( At the end of the article we have a special 20% discount code for you if you’d like to go ahead and purchase one of these from the manufacturer. )

You have seen these devices, we’re sure.
Interconnected ball joints, topped with a platform that lets you connect almost anything; heads, cameras, flash units, and video cameras.

Essentially letting you put your gear where you want it to be.

We’ve worked em out and found them to be entirely essential in our gear bags.
They have a full range of sizes, depending on the gear you need to support.
Honestly, the most prevalent size has been the smallest one, the orginal .
Everyone I know has one of these in their bag, even if they just use it for a point and shoot camera. The just tight enough joints allow you to maneuver and bend the legs, to get the camera to point in just the exact location you want it to.
But that’s when you use it as a straight tripod type.
You can also attach it to any thing you can wrap its legs around.
Like this.

attached to the handle of my roller camera bag.

Moving up the size ladder, is a unit designed for the new generation of smaller DSLR’s, with a standard kit lens lens. The new units are light enough to be secured with this one.
The additional option you get when you move up to this size is a pretty versatile option of a flash shoe.
Now this is a null, or cold shoe, only allowing you to mount your speedlight, but the beauty is you can mount it anywhere you need to!

Sure you will need to either program it to be wirelessly triggered, or add a trigger slave (yep, it can handle the weight.)

Both this size and the smaller one have collar locks and release buttons to help insure that what you attach, stays there. There are a few different plates to attach items: tripod screw, flash shoe, bubble level, and adhesive mounts. Just attach them to the item you’re using, unlock the collar, slide it in, lock the collar, and you’re good to go.

Next up on the list is the SLR Zoom unit. We dig this one especially since it holds our B-roll HD camera, with Lite and mic. rec. perfectly and with a ball head, you can get where ever you need it to be. Which is the main point of these units anyway.

The biggest question we had was on our Nikon D700 and a 24-70 2.8 lens. We went for the new Gorillapod FOCUS
Could we trust it? would it get a little tipsy?

Here is what we found out:

Worked Big time!!!

And then we tried an 80-200 2.8.

Oh yeah solid as a rock. even in tripod mode

One more test: The Panasonic HVX-200, our main HD Video camera……
We put it on a 3rd Floor railing and…..

volia! all good! and we could breath easy.
We used a Manfrotto ball head to get the lens pointing exactly where we wanted but the unit was secure.

Now there are a couple of tips for you though:
The best way to use these units is to plop the center of gravity (where the tripod screw is) as close as you can to the surface you are attaching it to.
Then bring the center leg up one way, and the 2 outside legs up in the opposite way. This is when you may wrapping around a pole, or pole-like surface.
Tripod style works great too, just make sure you have the legs giving the best support. Test it out before you may walk away.

Couple these units with the new iPhone app DSLR Remote Control from onOne software and you are in business, my friend.

We are giving away one Gorillapod this week, and one next week.

This week, it is the original, the one you should have in your bag. Comes with tripod screw plate, and in yellow banding so it’ll be easier to find in your kit.

Next week it’s the SLR unit with a bubble level in the tripod plate AND a flash cold shoe.

We are very happy to actually be able to review a piece of gear and give some away at the same time.

And if you are looking to get one of these straight away, we have a special 20% discount code for you:
When you got to the Gorillapod site, order up and when you check out add this code: PHOTO20, for a sweet photoinduced.com 20% discount.

By the way, you can order up a more eco-friendly packaging on these products direct from the site.
If you already own one of these you can get the accessory clips from the site.

Interested in getting on for free? Well we have an original Gorillapod for you this week, ONLY for the subscribers to the NEWSLETTER. (sign up here)
You go a little extra for us, we go a little extra for you.
Only fair.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 24th, 2009 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Photo News, Weekly Giveaway. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.