HOW BIG IS YOUR CAMERA? This is a great product, but if you buy one that's too weak to hold your camera's weight, you're going to be disappointed. The GP1 will hold up to 9.7 oz- basically your average small point-and-click digital camera only- think Elph. The GP2 will hold up to 1.75 lbs -smaller/lighter SLR cameras with short lenses only. The GP3 will hold up to 6.6 lbs and has a slightly larger camera attach point, similar to larger tripods -good for SLRs and smaller camcorders. Unless you want to spend 10-15 minutes fighting the gorilla to hold your camera without sagging (and forget about portrait/sideways shots), make sure you buy one that can support the weight! Otherwise it's tough to beat the versatility, reliability, and small size/weight of this tripod. From what I've seen of other reviews, you'll be disappointed with cheaper imitations as well. Joby GP1 Gorillapod Flexible Tripod (Red)
Fantastic product. We bought this while looking for one of those mini tripods that you can velcro to another object and found this to be much better. The grip is strong and most situations can be accommodated. It's a little pricey, but well made so very much worth the cost. Older, heavier cameras may tend to overwhelm it in some positions, but for the most part, it works great. If nothing else, it replicates a "traditional" tripod well, and the added bending and gripping feature really makes the difference. I no longer have to balance the camera on the hood of the car with sticks and rocks to get a good photo of us during our travels. Everywhere we go, somebody stops us to ask where to get one... it's quite a spectacle.
I ordered an extra shoe so we can transfer the gorillapod from her camera to mine. If you're in the market for a new camera, try and get one with the tripod mounting shoe somewhat centrally located on the bottom of the camera. My fiance's camera has the tripod mount on one side so the camera wants to lean to the other side. Fortunately, the gorillapod is strong enough to resist this.
I still can't believe that this thing is real! And I'm blown away by the quality of the tripod.
The 'legs' are stiff enought that it doesn't fall out of shape as it holds the camera. Each little grey ring around the ball-like pieces are rubberized to help it grip onto objects. I have been able to mount my Canon SD600 and hold one 'foot' of the tripod while it remains in the shape I bent it into. The leg didn't change shape or sag at all.
I've had it on top of my LCD, hung it from a doorway, sitting on top of a lamp... I think the legs are long enough and the feet are 'grippy' enough to mount it to the side of a bowling ball!
The clip on top lets you mount and dismount the camera quite easily and without hassle. The only problem I could see is that with the mounting clip attached to the camera I can't put the camera in the fitted Canon carrying case that I have for the SD600. Well, it fits with it on, but very snug.
I can't stress how much I love this little tripod!! Get one; you won't be disappointed!
As long as you don't expect the world of the Gorillapod, it won't disappoint. I've had a slew of small tripods for years (to match my succession of digital cameras; I'm tough to please). My Ultrapod II is good, sturdy and stable, but often not as versatile as this. I'll still keep that one around, though, especially after I got the quick-release head for it. For me, a quick-release shoe is a very big plus. My full-size tripods have always had this feature, but I've never been able to find it on the minis until the Gorillapod. It's extremely useful. No more struggling with screwing the tripod in when you need to take that quick picture, desperately trying to keep from cross-threading and stripping the plastic mounting threads common on today's cameras. The Gorillapod snaps onto the camera in about three seconds. This won't hold my camera as still as my 4-pound tripods, but it's a heck of a lot lighter and easier to carry with me all the time. While Joby lists the maximum weight capacity as 12 ounces, my camera still works fine despite being a couple of ounces over that. If there's one thing I don't really like, it's that it does take a bit of fiddling to straighten out the legs after use. But if you're not obsessively neat, you probably won't mind some slightly crooked legs. If you really want a bit more stability, see the Gorillapod SLR. A quarter pound heavier and twice the price, but when you need it, sometimes you need to bite the bullet. Or get the Ultrapod II if having superflexible legs isn't of paramount importance. That's a couple of ounces heavier still compared with the Gorillapod SLR, but its rigid construction and Velcro strap make it more secure in iffy conditions.
I own a Canon PowerShot A550. The Gorillapod screws into the camera securely. The downside is that on the Canon (and Sony Cybershot DSC also) the screw is not in the center of the camera, but off to the left (if looking at the back of the camera). This off-set causes the camera to "slump" to the right because it's off-balance. To make matters worse, the button to take the photo is on the right, so if you get the camera to balance on the Gorillapod, you still have to press the button to take the photo, which causes the camera to slump then to the right.
The 2 ball-like connectors that connect the camera to the 3 legs on the Gorillapod don't seem to have enough resistance to keep a small camera like the Canon in place.
My mother-in-law has a Sony Cybershot DSC which is small enough and light enough to not slump, so she will probably be getting the Gorillapod to use with her camera.
I love the idea and was excited to get it and try it out. Doesn't work for me like I expected and my point and shoot isn't big at all. I would have thought the design would have taken into consideration that the point and shoot cameras don't always have the screw hole in the middle of the camera. - Travel Tripod - Digital Camera - Mini Tripod - Camera Accessories'
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