If you want to set up your camera on a branch, signpost, railing, etc., you can use mini tripods with bendable legs, which are already available on the market. The Mambapod takes a different, and in some ways better, approach, as it has a clamp built into one of its legs.
The Mambapod, which is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, is manufactured by Taiwanese company Silence Corner.
The device can be used as a regular minipod by spreading out its three legs and standing it on a flat surface. By folding the legs and holding it with one hand, you can use it as a monopod-like camera handle. Tripods with bendable legs are less suitable for these applications, as the legs are difficult to extend and are less rigid.
But the interesting part is the clamp built into the underside of one of the Mambapod’s aluminum legs.
silence corner
To use this clamp, first open the two jaws (one at the foot end of the leg and one at the head end) and the lever at the foot end. Next, position the tripod so that branches and other items fit between the jaws.
From there, simply rotate the lever to move the jaws on the foot end toward the corresponding part of the head end. Continue to do so until your jaws are firmly gripped by a branch or something like that. Wrapping the legs of a tripod with bendable legs around such an item probably won’t give you a very firm grip.
Each jaw of the Mambapod has a concave indentation that allows the clamp to fit snugly around items with rounded sides. If the sides of the object are flat, the triangular appendage at the end of each jaw can be flipped inward to provide a flat contact point.
silence corner
Tripods can be used either vertically or horizontally, but there is more strain on the clamp if the camera is hung to one side rather than overhead or hanging below. Therefore, the device has a weight capacity of 5 kg (11 lbs) when used horizontally, but only 2 kg (4.4 lbs) when used vertically.
The whole thing reportedly weighs 320 g (0.7 lb) without the optional ball head.
silence corner
Other features of the Mambapod include a 3/8-inch base screw that can be removed and reversed to reveal a quarter-inch end, and six additional quarter-inch ends for attaching accessories like lights or smartphones. There are screw holes on the legs. .
If all goes well, you can get your very own Mambapod for a $129 pledge. The tripod and ball head combination costs $179 (users can use third-party heads if they wish). Estimated prices are $179 and $244, respectively.
You can see the device in action in the video below.
Mambapod | Portable tripod that can be placed anywhere
Source: Kickstarter
