Jobi Gorillapod

2009.09.26

B&H Photo has a deal on Jobi's Gorillapod SLR-Zoom. This week it goes for $39.99 USD including USA shipping. A Gorillapod is a really flexible and quite useful camera support. It works extremely well for attaching a camera to poles, tree branches and the like. It also works as a small table-top-size tripod but is much more flexible. Because the legs bend, a Gorillapod can be used on uneven surfaces, window ledges, fences and pretty much anything. Gorilapods come in 4 sizes rated by maximum weight:

• Gorillapod - 325g (11.5 oz)
• Gorillapod SLR - 800g (1.75 lbs)
• Gorillapod SLR-Zoom - 3kg (6.5 lbs)
• Gorillapod Focus - 5kg (11 lbs)

The two strongest Gorillapods make it more difficult to precisely orient the camera since they do not have an extra joint above the legs. This can easily be solved by adding a ball head to it such as the Manfrotto 482 Micro Ball Head pictured here on the left. Jobi also makes an SLR-Zoom with their own ball-head which supports to to 3kg as well.

The compact size of a Gorillapod makes it really fun for those who like low-light photography, you can have one with you more frequently than a tripod. The smaller models even fit in a pocket, the larger ones fit in most backpacks. For having access to a tripod every day, the Gorillapod SLR-Zoom with Manfrotto 482 works well for me. It can support most DSLRs with short lenses and any fixed-lens camera.

• Digital Camera