopods (one better quality, one lighter weight), the shoulder brace, and a lightweight head for Christmas. We'll see what combination works best for her. She recently lost her arm and is relearning everything with her non-dominant hand. Hope this gets her back into photography! If anyone has other suggestions for stabilizing the camera, I would welcome them.Ronald D : Yes, it is light and sturdy. I would think it is easy to use with one hand.
Another consideration is to use it with or without a manfrotto 685B monopad. It is a little pricey, but it is the best accessory investment I have made, and I have a lot of camera equipment.BLANE H : This unit weighs practically nothing. Though not pro quality, it would certainly work fine for a small digital camera. Would not be good for a full size SLR camera. I bought this for use with an iPhone mounted to a Zacuto grip. I am very tall and found the length insufficient for my size of arm.
For a young person using a small format camera, this could prove useful for stability and reducing fatigue.RICHARD L : Cathy,
The Manfrotto Shoulder Brace for a monopod is very light weight and I leave mine attached to my monopod all the time. When not in use it folds and locks neatly along side the monopod. (NOTE: the brace attaches to the monopod, between the monopod and ball head [or whatever head you use]; so it doesn't stay attached to the camera.)
As to using one-handed; if she is able to use a camera on a monopod one-handed it shouldn't be much of a problem to use the shoulder brace as well and it definitely improves stability of monopod.
Hope this helps?DAVE H : Yes, very light. I use it with a mono pod but I am sure it would work fine as a stand alone with a camera.......DaveROBERT F : The weight of the monopod is the key factor. The shoulder brace adds very little to the total, combined weight. It lies against the monopod until lifted to fit against the shoulder to steady the 'pod. Not sure that this can be done with one hand steadying the 'pod while raising the brace to shoulder/chest height. Should be no problem leaving a light-weight camera in place on the monopod; if care is exercised not to damage the camera.
Carbon fiber monopods have come down in price in recent years. If you do not own one, I suggest that you check them out.
Good luck.
RobertGERALD L : Yes, it folds down and can extend by merely pulling or pushing on it. It is plastic and very light. You can leave it on the monopod with the camera attached without difficulty. It screws onto the monopod (knurled metal ring)and the camera screws onto it. I hope this helps.LUKE S : Very light weight. Not sure about using it with one hand, although I don't see why not. There isnt much to it once you put it on, just a length adjustment tab that you could do with one hand if you had to.CHRISTOPHER W : Yes, it is light weight for use with small camera or mini camcorder. You have to have a monopod for use with camera such as Nikon D700.JOE T : Actually, the shoulder brace is designed to be used with a Monopod which is a one legged tripod if you will. The brace attaches to the monopod and you pull the camera and tripod up against you shoulder to provide extra stabiliy for the camera that is mounted to the monopod. I can only imagine that your niece has learned to be very adaptable to getting things done with one hand. This product is very light and does stay attached to the monopod not the camera. Certainly this brace has no application at all unless it is mounted to the monopod so without the monopod no need for the brace. I would say that it would work for her as well as anyone else but it would require a bit of fancy manuvering with one hand. The up side is that a monopod with this brace would be very light weight compared to a standard tripod. I take my camera and 300mm f-2.8 (7 pound) lens out on long hikes. I purchased the pair to get a lightweight but stable platform for this long lens. I has worked very well for my application. I hope this helps and good luck.BILL G : It is light.. it is not real eazy to operate with two hands if a heavy camera is on it.. I would say one handed adjustment is not easy (if possible)BILL G : This is a quality piece of equipment. It does make the mono pod "less compact" Is it 90% plastic so that you would know!!RICHARD V : Light enough? Well, except for the brass fitting that attaches to the camera it is all plastic, and very well made. So, yes, I think it's light enough. Depends of course on her camera and her strength. Check its specs to get its weight and compare to the weight of her camera, I'd say.
Easy to operate with one hand? I tried that a bit. Once you have the length you want there's no problem at all. I was able to lengthen it with some difficulty and shorten it with less difficulty with one hand, and I'll bet she's much better at doing things one-handed than I am, so I'd say she'd have little trouble with it. I think it's a good bet for you and I can highly recommend it for effectiveness. Good luck!ROBERT L C : yes, it is very light weight but using it with one hand may be a struggle for her
