Originally posted by SOldBear Thanks, twitch, for your input.
Another question for you: how solid/useful is the monopod? If it is not useful, I'd rather buy the lighter and shorter (when folded) C-169M8 instead.
I’ve only very recently bought the C-1691 and haven’t used the monopod much. I have set it up though, it’s pretty easy, I have to stoop a little though to bring my eye to the view finder even when the monopod is fully extended, I’m 5’9 for reference. That may be a problem in prolonged use standing up, but for shorter periods and obviously for sitting down and using the monopod, it would be no problem. Given it’s a travel tripod though I view the monopod feature as a bonus. Obviously a dedicated one would be better, but not something I’d take as well as a tripod on a trip.
The weight saving of a 1691 vs a 169 is only ~80g, length I think is not too much, but be aware that the 169 does not have the max height that the 1691 does as a tripod. I'm comfortably able to set up the camera at eye level in tripod mode even without the centre column being fully extended. From memory I think the 169 is a good 10cm or so shorter fully extended.
Ultimately it was for that reason I bought the 1691, not for the monopod feature.