Best $15 spent on my DSLR- Ultrapod II

[steve_t.1]

<p>With enough references floating about for the Ultrapod II mini tripod, I decided to take the plunge and spend $15 at my local REI store to pick one up. Plastic, 4.5 ounces, under 7.5" long folded down. It holds the Pentax K20D with the portly Sigma 10-20mm on it just fine, should handle any of the lenses I own (which aren't any heftier than this). The ball head mechanism does a respectable job of securing the camera against sag. It has the built-in heavy velcro strap for mounting to posts, tree branches, etc.</p>

<p>But what had grabbed my attention is when someone had mentioned bracing the unit against your chest to use your body as a stabilizer. WOW!! My new motorcycling tripod. I've taken a self portrait in a mirror with it, using a 50mm lens on the camera. (Center tripod leg is just jutting out into space.) I'm pretty casual in my hand positioning on the camera in this photo, but I wanted to show the tripod's contact with my body. A little experimenting holding the tripod against my chest and then regular hand holding of the camera did result in marked stability improvement while looking through the viewfinder. Not actual tripod stable, but a lot better than hand held. This puppy is going to live in my motorcycle case and will be my go-to tripod for MC travel. I can also use it as a normal tripod with the camera, set up on the trunk case of my bike. This worked with both the DSLR and my Canon compact. Might have to pick up one or two more.</p>

<p>The regular Ultrapod was even smaller/shorter and lighter than this, but it would not provide the opportunity for bracing against your body like the "II" does, and I wouldn't trust it with a SLR size camera, either. I've got a compact camera sized Gorilla Pod for my point & shoot camera, but I like this much better.</p>

<p>Me likey!!</p>

<p><img src="http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p26/stevet_010/K20D1162_1_1.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="531" /></p>

<p><img src="http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p26/stevet_010/IMG_3428.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" /></p>

<p><img src="http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p26/stevet_010/IMG_3431.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" /></p>

<p> </p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>I've been saying this for years....these things are amazing. I've shot and printed by percentage as many shots from this little pod as my bogen 3221W, my old stolen/lost 3001, my flashpoint carbon, my culman, and a bunch of cheap vivitar/walmart throwaway tripods.<br /> <br /> The ultrapod is just so convenient that I often just pull it out rather than unhitch my regular tripod and put it on a boulder or a rock cairn to get the shot.<br>

<br /> Before the ultrapod I carried one of those "bendy" mini pods sort of the precursor to the Gorilla pod. Despite being designed for film point and shoots, this worked well with my Program plus and 24/28mm 2.8s.</p>

<p> </p>

[unca mikey]

<p>I love my UltraPod! I've had mine for years, never travel without it. The white lettering rubbed off long ago, and I've had to reglue the rubber feet a few times, but it still works great.</p>

<p>A tip that may help someone -- I sometimes had trouble because the tree/rail/whatever that I wanted to attach the Ultrapod to was too large and the strap wouldn't fit around it. I wrote the UltraPod folks about the problem, and they sent me some extra straps with velcro so that now I can attach it to almost anything.</p>

[joshroot]

<p>They are plenty handy, that is for sure. You di have to fiddle with them to make sure that the "ball head" thing is set to support the weight that you are trying to put on it. They do have a real limit in some orientations.</p>

[roseberry guitars]

<p>I have a Manfrotto "Gruppo" I think it's called. Simular kind of thing with a telescoping add on extension. Haven't really tried it (don't trust it) with my Pentax digital stuff but carry it when out with my Zeiss Ikon Contax or a MF folder. Awesome gadget!</p>

[pbarnes]

<p>How well does this work with vertical orientation of a heavy camera?</p>

[steve_t.1]

<p>Vertical/portrait orientation, with my K20D I need to flip it to the left and land it between two legs, which makes it very tippy. You'd need to keep a hand on it. Also can't see through the viewfinder in this orientation when holding it against your body like I showed in that photo. Doing this "photographer as tripod" method does make the shade tree engineer in me start thinging about something homemade. Probably won't ever get around to fabricating something, but gets me thinking anyway.</p>

[hagar]

<p>Thanks Steve... I was toying with getting one, good to get some feedback :-)</p>

[trw]

<p>I often use mine to hold flashes.</p>

[celasun]

<p>With tripod we turn off the SR. Do you turn SR on or of with this? Any experiences?</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>I can't say I <em>love </em> the ultrapod, but I haven't seen anything better for what it is; I've used it quite a bit.</p>

<ul>

<li>I haven't found the velcro all that useful as SLRs are so heavy; I think it might have been better if they'd provided two velcro straps, one at the top & one at the bottom of the legs. </li>

<li>It folds up tiny--the SLR gorillapods don't fold as slim.</li>

<li>Perspective can be kind of limited because it is so short--I've taken many shots with it sitting on the ground but it's often better if you can find something to set it on. A downside with it being near the ground is that it can be tough to compose, especially with the kind of fiddly plastic ball head.</li>

<li>No quick-release, at least not with the current model. I think they're planning on introducing one in the future, though at present it's only with the compact model. On the positive side, if you fold the legs forward, it's not too unwieldy to use the camera with the UPII still mounted, hanging down.</li>

<li>Not real great for portrait orientation, balance with SLR is kind of precarious and you have to orient it in a particular direction so that it will fit between the legs. Still better than not having it. The UPII would need to be bigger (longer legs) for this to improve much. As Steve T. said, you might want to keep a finger on the leg opposite to ensure it doesn't tip, though I've found you can get it to balance though its easier with a lighter body & lens combo--*ist DS2 + FA20-35 will fare better here than K10D + DA12-24 or 16-45...and you can forget it balancing with a flash in portrait orientation.</li>

<li>I'd strongly recommend using it with 2-second timer, which also turns off SR.</li>

</ul>

<p>All in all, well worth its modest price and small enough that I can almost always have it handy if I don't have a 'real' tripod--recommend to anyone.</p>

<p>@Scot, do you have a model# on that Manfrotto? I haven't been able to identify yet what you're referring to.</p>

[shaloot]

<p>wow $15?! Man and I paid for $45 for that lousy dslr gorillapod which could barely hold my k10d... thankfully I sold it for $45... now this lil' one has got me tempted. Thanks for the review and photos Scot!</p>

[thebs]

<p>Yeah, I told my wife I wanted one of these for my birthday. I've been indoors, let alone when I want to take a shot remotely, and wish I had something like this.</p>

[darren_addy1]

<p>Nice to see this used with the exact combo I'd be putting on it: Pentax + Sigma EX 10-20mm.<br>

:)</p>