Cam-Pod mini-review

ivarivar Registered Users Posts: 8,395 Major grins
edited November 21, 2006 in Accessories
A little while ago, I was reading a press-release on ephotozine about the Cam-Pod. (no, it's not related to the iPod)

The cam-pod is an old-fashion beanbag in a new housing so to speak. It's a camera support which you are supposed to be able to use on just about any surface according to the makers.


Ordering & Shipping

I ordered the cam-pod from www.cam-pod.com, where I had the option of paying by credit-card, or by paypal. I used the latter, and ordering was a piece of cake. I received the cam-pod 7 days after I ordered it, and am suitably impressed with that since it had to ship from Australia to the Netherlands.

There are 2 sizes, normal and mini. The normal one is for slr type cameras, and the mini for point and shoot-sized cameras.

I ordered the regular size, for AUD $24.95, and with shipping that came to AUD$37.90, a little less then USD$30, a fair price I thought.

It came in a plastic bubble-lined envelope;
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The Cam-Pod

The Cam-Pod Consists of 8 segments filled with a plastic filling
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It's just under 500 grams (about 1lb) and is about 36cm (14") by 18cm (7")
It folds well.

To get an idea of the size, this is the Cam-Pod with a 30d & 24-105:
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Using the Cam-Pod

Using the Cam-Pod actually seems pretty easy, you fold it in a certain way, you put the camera on, wiggle the camera a bit, and voila. And I must admit, it does feel pretty stable.

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I tried to take some obstacles, and again I have to admit it feels stable. Whether or not this would be something you'd do in real life is another thing.
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So, so far, it looks and does really nice. The only problem I can see with it, is that it is difficult to use portrait-oriented.
On it's right side, my camera doesn't get enough support, since the lens is floating in the air, especially with a physically small lens, such as a 50mm
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On it's left side it looks alot better already, and it feels a lot more stable:
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However.... my remote control input is on the left side as well, and when connecting it, it starts to balance on the remote connector a bit, and looses part of its stability, especially with a smaller lens:
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With a larger lens, this is less of an issue, since it balances more on the lens than it does on the body.
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So for portrait style with a smaller lens, you may need to use the timer function, but other than that, this thing looks pretty cool. I've yet to use it in the field, but I can't wait. So far, a thumbs up :thumb

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