Two Portable, Affordable Ways to End Camera Shake
We’ve gone through quite a bit of photography equipment over the years- from bags of all sizes to fun lenses and even flash accessories. But we haven’t taken a look at too many tripods, beyond the Gorillapod. This is an oversight we intend to remedy, starting today with two smaller devices that can steady your camera without requiring you to carry a bunch of extra weight.
The Tamrac Zipshot is the heavier and more versatile of the two, and also looks the most traditional once unfolded. It’s a pretty simple idea, executed well- a natural expansion of the folding, retractable-legged tripod but taken to an extreme. Setup is simple: just pull on the shock cords, hold the head, and the spidery legs come out pretty easily (similar to tentpoles). Gravity does most of the work for you, and the spring action is fun to watch and almost magical. We liked the ball head mount, the light weight (11 ounces), and the aluminum legs which felt pretty sturdy. And it’s a decent tripod small enough to fit in a purse, yet tall enough to be easy to setup and adjust.
There are some tradeoffs though- it’s meant for cameras and DSLRs only up to 3 pounds. We definitely recommend staying well under this limit, mostly because of the greater risk of accidentally knocking a leg and having your camera fall. We found that our shots weren’t quite clear when shooting manually- unlike larger tripods, this one shakes a bit when depressing the shutter, enough to blur your pictures. Also, we would’ve liked a little more tread on the rubber feet, as they will slide around a bit but simply a bit of texture would definitely help. It’s a nice-looking, lightweight solution and great for those on the go, and at $50 is a good gift for the budding photography or Flip Video enthusiast.
Much less traditional is the Steadepod, a sort of instant image stabilization system that basically is a decent screw mount and a cable. We found the idea interesting- simply screw your camera (video or still) onto the mount, pull out the stainless steel cable and put the ‘foot pad’ under your feet, and keep it fairly tight. The tension adds an extra point of support- well, not support exactly, but pressure. And that’s generally enough to reduce vibrations significantly. It easily retracts into the case, and is small enough to fit into a pocket!
You’ll have to keep both hands on the camera though, and larger cameras don’t work quite as well. Also, we did find the cable gets in the way at times, and though it can rotate for vertical or horizontal shots, it isn’t as flexible as a ballhead. For those with shaky hands or shooting in places with restrictive policies, this could be just the ticket to steadier shots, but isn’t a replacement for a tripod (or even a monopod). $25, available online.
