Hi All!
For the last several weeks, I've been evaluating a lightweight camera tripod built using tent poles and elastic bungee cords, much like the Click-Stand bicycle prop.
It is the Tamrac ZipShot:
http://www.zipshottripod.com/product.cfm I paid USD$22 for mine with a sale coupon and part of my REI dividend (got a second MSR Dromedary 10l water bag with the remainder). Suggested retail is ~USD$50-60, which seems like a lot to me.
So far with my lightweight point-and-shoot cameras, it works surprisingly well. I went for the taller TR406 model that assembles to a height of 112cm (44in), folds to 38cm (15in), and weighs 312g (11oz).
In my time with it, I can offer several observations:
• If one simply deploys the legs, it is pretty shaky-quaky. The trick is to pull each leg
gently outward so there is a
very slight bow when you sight along them. This does wonders for stability and just takes a tiny bit of bow to accomplish (mindful of the strain on the top retainer pins which are secured in plastic).
• I really can't see this working well for a large DSLR and long lens unless you're right there to keep a hand on things and use the tripod to add stability. It is ideally suited for a GoPro or a pocketable point-and-shoot.
• The height is fixed. There is no elevator and the mount cannot be inverted. As a means to hold and steady the camera, it does remarkably well, but is not intended to replace the complete functionality of a "real" tripod. In exchange, the ZipShot is very small and lightweight.
• The mount can rotate 360° laterally and through a range of 180° vertically so the camera can be set in landscape or portrait mode and can be aimed up or down through the same range.
• The screw mount is pretty quick and convenient if you use the tripod once in awhile. If you use it frequently, then it would likely pay to get the Tamrac q/r mount at ~USD$10. It comes with one base (for the tripod) and two camera-attachable mounts (one for P/S cameras, the other for larger DSLR types). The mounts are small enough to simply leave stored on the camera.
• A case is sold separately for ~USD$10.
• It works well on reasonably uneven ground so long as one is mindful to put one leg on the downhill side and then checks carefully to prevent it toppling. Some people have had good luck accommodating extreme slopes by uncoupling one leg, but I would be a little concerned about possibly cutting the bungee cord with the leg half-folded.
• I wouldn't want to use it in a wind. My other tripods have a brace on the legs and I commonly rig a cord from that to a water bottle to serve as a counterbalance to keep weight low in winds. That isn't possible with the ZipShot.
• The ZipShot can nicely serve as a 38cm/15in handheld camera extender. I would be terrific if it would work at full extension (112cm/44in), but the weight of the camera makes it "clock" (rotate) around so the camera hangs upside-down. A pity, but I plan to get a standalone camera extender/monopod with locking segments to address this need.
Used within its limits and with respect for what it is, the ZipShot looks like pretty nice little tripod for steadying the camera while on tour, for self-portraits, and for general filming and video with a pocketable digital camera or GoPro. It lacks any sort of pan-head, but having the mount socketed does add stability when panning. It would still be usable for larger camera and lenses as a hands-on steadying device, but I'd be leery about leaving it alone with a large camera and long lens pushing its 1361g/3lb weight limit.
Hmm. My tent uses this technology (hollow alu poles and bungees), a camp chair (
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4331.0;attach=1505 ), a Click-Stand bicycle support, and now a tripod. I wonder what's next?
Best,
Dan.
