Tamrac ZipShot tripod

[kanzlr]

hi there,

does anybody here use the Tamrac ZipShot tripod?
http://www.zipshottripod.com/

I tried it in a camera shop and while it is not height adjustable, it is much more useful on vacation than a tabletop tripod I think, because you can use it without a place to position your tabletop tripod (like open street, etc.)

feedback would be great, thanks!

 

[Homey]

I too was looking to get something like this but I've not even seen one anywhere. Someone on Amazon said that the legs were very similar to those fibreglass tent poles and just about as solid!
YouTube has several reviews of it apparently so I'm headed there next...

 

[bacchus]

Kanzlr, did you buy the tripod in the end? Best Bacchus

 

[ZDP-189]

I have a ZipShot. The first time I pulled it out in public, I was in the process of taking up position on the grassy slope at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. I was going to shoot video with a compact and wanted the extra stability. I screwed the head in, then yanked the shock cords and let the legs drop, all a clickety-clack in to place. The poor bloke whom I was semi-blocking was so stunned, he gasped "You can do that?!?" and forgot all about Robosaurus while he gawked at my tripod.

TBH, that's just about the only positive thing I have to say about it.

The tripod will only work with the lightest of cameras. Their recommendation of cameras upto 3lbs is total bull. That holiday, I was shooting with a 8.5Oz Nikon Coolpix P6000. It is a mid-sized compact camera the same weight as a GX200. Even shot indoors on a flat tiled floor, it would bounce all over the place like artificial funbags on a mechanical bull. I had to resort to a 2 second timer to get a steady shot. Even then some VR was helpful. INDOORS. You may get away with a GRD/ CX and maybe a GX. When I tried a Canon 5D Mk II and a small Tamron lens (together close to 3lbs) it would bounce for upwards of 15 seconds every time you poked it. The legs are flimsy made of the small gauge and thin walled aluminium tube and could bend beyond repair.

It's not actually small, light or compact. The legs do not telescope, they fold. Each joint is quite long. As they don't telescope, you end up with a significant bundle.

It's not the best choice in its class for Ricoh compacts I now use a Fotomate CT15-8C. Compared to the Zip-Shot...

• Weight = a bit heavier 20oz vs 11oz .. but...
• Compactness = better (just about jacket pocketable 190.5" vs 15")
• Construction = better (stainless)
• Set/close up time = better
• Head = raise, ball, pan and tilt (vs ball head only that's locked or totally loose)
• Height = 47" (3" higher)
• Cost = lot less (about half)
• Rigidity = much much better (I can mount a 5DII + 70-200/2.8L IS USM + 1.4xTC

I still have the ZipShot, but I no longer use it as a camera tripod. I use it as a speedlight stand and it does that job well as rigidity is not required.