Reddit reviews Pedco UltraPod Lightweight Camera Tripod

The only camera gear he carried:

Canon 7D mk1, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 ART, 3 batteries+charger, 4 CF cards, Pedco Ultrapod, and a camera-to-iPhone adapter (he edited his social media photos on the fly via VSCO app). So once again for the gearheads, pretty great photos for a camera released 2009. :)

On the utili-key - Yes, absolutely. When I don't have the bag right next to me, it's got a little knife on it which always comes in handy because I don't carry a knife (unless you count the multi-tool). Also, my greatest failure as a man is that I cannot open a beer bottle without a tool, so it comes in handy for that ;)

The big reason is that I prefer a physically softer water bottle. Hard bottles tend to bash into stuff (especially other stuff in my bag) which I don't like. Also, it's convenient if it's disposable (I think I've gone through two the whole year). If you run out of water, and you just want to buy a cold drink at the convenience store, you can just throw out the water bottle and carry the new drink with you. I think the leaching hazards of plastic aren't that bad - just change the water every now and then, and don't leave it in the sun where the UV light can break down the plasticizers. I also leave my bottle in the fridge so I have a cold drink when I go out. This has a nice side effect of slowing the break down of the plastic.

Edit: Oh yeah - just remembered, another reason for preferring a disposable bottle is you can just give it to your friend and not worry about getting it back.

The stringpod is so so. See comment here. I was thinking of replacing my mini tripod with with a Pedco Ultrapod which I think is better than a gorillapod. To tell you the truth, I don't use the mini tripod that much - I've taken to carrying a real tripod (BK-555) with me most of the time. It's pretty small and light and velcro-ties underneath my bag pretty conveniently.

You're both correct :) I had my mini tripod and I rested it on the stone railing.

FTR it was a 6 second exposure, no way I'm handholding that!

• Your sleeping bag is way overkill, and seemingly heavy. if you're 3 seasons camping in the PNW and other places, odds are you won't see much below freezing, if at all, overnight.
  
  
• That's a huge pot, 3.7L? are you cooking for a crowd all the time? get a smaller pot, usually 1L is enough for most personal use.
  
  
• Swap nalgene bottle with a smartwater bottle instead.
  
  
• Your clothing list looks decent, but probably overkill unless it's early/late season or foul weather. You probably won't need base layer, mid-layer and a shell. unless you're hanging out around camp, a light base layer and rain/wind shell should be enough to keep you warm while moving down below freezing.
  
  
• consider trading trail runners for boots. if you're hiking where it gets wet, look at waterproof socks (under your shoes) or just bring a dry pair of sleeping socks
  
  
• ditch the tripod and get a smaller one, such as something like this: Link
  
  
• 88L backpack is huge, you're probably using a small portion of that. put all of your gear into a large cardboard box, and measure its total volume to see what pack size you really need. Consider contents' weight as well.

Ultrapod (1.85oz on my scale) https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000ANGNN0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Phone adapter (0.7oz on my scale. There are many, I picked this one) https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06XFHNYYY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The ultrapod has a velcro strap so you can connect it to your trekking pole if you want to do gopro selfi stick mode. The phone adapter holds the phone nice and tight.

So far so good. I've only been using it a few weeks and still learning all the focus modes as It's entirely different than my Canon. With that being said, I definitely have quite a few keeper photos that were able to be edited quite well in Lightroom. I bought a small table top tripod that came in handy at the dark Salt Cathedral Mine north of Bogota and I'm impressed with how the photos turned out.

I miss the Canon a bit, but I can't deny the pocketability of this camera. It's nice to be more discreet and literally being able to pocket this thing. I think the reason I miss the Canon now is I'm still learning the Sony controls; I can do Canon controls in my sleep. I may not miss the Canon at all once I've had more field time, but we shall see.

Real life weight for the older (version 1) Pedco Ultrapod is 1.6 oz.

If you can find one of the the old Mini Ultrapods, it will likely be even lighter.

I think the first version is lighter - https://www.amazon.com/Pedco-UltraPod-Lightweight-Camera-Tripod/dp/B000ANGNN0

I went diving in Okinawa with a small tripod. Put the hero on the coral - then the fish swim right up to it.

see

https://www.flickr.com/gp/bobsmo/DV9z9y

buy this one


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ANGNN0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

An external microphone would surely help with the audio issues you're having. Something like this set on a small tripod out of frame might do the trick.

THere are also versions which can be essentially velcro strapped to something. Might be a good way to attach it to a lamp of some other pre-existing pole.

Mine is a smaller version of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Pedco-UltraPod-Lightweight-Camera-Tripod/dp/B000ANCPNM
or
http://www.amazon.com/Pedco-UltraPod-Lightweight-Camera-Tripod/dp/B000ANGNN0

Something to consider as another option.

I have a very old one like the smaller version of this and have used it everywhere. Night shots in Venice, sunset at the Grand Canyon, etc. I use a mirrorless, so the larger version is probably better for a regular DSLR.