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The night I had dinner in Málaga with photographer friend Michelle Chaplow and her husband Chris we went up to the rooftop bar for a drink first and Michelle took a few photos of “that blue” as it was getting close to sunset. She then attached my little Niko to her tripod and had me take a couple of shots of the cathedral (which had been turning out a bit fuzzy) and … wow! The images and colours were a lot sharper. Of course I couldn’t see myself lugging around a huge tripod for my tiny point & shoot camera, but I have since tried resting it on a flat surface, especially in dim light, with good results.
I mentioned this on Alejna’s blog the other day on her post called The Lazy Photographer (which she is not, btw) and she asked if I’d ever tried one of these small flexible tripods … and thus a brand new gadget obsession was born! I’ll have a look around the shops here for one, otherwise will have to order it online.
Has anyone ever used one of these?
Gorillapod
casa azahar 
I’ve looked at this in this past, but didn’t feel it was substantial enough for my heavy DSLR. Now I see that have new models. I may consider it again. Carry a tripod around can be a pain, but worth it. If I were you, I’d go for it.
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I have a compact tripod that I find less than pleasant to work with. I’ve recently switched to a mono-pod that also compacts. Please, let me know more about this in the future. I’ve a long way to go before becoming a competent amateur photographer, but good equipment would be a help.
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I’ve had one for a couple of years, now.
They have a few different ones, including one for DSLRs and video cameras. http://joby.com/gorillapod/slr/
Magnetic http://joby.com/gorillapod/magnetic/
Ballhead http://joby.com/gorillapod/ballhead/ (one for 3kg and another max 5 kg)
AND, az… ones for handheld devices… http://joby.com/gorillamobile
(even ones with torches and spots! http://joby.com/gorillatorch/flare/ )
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I’ve got one! Now if only I could work out how to use the timer on my camera….
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I’ve never tried my timer! Guess I’ll have to dig out the instruction manual…
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I have one.
Not sure I’d recommend it though – it’s less adjustable and therefore less useful than you might think.
Found this quite clever though – and it works – AND is infinitely cheaper than the Gorillapod.
http://www.instructables.com/id/1-Camera-Image-Stabilizer/
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Ha, that really is clever. Maybe I’ll try that first.
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I find the Gorillapod very handy fro when I am trying to take a photo on very uneven ground where there isn’t room for me and the camera. I have a small tripod but it requires reasonably flat ground and even then, if you aren’t careful, the camera is too heavy for the angle you need the legs at and it falls over.
I can also clip one leg to something that I can’t with my regular tripod.
My $9 mini tripod is great to clamp to my car visor and film or take photos with.
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I have one for my compact. Don’t need it much but it’s pretty great.
The tripod socket on my camera is off on one side so the advantage of a gorilla pod is that I can adjust the legs to counterbalance it. Not sure if I’d be able to do that with a standard tripod.
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How cool that I’ve contributed to the birth of a new gadget obsession! (I’m just trying to figure out what my role was–there was certainly a very short gestation period!)
I love that image stabilizer idea. I’ve sent the link to John, who loves to put together photography-related gadgetry. (Did I ever mention the cool light box he made out of a cardboard box and wax paper?)
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Well you know it doesn’t take much to get a gadget obsession started over here… 😉
Nope, don’t remember the light box.
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I have a couple of friends who wouldn’t live without theirs. And they are fussy,.
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