Somebody Got Smart - They Used My Head...

It might seem difficult to report anything new about the Joby Gorilla Pod these days - after all the original little Gorilla Pods have been in the shop long enough to register on the inventory of the British Museum.* Well, that is because they actually work. They are a silly little answer to a serious little question for the travelling photographer. The fact that they have contributed to the Selfie Plague on Facebook and Instagram is neither here nor there. If we must have selfies, at least we deserve sharp ones. This, Gorilla Pods will do. The 3K kit was new on the storeroom shelves when I swanned through this week. The legs are no new thing - Gorilla Pod ABS plastic sockets that wrap around solid objects and rubberised feet at the end to act as a small tripod. You can exercise your ingenuity with this sort of thing when you need to support a camera or an off-camera flash. You'll never get the legs as straight as they come out of the packet ever again, but that is not a problem. Everybody's legs bend eventually... What was new was the head on the top of the bendy legs. Now here I must confess to a customer's bias - I own a Joby ball head myself, and it is the nicest one I have. Mine is the X head, but it is second cousin to the one on this pod. The quick release shoe is different but the tightening knob is the same ....and it is the best one in the business. It has a contour that lets your fingers either snug something up lightly or tighten it to steel, without breaking anything. Everyone else in the ball head business could take note. Could you throw this in your bag and make an entire landscape tour of the Yukon? No. Could you throw it in your bag and tour Singapore? Yes. Singapore has more railings, light poles, park benches, and other fixed surfaces that would let you secure your camera. And the very small profile and light weight will leave you more room in your luggage for duty free. * So have some of the staff...