anyone tried these "Joby" Gorillapods?

**dh003i** · 4-Jun-2009, 19:59

This looks very neat, especially for an SLR or medium-format camera, but possibly for lighter LF cameras:

http://joby.com/products/gorillapod/focus/

Their strongest one is rated to support 11 pounds, although I'm not sure I'd trust it with my 4x5; but with a DSLR, probably. Thoughts?

**DarkroomDan** · 4-Jun-2009, 20:07

Originally Posted by dh003i

This looks very neat, especially for an SLR or medium-format camera, but possibly for lighter LF cameras:

http://joby.com/products/gorillapod/focus/

Their strongest one is rated to support 11 pounds, although I'm not sure I'd trust it with my 4x5; but with a DSLR, probably. Thoughts?

You might want to do a search on Ebay. I know I have seen Gorillapods for much less. I must admit that I did not compare the specs for the unit you posted against the others I've seen. This may well be apples and oranges but the unit you reference seems kind of pricey to me.

Dan

**dh003i** · 4-Jun-2009, 20:36

Yea, there are smaller versions that support 6 pounds for $50.

Joby Gorillapod Focus, supports 11 pounds -- $110
Joby Gorillapod Zoom, supports 6 pounds -- $55

They also have a 1.75 lbs support ones for $45 and a "Go-Go" $30 one for small accessories like cell-phones, GPS devices, etc.

But I'm interested only in the heaviest duty one that supports 11 pounds. The lowest Buy-It-Now price on eBay is $95 including shipping.

Anyways, if anyone has any thoughts on this, having tried it, I'd be interested.

**Daniel_Buck** · 4-Jun-2009, 20:58

a friend of mine has one, it's interesting, and can be quite useful for certain situations (haven't tried it on a large format camera though), but by all means I'd not like it to be my only tripod! I can't think of to many times when I would *rather* use the gorillapod, other than the weight savings of not having to carry a full tripod when using a smaller camera to "grab" onto a tree limb, fence post, or whatever for a longer exposure.

Sometimes it's a little finicky to get it to grab on to things, depending on what it is you are trying to latch onto.

**dh003i** · 4-Jun-2009, 21:11

Yea, I certainly wouldn't want it as my only one. But it seems like the perfect thing to go in the camera bag for portability and flexibility.

**Greg Lockrey** · 4-Jun-2009, 21:17

And they make for interesting "marital" aids too.

Actually I have one of the medium priced ones that I carry with me on my bike trips and use with my pinhole cameras. They're pretty cool.

**dh003i** · 4-Jun-2009, 21:21

Originally Posted by Greg Lockrey

And they make for interesting "marital" aids too.

Actually I have one of the medium priced ones that I carry with me on my bike trips and use with my pinhole cameras. They're pretty cool.

Maybe they should put he marital aid feature in their promo for it:

Cute girls walking buy, see photographer with Joby Gorillapods...

Girl 1: "Who's that guy with the cool X-Files pod-like thing? I want to marry him"

Girl 2: "I wonder if he has a tin foil hat too?"

**sly** · 7-Jun-2009, 14:29

I've got the next size down. I got it so I could take photos on the forest floor. I've mostly used it with my DSLR. It will just hold my MF camera, and the Crown Graphic, as long as I keep the camera level. In some situations it's great, in others it doesn't do what I want it to. Useful, but only in conjunction with a standard tripod.