UltraPod Lightweight Camera Tripod black ,One Size

If you have a point & shoot, it's worth it to carry this, as well. It is compact and lightweight, yet sturdy in construction. I got my first one about 20 years ago (?) and was awed with its versatility. I was frustrated at not being able to replace my lost pod (late 90's) as I could not find anyone stocking it. It's back!The knob and ball are easy to use, and it holds well. The velcro strap lets you mount it anywhere; the back of a chair makes a great viewpoint. Just look around, there's always a pole or branch you can use.Make sure to get a black one. The colors are fun, but will show up in reflections.Their ultrapod 2 can hold an SLR with a small lens. I shot a cityscape time lapse by strapping my 7D to a railing.I don't work for them, I just think they make an awesome product.

This is an excellent mini-tripod. It folds up very compactly, and it only weighs a few ounces. It supports a small or moderate sized camera very well. How small is "small," and how moderate is "moderate"? Well, that's hard to specify. It works extremely well with the small point-and-shoot cameras that so many of us have, but I doubt it would support and SLR camera at all. It works well with small Flip-style video cameras, but probably wouldn't work with even a compact full-featured camera.There is one consideration: Even if your camera is small and light enough for the tripod to handle, the tripod mount fitting may be located such that the tripod head can't articulate in order to keep the camera level. There's no way to know in advance whether this will be the case with any particular camera; you'll just have to experiment with your gear.Bottom line: A well-built, small, extremely lightweight tripod that does what it's designed to do. But it may not work with your gear.

This is a 5 year long-term review. I have two of these Ultrapods. The first one has held up after many years of use in backcountry environments. The 2nd one's ball head arm flops around at max tightness and is unusable. Overall the design is almost perfect, but I think the ball head/arm is due for a re-design and I am tempted to buy a 3D printer just to prove what could be possible with one of these built to a higher spec.Anyway, so you bought yourself this tiny, pocketable ultralight tripod you've seen folks talk about on youtube for years. You can hang it from objects like trees. Weighs almost nothing. You wanna start a hiking youtube channel and think you're going to put your phone or GoPro or whatever on this and start making those sweet, sweet ad-sense dollars. That's good. I've run the gamut of camera gear and got a successful channel going. I started with this Pedco Ultrapod as my very first foray into videography back in 2018. Quickly realized this tiny thing won't hold up to much more weight than a smartphone / GoPro. For anything heavier you need a real tripod. Don't get me wrong, Ultrapods are great little pieces for off the cuff videography - I can put my GoPro 11 onto this Ultrapod, and store it literally in my shorts pocket while hiking and it just barely visibly pops out the top - just the tip, folks. This is what an ultralight hiking camera setup looks like.If you set it up on a rock or on the ground with an action cam attached, you'll like it - that's what this is for. It's not for someone with a Lumix or a Sony or Cannon DSLM. Those are far too large and heavy. They will just flop over. This should be common sense, but other reviews indicate folks think this will work... It won't. The ball head is held together with two small pieces of plastic that capture the small aluminum ball head. A tensioning screw that has a plastic head tightens the plastic arms together with a slight amount of friction. That's it, it's very basic. Maybe an 8oz payload, max if you're lucky. With a redesigned ball head I think it could support 2lbs without a significant weight/bulk increase.You can use the attached, captured velco strap to tie it to trees, poles, whatever - you can even attach it to the top of a trekking pole and use your expensive blingy Gossamer Gear LT5 trekking pole as as selfie stick - there you go: a trekking pole, tent pole and camera selfie stick all-in-one if you combine this ultrapod with an ultralight trekking pole.CON: To reiterate, the stability of the arm that holds the ball head up is not great. It falters with very little force. In fact, I have owned two of these - the first one is still working ok. The 2nd one, the ball head arm is just floppy even with the adjustment screw at its the tightest. Upon closer inspection we see a potential design flaw: the tightening screw has a plastic housing that pushes against the ball head arm - this is what creates the force that tightens it down. It looks like on my 2nd ultrapod, this plastic is just the tiniest bit too long. We're talking like 1mm too long, so you don't get full thread engagement for enough clamping force to keep it all tight and in place. The screw itself just needs a couple more mm of threading and plastic over the screw needs cutting back by the same amount - at which point it would be a solid 5/5. For me, it's relegated to low movement applications, basically short handheld first person and close-in slefie shots only as I know it won't stay put for long.Otherwise I think it's a solid tripod for the money if you're looking for the absolutely lightest, most minimalist mini tripod on the market -- it's this one. Chances are it will work for you. If you get a dud with a loose ballhead arm, just return it and get another copy, lol.