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Filed under: Cameras •Hardware •Production •Tips •Web Video •

Monsterpod: Stick Your (small) Camera Almost Anywhere

I love gadgets, especially useful ones.  That love is doubled when the device is reasonably priced.  And gadgets that are useful, reasonably priced and related to video put me over the top.  So you can imagine my interest when a fellow member of a video discussion list turned me on to the MonsterPod, which fills all three categories well.

At first glance, the MonsterPod looks like an orange and black nylon-mesh suction cup, with a 1/4” tripod screw mounted in the middle.  It’s once you flip it over that you find the magic ingredient - a large blob of what looks like orange Silly Putty, what the MonsterPod makers call “PodGoo.”  You wouldn’t think something this seemingly simple could stick to just about any surface - but you would be wrong. 

Basically, applying the MonsterPod involves shaping and bending the cup and PodGoo to conform to the rough contours of the surface you want to stick your camera to.  And the list isn’t limited to just flat surfaces - the MonsterPod sticks to poles, rocks, dashboards, cement, you name it.  As long as the surface isn’t wet, made of fabric, too greasy or too dirty, it’s a good bet that MonsterPod will adhere to it, at least for a while.  A good firm press - even on vertical surfaces or upside down - will fasten the MonsterPod in place.  The makers recommend a maximum 10 minutes of attachment at a time, but as long as it isn’t overloaded I can see the hold lasting longer.

The recommended weight limit for the MonsterPod is 20 ounces (566 grams,) so while you won’t be hanging your Red One from it, there are literally hundreds of DV, HDV and AVCHD-class handycams that will feel right at home on it.  My test subject for the experiments was my venerable (and, sadly, brain-dead) Canon S2IS digital still camera, which weighs in near 20 ounces when packed with batteries. As you can see from the pictures, hanging the Canon vertically and even upside-down was no problem at all.  First I tried the side of a kitchen cabinet - perfect. 

Next, I hung it upside-down on aluminum soffit - again, easy and solid. 

Then I tried mounting the MonsterPod to the lightly-textured surface of the ceiling in the kitchen. 

The camera hung on to the ceiling like a startled kitten on a tree.  However…

Ooops.

Luckily, most of the PodGoo came off pretty easily by just dabbing the MonsterPod onto it, and truth be told, I probably applied much too much pressure in mounting it.  But that camera was on the ceiling, and it was staying.

You can find the MonsterPod online at many retailers.  I paid $30 for it (plus $10 for a carrying case, mostly to keep it clean) and consider it quite a bargain.  If mounting lightweight cameras in odd places is something you have to do, you should have at least one MonsterPod in your toolkit.

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Was the “oops” because the camera finally fell down, leaving goo behind, or because goo was left on the ceiling when you forcibly and purposefully pulled it down?

Posted by Adam Wilt  on  08/08  at  02:25 PM

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Nope, it held tight.  The Goo got left when I pulled it off, maybe a little to eagerly.

The Pod was showing no interest in falling off the ceiling, and with that texture to hang on to, I bet it would have stayed up there an easy hour.

BAJ

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/08  at  06:56 PM

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nice, not sure about “podgoo”...eemmm

nice gadget and useful in lots of places [ some you can’t print]

Posted by anistock  on  09/24  at  07:02 AM

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