The Joby GorillaPod 5K tripod is Joby’s professional-grade versatile tripod mannequin. Joby has made a reputation for itself over the previous couple of many years as a purveyor of an modern model of tripods that use articulated ball joints that twist round something and every thing so as to provide the flexibility to stabilize your digicam wherever you could end up.
Key specs:
Materials: Aluminum, ABS plastic, stainless-steel and TPE
Leg sections: 1
Weight: 1.6lbs
Max load: 11 lbs
Folded peak: Â 13 inches
Ball head or pan/tilt head: Ball headÂ
Though it somewhat appears extra like a baby’s toy than one thing you may affiliate with a precision bit {of professional} images equipment the selection of supplies and cautious engineering has led to a product that’s concurrently each inflexible and versatile in all the best locations. Earlier iterations have reportedly fallen brief after put on and tear has led the ball joints to come back free however this newest providing guarantees a lot stiffer joints and a ball-head equipment that may carry the burden of a DSLR plus lens.
The Joby GorillaPod 5K Tripod has primarily been designed with Instagrammers and YouTubers in thoughts so it’s superb for on-the-go images and movies in journey situations – significantly selfies and straight-to-camera clips. However the query is, does it supply something helpful for the stargazers, long-exposure fanatics and evening sky photographers amongst us? The reality is each sure, and no, relying on what you need to shoot and the place you’re going to be doing it.
Joby GorillaPod 5K tripod evaluation
Joby GorrillaPod 5K Tripod evaluation: Design
- Light-weight and compactÂ
- Sensible for on-the-go situationsÂ
- Straightforward to make use ofÂ
The GorillaPod 5K is primarily designed to affix itself to railings, bushes and absolutely anything within the city panorama in addition to rocks and craggy pure panorama options. The articulated ball joints are made from a mixture of stainless-steel and aluminum with rubber across the widest a part of every ball which provides it a softer and extra tactile really feel than if it was all metallic. It has a sensible dimension, too, because it’s this that permits the GorillaPod to stay on to no matter you select to connect it to with out slipping.
The joints are the right mixture of flexible and stiff; they’re versatile sufficient to control into place but inflexible sufficient to make sure that they keep there when you’ve determined the place you need them.Â
The ball head has solely two knobs; a smaller one for securing the whole head into place on the horizontal airplane and a bigger one for rotating the ball head. Like most ball heads, it additionally has a divot to allow vertical-shaped compositions. The ball head is available in a somewhat delightfully zingy pink aluminum and (in our assessments at the very least) it swivels with ease with out colder circumstances affecting the metallic and impeding its motion.
We’re testing the complete GorillaPod 5K equipment which contains the tripod itself plus the ball head. You should buy the tripod with out the ball head and affix your personal, if you have already got one, because it makes use of a normal screw. You may also take away a part of that screw to disclose the usual screw that goes straight into the underside of the digicam so it might probably even be used with out the ball head hooked up.
The connector plate makes use of the Arca-Swiss design and is positioned instantly into place somewhat than sliding out and in. The Arca-Swiss design, if you happen to’ve not come throughout it but, is a good piece of standardization in tripod design as a result of it means you need to use this plate on tripods by different producers that additionally make use of it (eg. Benro, 3 Legged Factor) and it’ll slot in simply as simply. The plate makes use of a D-ring and is simple to screw in and unscrew.
Joby GorrillaPod 5K Tripod evaluation: Performance
The wonderful thing about the GorillaPod 5K is that, at 1.6 lbs, it’s the lightest tripod we’ve examined up to now. It’s one thing you may fairly fortunately connect to the skin of a digicam bag and hike all day with out it getting in the best way or including an excessive amount of weight to your load. It’s nice for these days whenever you suppose you may want it however haven’t essentially deliberate to. However that, in fact, doesn’t sound very very like an evening sky shoot! Â
Once we put the GorillaPod by way of its paces after darkish, we found that, opposite to preliminary expectation of one thing so small, it’s not too dangerous an choice for evening sky images.
The primary downside of the GorillaPod is that it just about needs to be affixed to one thing to make sure it stays nonetheless lengthy sufficient for the lengths of exposures you might want to take to seize the milky means or star trails. This implies the composition you select is proscribed by the road furnishings, railings, bushes and many others. obtainable. You possibly can, in fact, set it freestanding on the bottom however that isn’t advisable when the bottom is just too flat, moist or muddy as, regardless of the rubbery ft, it might probably slip. It’s additionally not nice within the wind and also you’d want a gust-free evening if you happen to had been to make use of it freestanding.
As soon as it was hooked up to some railings, nonetheless, its diminutive dimension instantly proved to be fairly helpful in maintaining nonetheless in opposition to a robust sea breeze as a result of there was a lot much less of the tripod to wobble within the wind. It was simple to control the legs into place and utilizing a mixture of swiveling the ball head on its horizontal axis and shifting the ball head made it simple to compose a shot instantly up into the sky.Â
Though the Joby GorillaPod 5K can carry the burden of a DSLR with a medium-range zoom lens in panorama orientation, composing in portrait format proved troublesome. When the tripod was wrapped round a railing the digicam was too massive to slot in the space obtainable between the tripod and the assist. The Mirrorless, nonetheless, was sufficiently small for it to not be an issue.Â
Do you have to purchase the Joby GorrillaPod 5K Tripod?
It’s unlikely that this tripod will cowl all of your stabilization wants however if you happen to’re wanting an addition to your equipment — for instance, maybe you need to take one thing away with you on a visit on which you may need to do some lengthy exposures however it’s not the aim of the journey, it’s a helpful back-up that gained’t add an enormous bulk or weight to your baggage. However it’s not at all as versatile for evening sky images as different fashions available on the market that are available in at an analogous value level. Should you’re in search of a devoted tripod for evening sky images, this isn’t the one for you.
If this product isn’t for you
Should you’re after a light-weight journey tripod at an analogous value level, the Benro Slim (opens in new tab) is just barely heavier at 2.2 lbs and a fraction costlier. It’s a completely extendable tripod to round 64 inches but compact sufficient folded down at 20 inches to not be too cumbersome when out and about or packing for a protracted journey.Â
Should you’re a cellphone digicam person, curiously, there doesn’t seem like a cellphone mount for the Joby GorillaPod 5K. This looks like an oversight however it could be as a result of they’ve a devoted system for would-be YouTubers with their GorillaPod Mobile Vlogging Kit (opens in new tab) which is designed to carry a cell phone plus additionally they supply numerous different table-top phone-mount options just like the Handypod Mobile Lock (opens in new tab).
