Hi Jodie, it sounds as if you are at where I was a few months ago.

I was looking at the Sigma 50-500 and a monopod to go with it and purchased the Manfrotto 681B with the 234RC swivel tilt head. My reasoning behind the 234RC is that I have the Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with the 486RC2 ball head, so I wanted something compatible with what I already had.

Being the only one I ever owned I cannot compare it to anything else, but this setup seems to work well for me for a relatively modest price.

Hope this helps.

Pete

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