Ideally suited for big tele lenses. Mount them straight on the stick (via tripod collar), or on top of a ballhead or any tripod head. Anecdotally, using a good monopod technique enables you to capture about 2 stops slower shutter than handholding.
MattK showing good monopod technique:
Combined with a Vibration Reduction lens (or Canon's copycat technology Image Stabilization), there's potential for shooting many times slower shutter speed than handholding alone.
The 1588 is thick - much thicker than the leg sections of tripods mentioned elsewhere in this post. Very much suited for 'personal security' purposes. You wouldn't want to consciously waste a $300 carbon fibre stick on a thug, but it'll likely do the trick!
It's a four section monopod. Like all the Gitzo's here, it seems very airtight. Extending/contracting the sections and you'll hear the swoosh of air enter/escaping at the ends of the tubes. My Manfrotto doesn't do that!
Gitzo 1325 and 1227G tripods:
Carbon fibre by its nature is VERY lightweight. It's so surprisingly light that the weight of the head plays a large part in determining how much the tripod assembly weighs. Gitzo tripods have very stiff leg sections (just ask MCWB!) that requires masculine muscles to extend for use. Slightly build females and geeky nerd types need not apply...
I guess the stiff legs adds to the stability - much needed when you don't have mass in the leg tubes to "cheat" by lowering the centre of gravity.
The 1325 is as seen in the October Sydney meet (for those that were there). It is completely devoid of a centre column.
The 1227 is the smaller of the two. the G suffix denotes its geared centre column. Wind the mechanism to raise it, press a chrome lever and wind the thing to lower. So that's one way - it goes up but does not come down (almost defying the laws of physics) unless you press the chrome lever.
