Digital Camera Flexible Mini Tripod Stand

This may as well be my gift for myself this Christmas. Yes, I don't spend too much on myself. It's a flexible mini tripod stand that I bought from CDR-King. At Php120 (less than $3) it's the cheapest camera mini tripod I could find that has flexible gripping legs.

I already have a Slik brand camera tripod which I bought decades ago when I went to the US in 1987. I remember getting that camera tripod for a Video8 format Sony video camera (called Camcorder back then).

When that video camera broke I replaced it with another camcorder which also broke. The Slik tripod remained and has served me well. But I only use it occassionaly for our yearly Christmas pictures.


Purpose of the Flexible Mini Tripod Stand

Nowadays, I try to make it a point to buy tools or gadgets or stuff as the need arises. And the reason I started looking for this camera tripod was because of our family tradition of taking birthday pictures around the dinner table.

With the new house, we now have a more spacious dining area and I'm able to take pictures around the table. This wasn't possible in our old house where the dining table was jammed in a corner of the dining area and there was just one side of the table where you can take photos.

Since Tita Gay's out to care for my mother-in-law's recovery of her hip and wrist injury, we don't have an extra hand to take pictures. Therefore I need to use the camera's timer feature for photoshoots.

I don't bother getting the Slik camera tripod anymore. I usually take a couple of pictures only with my digital camera and it's more hassle than it's worth to setup the camera tripod.



Unsafe Photography

So instead of a tripod, what I do is pull a couple of dining chairs' backs together and balance some books on them. I then try to level the surface so it's flat. Then I put the digital camera on the flat surface.

This is risky though as the camera could fall with a wrong move on the chair. It's really not a safe practice as far as photography goes. I've had the digital camera fixed several times already.

One time, I had the camera's cabinet replaced because the camera body's battery cover plate broke when the camera fell. The camera was still useful but using duct tapes to secure that battery cover was just so inconvenient.


Advantages of the Flexible Mini Tripod Stand

• Position anywhere
  
  The Flexible Mini Tripod allows you to position the camera virtually anywhere. The legs can be wrapped around poles, grills, or even tree branches.
  
  The ring and foot grips can be bent individually for maximum gripping. In my case, I can secure the camera on one of the chairs' back like the one below.
  
  
  
• Light and handy
  
  The mini tripod I bought is good for cameras up to 275 gms. So that includes most point and shoot digital cameras.
  
  
  
  
  
  It is 16.5 cms. long and is as light as a screwdriver. You can slip it in a pocket or pouch. It's ideal when travelling.
  
  
  
• Convenient link attachment
  
  Like many of the bigger ordinary tripods, the flexible mini tripod has a link attachment which allows you to slide off the camera from the tripod easily. This removes the inconvenience of screwing the tripod to the camera every time.
  
  With its light weight and small size though, you could actually take pictures normally even with the mini tripod still attached.