GorillaPod

[bleeps]

I recently purchase the SLR zoom with the BH-01EN ballhead (sold separately). I'm not fully experienced with it, but I am practicing. As far as the quick disconnect attachment, it's like every one I have, to fully tighten to the camera, I use a coin. The quick disconnect has a level which aids in leveling the camera. I don't know the expectation as far as flexibility, because it does need to have some stiffness/strength to support the advertised 6.6 lbs. I'm able to secure it adequately with little effort. This was purchased for a specific need and it fits that need very well. I give it a !

Hugely helpful -- thanks! The complaint about flexibility, as I understood it, was that it was difficult to adjust on an uneven surface. I totally get your point about the need to support the weight of the camera/lens without sinking.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

i have the knock off from Best Buy also and it keeps falling apart. I did get one trip with it but I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. I'm sure the original is of better quality but the knock off is a waste of money.

 

[Gdad]

I have the SLR version but never use it. I should have got the SLR-Zoom because it's too flimsy even for a light camera/lens but I have never bothered to upgrade because being forced to compose your shots based on where a handrail or tree branch is located is just too restrictive. Nice idea but not that useful- for the money a small travel tripod would be a better option in my opinion. I gave mine to my daughter to use with her pocket video camera.

 

[boBQuincy]

I have the SLR-Zoom model and it works well but is a little (ok, a lot) optimistic about the weight capacity. It has trouble holding a 30D with 70-200 (balanced with the lens tripod collar) and this setup is far less than 6 pounds! The Gorilla usually keeps slowly sinking until it touches the ground. The Gorilla's joints have loosened up considerably with time and use but it still works well for wrapping around objects.

When used as a tripod it is challenged holding a Rebel Xsi and 24-105 (although to be fair this combination is not well balanced). For a Rebel and kit lens I would not expect any problems but I would not buy the standard SLR model if you ever plan to use any lenses heavier or longer than the kit lens.

 

[bleeps]

Thanks and thanks for the great feedback on your experiences. I'll have to look at a lightweight travel tripod as well....

I'm using a Nikon D40X and usually have on either an 18-55mm or a 55-200mm for the kinds of shots I imagine using the tripod for.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

On my bag, I carry the Cullmann Magic 2 and my wife carries the gorilla pod. The Cullmann weighs 2 1/2 lbs and folds flat (approx. 5" x 13") for easy carrying in your suitcase. There are several lightweight travel tripods out there, this is the one that I use and am satisfied with.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/14703-REG/Cullmann_CU_2722_Magic_2_Tripod.html

 

[bob100]

I agree with some of the others, don't get the "knock off" imitation gorilla pods, they break too easily.

 

[adabob]

I love the one for my DSLR

 

[Parmcat]

I just returned for WDW and bought the large Gorilla Pod just for this trip, and never used it once. The problem for me was finding a place to mount it for the fireworks. Way too many people, and if you attach it to a fence or barrier, there was too much movement and it would not stay still. I have returned it, as I would never use it regularly.

 

[Uncle Greg]

That would be my concern as well. If you attach it to a handrail, every person leaning on or banging into that rail is going to send vibration right to your camera.

 

[Lightgician]

I have one of the orginal Gorillapods with the ball head. I don't use my DSLR with it though. I use my Canon P & S with the flip-out LCD screen. I often have the camera in a position where it would be very difficult to see either the viewfinder or the screen in back. The Canon does a good job in this situation.

 

[littlekidagain]

I have been looking at the Joby gorilla pod (SLR zoom) for my trip in Dec.
I seems like it will be easier to use when I am with my family. Has anyone
used it & is it worth spending the money on. I am bring my tripod but it can
get heavy and in the way.(Manfrotto 190 XPROB) The Joby I can stick in
my daughters backpack for when I my need it.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

I used it in June as an addition/alternative to my travel tripod. It did not replace the travel tripod. I used it when I couldn't find the appropriate place to set the tripod. I used it on a garbage can and a table. The majority of time I used my travel tripod (Cullmann Magic 2).

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

I bought one thinking I would use it all the time... I don't. I think its a cool little thing to use with your P&S but nearly useless with any kind of heavy lens... this is simply MHO. I gave one to a friend that only ises a P&S and he gets some incredible shots with it. We've actualy used it to take ideos of us driving on boys trips making our mock videos, its wuite handy in that kind of application as well. those bendy legs are great on a dashboard!!

 

[DoleWhipDVC]

For the past two seasons we talked about how great it would be to have one and get those truly strange-angle shots (like wrapping the Joby around a tree trunk, etc) so for Summer 2010 we purchased the bigger one designed for longer lens set-ups. It worked great the few times I used it but, honestly, I ended up going to my vivitar full leg tripod for almost all my shots. I even stayed one night at Kingdom until late closing (I left the park around 1:30 a.m.) and carried the full tripod with the camera mounted all over the park. For me, the Joby was a bit of a pain to get level and made it somewhat harder to look through the view finder because it's so short! Perhaps I'm just old fashioned and accustomed to my tall tripod. Don't get me wrong, when I saw a practical use for the Joby it worked, but for the money and the amount of times I used it, I'm not sure I would buy it again if I had to do it over. In my opinion, it's a nice item to have but not an item you need to have. One word of caution: be aware of knock-off imitation models that will not support the weight of your equipment, they're all over the place! Spend the money to get a real one if you're going to make the investment.

 

[SrisonS]

I only have experience with the normal version that I used for my S3 IS, but I think the idea behind them is better than their actual application. If anything, they're even more limiting. You have to make sure a trash can or rail isn't too shaky. It can take a while to get used to wrapping the legs around things. And it can be impossible to setup at the angles you really want.... unless you set up on the ground (which most people won't like to do).

 

[boBQuincy]

I use a small ballhead on my SLR-Zoom Gorilla, this takes care of most leveling issues. The biggest problem is the pod loosens over time (not much time either) and will not hold position with a long lens. I wrote to Joby and they replied that this is normal.

With a lightweight or entry level dSLR and a light or short lens the Gorilla should be ok. It does allow for some interesting angles and can be useful at times when nothing else will work for a particular photo.