Bending My Way to the Perfect Photo

Recently, my wife caught me looking at this little gem at a local camera store.  As I looked at it, my initial thought was that the concept was incredibly creative, but it just looked too much like a toy for my liking.  As I played with the flexible plastic legs, it seemed to me more like a colorful child's toy than a piece of serious camera equipment.  Fortunately, I kept my thoughts to myself, and my wife bought it for me as a gift.  I admit that my initially initial impressions were wrong - the Joby Gorillapod is one of my favorite pieces of photography gear.   I use this little gadget with my pocket Canon Powershot Elph digital camera. 


Why I Use a Tripod

A tripod is an essential piece of photography equipment in a couple of situations.  First, a tripod is necessary in low light settings when shutter speed decreases, causing it to become more difficult (even impossible at times) to hold the camera steady by hand.  Second, most casual photographers will eventually want to get in a picture they are taking.  While it is possible to prop a camera up without a tripod, it can be difficult and annoying (I'm having a flashback to my recent escapade of trying to carefully position my camera on a stack of books on a table).  While the Gorillapod is no replacement for a standard sized tripod, works great as a small, pocket tripod to resolve both of those issues.


What Makes the Gorillapod Unique

The Gorillapod's uniqueness can be summed up with one word: flexibility.   This little gadget is made up a series of fully articulating plastic ball and socket joints.  This means that the legs can be bent into just about any shape imaginable, yet remains stiff enough to support the camera's weight.  If you are just placing the mini-tripod on a table, its flexibility may be no big deal, but in just about any other terrain this flexibility is great.   Nothing flat to set up on?   No problem.  The legs can be wrapped around poles, tree branches, fence posts, benches, etc.  Just about the only limit is your imagination.  My imagination has included hanging on chair legs, lamps, and even hanging upside down off tree branches.  The plastic ball and joint sockets are covered with rings of rubber, making it surprisingly steady when wrapped around various objects.  The plastic joints are stiff enough that it holds the camera firmly in whatever position I twist it into.  When attaching it to objects, it does take a bit of practice to position the bendable tripod so that the camera is level.  I frequently push the legs together and use my Gorillapod as a monopod, holding my camera steady on a solid surface as I shoot.


Gorillapod Models and Colors

The Joby manufactures several different sizes of the Gorillapod for everything from small electronic devices to large video cameras.  I have the second from the smallest (the "Original") designed for point and shoot cameras which can support small cameras weighing up to 11.5 ounces, with a suggested retail price of $21.95.  This review is based on the Original model, but other models include the "Go-Go!" designed for things like MP3 players and small GPS units (it includes the Original model along with  a suction cup and two adhesive clips to attach electronic devices) which retails for $29.95, the "SLR" which will hold cameras weighing up to 1.75 pounds ($39.95), the "SLR Zoom" which is rated to support cameras up to 6.6 pounds ($49.95), and the new "Focus" which brags that it support an 11 pound device ($139.95).  The Gorillapod comes in a wide variety of colors, including grey, red, blue, green, orange, pink and yellow.  Knowing that aversion to camera equipment that looks like toys, my wife got me the grey model, which looks very nice.


Size

The Gorillapod is amazingly light weight.  My Original model weighs no more than an ounce or two.     While this is a great advantage for its portability, I worry about the plastic and rubber's durability.    With the legs flattened out, the tripod measures about 6.5 inches.  When set up on the ground, it can hold the camera as high as five inches and as low as about a two inches off the ground.  Of course, the main point of the Gorillapod is that it can be attached to objects both high and low off the ground.


Other Features

Other than its flexible legs, the Gorillapod has a very useful quick release plate.  This plastic quick release plate measures about half an inch by three-quarters of an inch.  It easily locks into the plastic base.  When I was looking into the Gorillapod, I read a review online complaining that the quick release is difficult to use.  I don't find that to the case at all.  It took me a minute to look at the locking mechanism to see how it operates, but then I found it to be very well designed and easy to use (although it is so small, I could see how it is difficult for someone with large hands).  I keep the small quick release plate on my Canon Elph most of the time so I can just pop it into the tripod whenever the need arises.


Conclusion

I am giving the Joby Gorillapod Original four stars.  The concept is brilliant.  The construction and durability is difficult to gage.  It is made out of lightweight plastic and rubber which troubles me; however, in my few weeks of use it has appeared rugged and sturdy.  While I understand that good tripods are quite expensive, I do, frankly, consider the Gorillapod a little overpriced considering its plastic construction.