Magnetic Fun

I don’t know about other people but I’m a fan of being in pictures.  Unfortunately I’m also usually the one who has a camera on me, and there’s not always a kindly flat surface for me to set a self timer on.  Well that’s all about to change.

The Gorillapod Magnetic is kind of like a funky (and magnetic) bendable tripod that lets you balance your camera just about anywhere.  It’s only $25 and this means the camera carrier can be in more profile pics.  The trick is the Gorillapod is really only designed for small point and shoots, not cameras of the bulkier variety.  But this kind of camera placer is really for the point and shoot crowd anyway.

In-case you want a tripod

So, the new ipod nano comes with a camera, as well as a screen for movies. Well, not there’s just the accessory to help you both watch and shoot your own miniscule masterpieces.

The kickester. The kickester is an ipod case that doubles as a stand for the ipod nano. No more holding the screen up to your face on an plane let it rest on your fold out tray, propped up by the extendable kick stand of sorts on the back of the case. So too does this stand make it stable and easy to film if you choose to. At $14.35 it’s not out of the range of most ipod cases to begin with, but it’s a little bit more useful.

Bottle Cap Tripod

Carrying around a camera tripod isn’t always convenient, but this bottle cap tripod is good to go.

Made with a flexible rubber socket that slips over the top of most bottles and a standard tripod screw, the ingenious design turns your water bottle into the extra set of hands you need to take awesome pics.

The device works best with point and shoot cameras and bottles that are at least half full for obvious weight reasons.

It can also pivot about 15 degrees for extra flexibility. Cost about $10.

Cool.

Found via Rachel Ray magazine

Versatile Pictures

Almost every digital camera these days comes with a setting for action shots.  You want to take a picture of a track meet and cut down on the blur, it is possible.  But what about taking a picture in the actual track meet?  Or even better, while you’re in the process of skiing?

That’s what the Gopro Hero camera is all about.  Not only is it a good quality camera, but it comes with mounts for everything from a car dashboard, to a helmet, or your chest.  Sure, you’ll look a little weird, but the picture possibilities are surely worth it.  It’s unfortunate that the camera works on AAA batteries, thus battery life will likely be sketchy, but it would be worse.

At $200 it’s not a real expensive camera, which is always a plus.  The camera is small, and not waterproof in and of itself, but it comes with the shock resistant waterproof case to begin with.  With summer on the way this could be just the thing to spice up those vacation pictures.

More than a Tri – Pod

As digital cameras continue to evolve so too does the equipment that surrounds them (though often not quite as quickly).

Everyone’s seen a tripod but most people don’t own one.  It’s not that they’re not useful, they are, they are really really useful.  It’s simply that tripods are bulky and really travel friendly for the casual photographer.  That’s where the Universal Pod comes in.

The Universal Pod claims to reduce the need for an all out tripod and fit safely in a knapsack or purse.  The pod (that looks kind of like a mini flattened bean bag) attaches to the base of an average digital camera and then sticks firmly to a variety of surfaces.  You can set a funny angle, steady a shot, or goof around.  Sounds useful enough to me, though I wonder what sticking to “almost any” surface actually entails.