MonsterPod

ivar · February 7, 2007

saw this today, in a magazine somewhere. I'm not planning on getting one, but was just curious if anyone has/uses one and what how well it 'sticks'?

http://www.monster-pod.com/

cwphotos · February 7, 2007

I have never used it but it looks like a neat idea.

DoctorIt · February 7, 2007

viscoelastic "morphing" polymers, eh?

No, seriously, that's the kind of stuff I study - viscoelastic fluids is right in my phd thesis title (yeah, I'm cool, I know

). Mechanical adhesion is all about surface area. So basically, they're using a deformable, elastic material, think silly putty, that can get in to the tiniest little cracks just as well as it can into big cracks, and create a good "adhesion" force.

I just wonder how heavy it is. Some of our fancy "goo" can be pretty dense.

ivar · February 7, 2007

DoctorIt wrote:

I just wonder how heavy it is. Some of our fancy "goo" can be pretty dense.

monsterpod frontpage says 170 grams. (it's under the 'quick details' list, took me a while to find as well.... )

Andy · February 7, 2007

ivar wrote:

saw this today, in a magazine somewhere. I'm not planning on getting one, but was just curious if anyone has/uses one and what how well it 'sticks'?

http://www.monster-pod.com/

You didn't see it at Photokina? It was pretty neat. Strong, too.

This and the Gorilla-pod are both cool

ivar · February 7, 2007

Andy wrote:

You didn't see it at Photokina? It was pretty neat. Strong, too.

This and the Gorilla-pod are both cool

Did we see it at Photokina? or did you see it before I was there? I was wondering how strong it was.

I do know the gorillapod actually, looks pretty cool.

Scotty_R · February 7, 2007

Call me skeptical, but I think I'd have problems attaching a $5K camera body complete with a $2K lens to this thing and then hanging it all from a tree branch. Neat invention, but scary.

Nikolai · February 7, 2007

Neat toy...

Scotty_R wrote:

Call me skeptical, but I think I'd have problems attaching a $5K camera body complete with a $2K lens to this thing and then hanging it all from a tree branch. Neat invention, but scary.

"Toy" being an operative word... All the "pods" I've seen and played with for the last few years and good for two things: get some some "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the boobs and maybe hold a subcompact long enough to get your extended family position themselves in front of it. None could hold 20D-like body with a mid-size even on the even surface. I can only imagine how Harry gonna use it with his 600mm..

Another funny thing about these "pods" - most of them a suitable for ultra-compacts only, and the whole reason of having ultra-compact is to not carry a bunch of stuff with it. And those pods are fairly large (gorilla pod being the only one that is relatively small and sturdy enough to hold something like DSC-H5 steadily)

So, I'm with Scott on this one

DoctorIt · February 7, 2007

Scotty and Nik: don't forget that there's a lot more "point & shooters" than us relative dslr snobs in here. You're evaluating a product based on the wrong set of needs/requirements.

Just sayin'

For example, let's look at my dear ol' mother:

balanced on the back seat of the motorcycle

propped up in the middle of the road by the lens cap

would she love the goo-pod? you betcha!

Nikolai · February 7, 2007

Erik,

DoctorIt wrote:

Scotty and Nik: don't forget that there's a lot more "point & shooters" than us relative dslr snobs in here. You're evaluating a product based on the wrong set of needs/requirements.

I thought I said just that: OK for mid and small P&S especially for subcompacts (although defy the compactness factor), no so good for larger P&S (Sony 828/R1 type), and not good at all for dslr with their large bodies and heavy long lenses...

DoctorIt · February 7, 2007

Nikolai wrote:

(although defy the compactness factor)

a 170g (little bit more than a hamburger) flat disk isn't much extra to pack in your travel bag.

Pupator · February 8, 2007

DoctorIt wrote:

a 170g (little bit more than a hamburger) flat disk isn't much extra to pack in your travel bag.

*drool* mmmm - hambuger pod :eat :burger

jdryan3 · February 8, 2007

The ad says it can hold up to 10oz for up to 10 minutes - just long enough for a compact digial camera to be set up and to activate the timer (also from the ad).

MonsterPod

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