* Flexibility *
The Joby Gorillapod Focus has several advantages over normal travel tripods for me. First, it is very compact and light. It can be in your backpack if necessary, bend it slightly in order to make optimum use of the space available and it is incredibly flexible. It can be positioned not only as a normal tripod on the ground, but also clip it to your objects. Excellent work on the railings. So I have attached to the railing at the Grand Canyon just before the abyss the tripod, my DSLR mounted thereon and made long exposures from the Canyon. Here I had to at any time to worry that a tourist would upset my tripod, because it was indeed nowhere in the way. Properly secured, the Gorillapod keeps incidentally absolutely without shaking even with a heavy camera. My creations are always -also without shaking during long Belichtungszeiten-.
The Gorillapod can be also in unusual places, such as attach trees, gutters or car doors. Basically, the sky is as limitless. In a heavy equipment but you have to be careful in adventurous situations that the tripod is securely clamped.
* JOBY GORILLAPOD PROCESSING *
The tripod partly metal and partly of plastic. It feels much less stubborn than the cheaper DSLR Gorillapod. The Gorillapod Focus is tabil and well finished. It maintains, in fact a lot more than you think. The metal rings on the individual links prevent breaking even with force. This is not to be underestimated, because me with my DSLR Gorillapod tripod a single element is broken. As long as you do not throw this Gorillapod Focus tripod with brute force on the ground, nothing happened.
* BALL *
In keeping with the Gorillapod Focus optionally a ball head "X-Ball Head" offered. This is very stable and does its job. Nevertheless, I am, because I wanted to make an compatibility with my other removable disks and because you have to unscrew the removable disk to the Ballhead X, which always takes time, switched to a Manfrotto 496RC2. With this combination, I'm now very happy. The 469RC2 has a pilot portion that you need only insert the removable disk and it locks automatically.
* CONCLUSION *
The Gorillapod Focus is on the go and for "special missions" as the attachment to handrails very well and trees well suited to medium. It weighs little and is robust. For me it is traveling a real asset. Of course, in some situations a sturdy Manfrotto or Gitzo tripod would be better. But that would be again so heavy and bulky that they would not want to take it on long walks again. The Gorillapod is for me therefore (in combination with a ball head) the perfect compromise on air travel and when lightweight luggage is required. "Special operations" of trees are a nice bonus.
