Gorilla Power!

I'm all for girl (and boy!) power, but what about gorilla power?

I'd heard of the Joby Gorillapod before. Frankly, it just didn't interest me. I shoot pictures. I handhold when I need odd angles. I use a nice, solid, metal tripod when I need some more stability or self portraits. The Gorillapod? Pointlessness. It was plastic, couldn't be solid, and seemed more like a novelty. Then I started shooting some video with a pocket camera...

I love this thing!

I asked a friend to borrow a mini tripod. He showed me his Gorillapod at the time. I fell in love at first try. Solid, stable video from the most awkward angle? Check. But what else? Stable night time snapshots anywhere? Check. Razor-sharp captures and self portraits in the strangest places? Check. Bike-mounted camera? Check. An extra handhold for stability and positioning? Check. The possibilities in my mind were endless.

I ordered one...

Of course, I didn't order the original. I had to order the pink Gorillapod because, well, I'm a pink person :) . Don't worry if you're not, it's also available in orange, green, blue, red, yellow, and the original grey. On arrival, I only fell further in love. It enabled me to take pictures in a new way I'd never seen before. Steady, razor-sharp night shots with no flash in situations I'd never take a tripod. Solid short impromptu video clips. New places, new things. The Gorillapod is no replacement for a traditional tripod, I was right. It's something totally and completely different.

I ordered two...

The original Gorillapod does have one downside. It's limited to holding 325g. That's a small compact camera. Nothing more. Thankfully, Joby has other options. There is the Gorillapod SLR, rated to handle up to 800g (a consumer SLR camera with the kit lens). There is the Gorillapod SLR-Zoom, rated to handle up to 3kg (almost any SLR rig imaginable). Finally, there is the brand new, metal-reinforced, Gorillapod Focus with a 5kg rating, it's ready to handle almost any camera that's camera tripod mountable. Given the SLR-Zoom only cost a few dollars more than the SLR, and I do have some heavy zoom lenses (and a tripod mount projector), the SLR-Zoom made the most sense to me. You give up the quick-release plate and the extra two vertical joints to help aim your camera. Instead they'd rather sell you their ball head. I've heard their ball head is excellent and it makes sense that it would be the preferred mounting option for professional cameras. I didn't bite, instead choosing to use the SLR-Zoom as is. And it works well for my needs, though the ball head would be nice.

Portability, convenience, flexibility

The Gorillapod product line provides all these things. They're shockingly light. The original is a mere 45g - quite little compared to even the lightest compact cameras. My new SLR-Zoom is only 241g - half a pound, but dramatically less than the weight of the camera going on it. Even the Focus is a mere 500g - just over a pound. This means it's the tripod you will take with you. It'll go in trees, on signs, in the ground, hanging from drop ceiling grids, you name it. It'll help you see the world in a way you haven't seen it before. And it'll be there for you when your big tripod is at home.

Like a gorilla, the Gorillapod seems tough. I was worried since it's plastic that it'd wear out and lose it's stickiness. I haven't had it long enough to tell but neither of my Gorillapods is (in my short time with them) showing any plastic dust that would indicate wear. So they seem to be made of good plastics that should last at least long enough for you to get your money's worth. Though the creativity it will inspire is priceless.


In conclusion, you should buy one

Yes, I'm 100% serious. All the links above are to Amazon, which has excellent prices - especially on the higher end Gorillapods where there is presumably more margin to discount. And my pink/black Gorillapod goes perfectly with my new Sony DSC-W350 pink since we're all about matching around here :)

And yes, the picture to start this article was taken with my Gorillapod and my Olympus Stylus 850SW. The Gorillapod gave me the stability needed to get this pic even on a camera that has terrible high-ISO performance, small apertures (slow shutter speeds), and no image stabilization. I like my Gorillapod :)