Gorillapod and those alike

[arnica]

Hi All,

I wanted to ask if anyone uses those gorillapod tripods? And whether or not you recommend them. Any advantages or dis?

[kiwi]

I don't trust them

[arnica]

They seem a little risky. Those little legs .. how could they possibly hold that much weight?

[Ezookiel]

I bought a cheap ebay copy and can definitely say not to bother with the cheap copies. But I've seen a genuine Gorillapod with ball head in use, and they do hold the weight they claim, and held it quite steady while it was wrapped around a pole. I can't say there was no slippage at all, as I didn't see the results of the photos, but there was no slippage visible to my eye. A long night exposure however would quickly show even tiniest movement, so I'd have liked to see the final result. It certainly seemed to be holding ok though. Enough for me to be prepared to buy one myself soon.

[MJay]

I have the SLR gorillapod, (for 30 odd dollars you can't go wrong) Advantages- It can curl up to something a little bigger than a baseball and go in the camera bag. It can give you that little bit extra stability (better than nothing, not as good as a real tripod)

Disadvantages, as Ezookiel mentions there can be a little slippage particularly with a larger lens (though if you fiddle with it a little you should be able to get it fairly stable) though I am not sure how the higher end models perform.

They do have their limitations, but it's just a matter of knowing them before your expensive camera equipment comes crashing down ;)

Here is one I took using my gorilla pod, it is not a photo I would class as a keeper however it does demonstrate the capabilities of a longer exposure (5 second exposure, ISO 400)
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/81/telstratower55.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/861/telstratower55.jpg/)

And heres one to show that it can hold the weight of a DSLR just like in the promotional shots ;)
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3250/gorillapodx.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/gorillapodx.jpg/)

Hope this helps a little.

MJ.