3 Legged Thing – Alan 2.0 Monopod – Darkness

Today sees the launch of the 3 Legged Thing “Darkness” range of monopods and tripods. I’ve been using a 3 Legged Thing Alan 2.0 monopod for a little while now but I also have this new more subtle and stealthy matt black “Darkness” version. It seems like a good day to publish my thoughts on monopods and why I am now using 3 Legged Thing’s Alan 2.0 monopods for my wildlife photography and filmaking….

Generally speaking, telephoto lenses favoured by wildlife photographers are larger and heavier than lenses used for other photographic genres. Even for just a short period of time, when you’re perhaps waiting for a preferred composition or for your subject to appear or display some specific behaviour, lenses can become uncomfortable to handhold.

I’ve always preferred to have some support for my lenses, but I’ve found a tripod and tripod head to be limiting in many ways. Firstly, to provide the required support and movement for heavy lenses, the tripod and head is often rather large, bulky and heavy. I’ve also found tripods to be a hinderence. They can make changes to your own position slow and limiting, especially when changing height and ensuring your camera and lens remains level.

My previous monopod seemed to become prematurely unusable with failing twist-lock fastenings. I had little confidence in it being able to hold my main gear and over extended periods of use they began to lose their grip and slowly shorten the monopod! It wasn’t old, it was well maintained and certainly not over used. So, the search for an alternative began.

Criteria? I wanted it to be light, compact and as I am also slowly moving towards doing more film making, to also to have a high load bearing weight.

At just 44cm and 615g, the Alan 2.0 is very compact and fits very conveniently and easily into luggage when travelling. It’s short height also makes it versatile for use in safari vehicles, for example when resting on a chair or part of the door frame. A large rubber grip makes it comfortable to carry. The twist locks feel reassuringly solid and their size and shape, together with rubber pads provides a great grip (even with chunky gloves!) when making adjustments without compromising the overall size. Each twist lock has an additional safety collar which prevents them from being twisted too far and the monopod coming apart. It is rated to hold 60Kg which is incredible!

At the business end we have a spring-loaded 3/8″ thread for attaching standard monopod or tripod heads. But, if you want to attach it directly to a camera or lens collar, the 3/8″ thread can be pushed down to reveal a 1/4″ thread.

We also have a ‘Tri-mount’ plate which I found very useful for helping to prevent cables from remotes, external field monitor and sound equipment becoming obtrusive with the camera and lens handling.

The 3 Legged Thing Docz2, it’s a very useful accessory which can be used as a monopod stabiliser foot or, on its own as a super compact and solid mini-tripod. It weighs just 531g so it shouldn’t cause any travelling baggage weight issues and with it’s built in mini ballhead, can support 20kg of cameras and lenses. I also use it with the AirHed Pro ballhead as it sits perfectly on the shelving in the wildlife hides I have been using. When used with the monopod, it offers an extra level of stablity which I’ve found very useful when filming.

3 Legged Thing’s Alan 2.0 is a very well-built monopod which is ideal for travelling with heavy camera equipment in mind. The new “Darkness” colour provides a more subtle aesthetic which can be preferred by many wildlife photographers. Functionally, it is well thought out with excellent grips and safety features as well as versatility from spring-loaded threads to the provision of a system when used alongside the Docz2 and their range of heads. When I’m working either locally or travelling, it is always in my kit bag! Given these qualities, I also feel it is well priced at £116-99 via the 3 Legged Thing website (at the time of writing).