A
Joby well done.
Action
cams and smartphones; these are way we tend to record things today.
Be it capturing a sky drive you did this morning, or just taking a
picture of you and your friends on a night out, small and rugged
cameras and phones are perfect. However, getting the best shot lined
up can be tricky, so you need a mount or tripod that is flexible and
light. We've found one... actually we've found several... from Joby
in their Action Base Kit and GripTight GorillaPod Stand.
If
you haven't heard about GorillaPod camera and phone accessories, they
are basically very clever tripod systems which allow you to stand
your camera in the conventional way, utilising all three legs, and
also flex those spider-like legs around just about anything. You can
grip a GorillaPod tripod to the handlebars of your bike, a tree, a
lamppost, around you dog's collar, to a skateboard... anything. The
GorillaPod Action Tripod, the largest accessory in the kit, then
features a screw top joint to which action cams of all kinds can be
fixed. The legs close tightly together keeping your camera in place,
and thanks to the near-infinite flexibility you can set the cam at
any angle you desire.
The
GPod Mini Magnetic is very similar to it's bigger brother in that it
features three highly-articulated legs, but is much smaller, shorter,
lighter, and... FEATURES MAGNETS AT THE ENDS OF THE FEET! This is
extremely useful when you need to fix your action camera to a metal
surface (the magnets are reassuringly stable) or indeed jut require a
shorter-legged tripod.
Finally
in the Action Base Kit is the Action Hand Grip. This is a very simple
but highly practical thing for using an action cam like a
conventional camcorder. The cam screws onto the top in the usual way,
then you hold the Hand Grip to get a clear no-fingers-over-the-lens
shot. It also features a wrist tie making it perfect if you're
holding your cam whilst surfing, skating, skiing, parachuting...
whatever. Oh, and it floats which is a massive weight off the mind of
fans of water-sports. The Action Hand Grip can also be used in
conjunction with other Joby photography gadgets such as the Joby
Pole.
Available
separately to the Action Base Kit (but can be fitted inside thanks to
the kit's customisable interior padding) is the GripTight GorillaPod
Stand. This is very similar in size to the GorillaPod Action Tripod
but includes a removable GripTight clamp that can firmly hold onto
smartphones. This means that your phone's camera can also be used to
capture all the action, while being affixed somewhere safely thanks
to the GorillaPod legs.
This
is the perfect addition to any action cam kit as, lets face it, the
camera on your smartphone can be just as good as the one you're
currently strapping to your helmet. You might not want to slide down
the side of a mountain with your super-expensive phone attached to
your skis, but setting up your phone on a tree to capture the action
as you fly by is a great idea.
All
these photography accessories from Joby are really well made and
exceptionally versatile. The fact that they've put together a carry
case full of handy parts is a great idea; one that users of action
cans – be they adventurers or not – really ought to check out.
Action
Base Kit: £75
GripTight
GorillaPod Stand: £25
