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JOBY Inc

The JOBY Wavo

By | iPhone, microphone, Vlog, YouTube | No Comments

JOBY has had your back supporting your camera and phone with a variety of flexible and versatile tripods over the years. Now we’ve got into the audio game with our new Wavo shotgun microphone!

We’ve made sure to deliver a superior quality mic that a vlogger should have. A video mic that fits both on a phone rig with a cold shoe or on top of a camera. It replaces basic quality internal mics that record audio from different directions including surrounding noise. Watch our tutorial video with Tim to find out all the Wavo has to offer.

JOBY GripTight Mount Sizing Guide

GripTight Fitment Guide – Which GripTight do I need?

By | GripTight, How To, iPhone, Uncategorized

The following guide below is designed to answer most GripTight sizing questions you may have. With or without a case, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Android, we have the right GripTight Mount for your smartphone.

Available in two sizes. Regular or XL

JOBY GripTight Mount Sizing Guide

GripTight Mount for smaller smartphones (Regular)
Adjustable grip fits smartphones between 2.1-2.8 in | 54-72mm wide.

GripTight Mount for larger smartphones (XL)
Adjustable grip fits smartphones between 2.7-3.9 in | 69-99mm wide.

 

Apple Smartphones 4, 4s, 5, 5s, 6, 6 Plus Mount Guide

Apple Smartphones

From the iPhone 4 to the 6 Plus we have a GripTight Mount for your current Apple smartphone of choice. The images in the guide below will help you choose which size GripTight is right for you.

GripTight Mount size guide for the Apple 4, Apple 4s, Apple 5, Apple 5s

iPhone 4 –GripTight Regular recommended (with or without case)
iPhone 4s – GripTight Regular recommended (with or without case)
iPhone 5 – GripTight Regular recommended (with or without case)
iPhone 5c –GripTight Regular recommended (with or without case)
iPhone 5s – GripTight Regular recommended (with or without case)


iPhone 6 with GripTight Regular and GripTight XL with iPhone 6 Plus side by side.

iPhone 6 – GripTight Regular recommended without a case.
Have a case? See additional images below
NOTE: GripTight XL will work, see images below.

iPhone 6 Plus – GripTight XL recommended without a case.
Have a case? See additional images below


iPhone 6 with GripTight Regular

JOBY GripTight Regular the perfect smartphone mount for the iPhone 6.


iPhone 6 with GripTight XL

While the JOBY GripTight XL will work for the for the iPhone 6 without a case the Regular size is recommended for a tighter grip.


 

iPhone 6 in OtterBox Defender case with GripTight Regular

The OtterBox Defender case is massive and is the largest case we could find for the iPhone 6. The GripTight Regular fits but just barely at it’s maximum opening width. Your case probably isn’t this large. With a case we would recommend the Regular size for the iPhone 6. NOTE: If you do have the OtterBox Defender case you should use the GripTight XL.


 

iPhone 6 Plus in OtterBox Defender case with GripTight Mount XL

The JOBY GripTight XL if perfect for the iPhone 6 Plus with or without a case. It even fits easily with the massive OtterBox defender case.

 

Android Smartphone GripTight Mount guide. Nexus, Motorola, LG, HTC, Samsung

 ANDROID Smartphones

On the Android side there are a few more options of smartphones to choose from, yeah! We have a few sizing examples of the current leading Android mobile phones (as of 2/15).

Moto X 2nd Gen with GripTight Mount Regular compared to Moto-X 2nd Gen with GripTight Mount XL

The Moto-X 2nd Gen is 2.85in | 72.4mm wide. Fitting both the GripTight Regular and XL fit. If you have a case or not will depend on which is best for you. See the images below.


 

The GripTight XL the prefect smartphone mount for the Moto X 2nd Gen.

Recommended – The GripTight XL fits the Moto X 2nd Gen with plenty of space between the jaws. Perfect for use with or without a case.


 

Moto-X 2nd gen with JOBY GripTight Mount Regular

Possibly Recommended? – The GripTight Regular fits the Moto X 2nd Gen with a small amount of space to spare between the jaws. This is preferred by some of our JOBY staff as it provides a very snug fit. Only recommended without a case.


 

GripTight Mount guide for the Samsung Galaxy S5

The Galaxy S5 is 2.85in | 72.5mm wide. The GripTight XL is recommended and has plenty of room for most cases.

The Galaxy S4 is 2.75in | 69.8mm wide.
Without a case we recommend the GripTight Regular.
With a case we recommend the GripTight XL.


 

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Note 4 GripTight Mount sizing guide.

Galaxy Note 3 is 3.12in | 79.2mm wide. The GripTight XL fits the Note 3 & 4 perfectly and has plenty of room for most cases.

The Galaxy Note 4 is 3.09in | 78.6mm wide. Use the GripTight XL

 


Basic Rule of Thumb:

Smartphones without a case:
Under 2.8in | 72mm wide use the GripTight Regular.
Over 2.8in | 72mm wide use the GripTight XL.

Smartphones with a case:
iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5s with a case use the GripTight Regular.
iPhone 6, 6 Plus and similar size Android smartphones with a case use the GripTight XL.

 

Don’t see your phone? Still have a question?

First see if a phone above is a similar size to yours and follow the guide for that phone. If you still have questions email us at community@joby.com and we’d be happy to help.

 

 

 

 

Filming Mountain Biking with GorillaPod Hybrid and GoPro

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

French videographer/mountain biker Luka Bollonjeon uses just a GorillaPod Hybrid and a GoPro to create amazing videos of his rides through the French Alps. He is working on a video series titled Alone where he films himself biking through many different types of terrain. He’s found his GorillaPod to be the perfect companion on these adventures. Compact and adaptable to all kinds of environments, GorillaPod Hybrid is ideal for getting super cool off-body footage with a GoPro camera. We caught up with Luka to hear more about how he makes his fantastic videos! 

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Hello! I’ll introduce myself. My name is Luka, I’m 25. For the past two years, I’ve lived  in the “capital of the Alps” Grenoble. My passion is to walk the trails with my faithful companions: my bike, my tripod and my camera.

Why do I bring a tripod and a camera on my bike rides? Because I practice self-filming. Self-film, what? Self-filming can be defined as the art of filming oneself, like taking a self-portrait in photography. In other words, if you have an oversized ego, this is not for you. 😉 Don’t worry, it is possible to make films just for fun to share your passion or your most beautiful trails. This is certainly my idea of self-filming—the concept is relatively simple: a camera, a bike, time, well sharpened and hopvoila calves!

Self-filming requires a lot of time and effort. Time, because unfortunately, the cameras do not come down the trail on their own. Effort, because those cameras still do not set themselves up on their own. Once you ride past the camera, you must go back to look for it, grab it and carry it down to set up on another part of the trail.

To diversify your shots, you’ll need to have to a tripod. Like the GoPro camera, the most compact tripod is the most practical or filming on trails. The RollsRoyce of mini tripods is the GorillaPod—an articulated 30 cm capable of attaching to any surface. The combination of a Gopro and a JOBY GorillaPod will allow you to capture even the craziest self-filmed shot you can think of!

Watch more mountain biking videos by Luka on his site!

How to Film a Documentary in Remote South America with Xpeditions TV

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Meet Jerry and Kathy Willis, the photography/videography masterminds behind Xpeditions TV. They’ve spent years traveling throughout South America, documenting their exploration of amazing, infrequently-visited sites. They share their adventures on their site Xpeditions TV in the form of short documentary films. Because their work takes them to the most remote places, lightweight and adaptable gear is essential. On their last expedition they ditched their full-height tripod in favor of our GorillaPod Focus with Ballhead X. Here’s more about their travels, their work and their new favorite tripod! 

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First, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into photography/videography?

We started our tour company in 1992 specializing in trips to Peru. The trips were always between the Amazon jungle to the Andes mountains. At every stop we were surrounded by a vast wild landscape. It was during the first trip I realized how important a camera would be if I was going to share these adventures with others. By the time our second trip was scheduled I had bought a Canon A1 film camera for still photos, and a consumer level Canon 8mm video camera to capture the action. Our early documentaries were a record of the people we escorted through Peru, and events from the journey.

Since then we have expended our interests beyond tours. My wife Kathy and I now trek into remote areas looking for places few have traveled to. There are lost cities forgotten to time, people and their customs whose lives remain much the same as they were a hundred years ago, and fantastically beautiful places few will ever see.

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Can you tell us about the project these photos/videos are from?

The photos were taken during our most recent shoot in Peru and Bolivia. We called this “The Tocache Expedition”, though we actually shot in two countries and multiple locations in each country. As usual, we were determined to document several ancient sites relating to research Kathy was conducting. For more about this best to check in at Xpeditions TV.

How has the GorillaPod changed the way you shoot?

The GorillaPod Focus and Ballhead X have changed everything, and I really mean EVERYTHING. I’ll explain; For years we have carried a tripod with us. You have to if you want a steady shot for a stand-up narration, or if you film at night or while recording a time-lapse clip. We have several tripods to choose from, but even the best one we have is bulky. Most are heavy enough that you wish you didn’t have to have one along. Believe me, moving through the dense foliage of the Amazon or climbing past 14,000′ elevation on the steep slopes of an Andes mountain is challenging enough. Add a tripod and it becomes exhausting. We’ve done it, but were always looking for something more portable and more easily managed.

When we saw the GorillaPod and Ballhead X Kathy and I became very excited. We already knew JOBY made an exceptional product line. We had purchased a JOBY flashlight several years ago that attached to a small magnetic tripod. We still have it, and it was used during this last trip. It will be along with us wherever we go because it is so dependable. That thing saved our life one night while stranded on the Amazon river… but that’s another story. Needless to say, we have complete confidence in JOBY products. Because it is a JOBY we already knew the GorillaPod and Ballhead X is a well made, dependable high quality product. We quickly ordered one and it arrived two days ahead of leaving for our expedition. Without even considering, we left our expensive carbon fiber tripod at home. Good choice!

During the trip it was obvious this is the best tripod and camera mount we had ever used. Maybe the best addition to shooting that has EVER be invented! Sure, it doesn’t have extendable legs to get the height, but no problem. We were able to mount the GorillaPod and Ballhead X in trees, on fence posts, rocks.. anything we chose! We ended up with extraordinary shots that we would never have gotten otherwise! Adding the GorillaPod and Ballhead X to our kit improved our filmmaking by increasing the level of creativity always available, but never approached because of the limitations a normal tripod allows. We will use our old tripods in the future for studio work. But once we head out into the wild places we will not be without our GorillaPod and Ballhead X.

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What is your best tip for using the GorillaPod?

Avoid trees covered by ants! Haha… During one shot at “The Doomsday Stone” I decided to mount the GorillaPod in a tree for a stand-up shot where Kathy and I were discussing the archeological site. We were on location deep into the Andes mountain up the Rio Tocache. This region of the Amazon is where the jungle meets (and flows upon to) the Andes mountains. Because I was hurrying I hadn’t noticed there was a line of leaf cutter ants working this particular tree. They were busy cutting leaves and transporting them to their nest somewhere else in the nearby jungle. I quickly mounted the GorillaPod and camera in a high place, and set the shot. Once finished, I went to remove the camera. I was alarmed to see the GorillaPod and camera was covered with curious ants wondering what this thing was!

Aside from this, I suggest you take some time to become familiar with the GorillaPod and Ballhead X. Play with it, mount it, dis-mount it… Try it out in as many settings as you can. The GorillaPod and Ballhead X are easy items to understand and use. Experimentation is the key to using it. Don’t wait until you need to capture a shot to get familiar with it.

One last thing; You might want more than one size. We have the larger one, but there are smaller ones more specific to less bulky cameras. If your camera is big like ours, the GorillaPod Focus and Ballhead X is perfect. But if you have a smaller camera you might find consider one of the other GorillaPod models more specific for your camera size. You can be sure of one thing about any of these… Anything JOBY makes is the highest quality and will last for decades.

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 Can you share a story of a time that your GorillaPod really came in handy from your past trip?

That’s a tough question! It came in handy for almost every shot we took! But there is one shot I could not have gotten without it.

I already mentioned the tree shot in the Amazon with leaf cutter ants. That was one shot that would not have ever happened if not for the GorillaPod. There is another instance I felt we were able to be very creative.

While hiking back through the jungle to camp Kathy decided it would be interesting if we could get an overhead shot as we passed by. As we were leaving the Doomsday Stone area she found an ideal place to shoot from high in a tree along the path. We always had talked about to do this but never had because there was really no way to secure the camera. I climbed a tree (no ants in this one!) and mounted the GorillaPod and camera about twenty feet above the path. The results are incredible… Had it not been for the GorillaPod and Ballhead X I would never have felt comfortable mounting our expensive camera like this. The GorillaPod gripped the branch like a vice and held it securely in place. It would probably still be there had it been left in place. It was really locked onto that limb! We shot it, and it looks fantastic. That shot was only possible because of the JOBY GorillaPod and Ballhead X.

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What is your best advice for aspiring photographers/videographers?

Anyone can shoot footage. The greatest issue many have is when you think you are not “qualified”, or good enough to produce something others will enjoy. Our advice is, don’t compare yourself to others. You are not them, and never will be, haha… You might think your idea or footage isn’t as good as. Don’t think this way. Instead, be yourself. Shoot what is interesting to, and inspires you. Compose a story, imagine how you can make it look like what you see in your minds-eye. Don’t worry about it – try it out. Sure, you’ll have disappointments. We all do! Use your mistakes to make the next shot better. If you’re unsure or stuck not knowing how to do something, ask for help. I know for sure someone has encountered your issue already and most are happy to pass on helpful information.

Finally, if you ask for an opinion and receive constructive (or otherwise) criticism, learn from it. Don’t be bummed out just because one person has something to say that disheartens you. We have had a lot of that! You might also face this. If you do, think about what was said and go forward. If you really believe you are right their opinion doesn’t matter. If you see their rational, improve from the experience. Don’t be afraid to ask, and expect judgement. Place judgement where it belongs…. in your intellect, not your heart.

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Where can we find more of your stuff!

All our short documentaries are available at no cost at http://Xpeditions.TV.  We have been shooting for eight years. We have tried various cameras, editing techniques, and shooting styles. If you watch each episode you can easily see how our abilities have improved over the years.  We invite you to drop by, spend a few hours, and learn from what we have done. Have questions: how did we shoot  that, etc…?  Feel free to ask. We are always happy to share our knowledge and techniques. Maybe we can help you solve a shooting or editing issue : )

Thanks Jerry and Kathy for sharing your great tips and experience with us! 

 

A Home Away from Home: JOBY at Galileo Summer Quest

By | Friends of Joby, Gorillapod | No Comments

(JOBY Note: This post was written by Jessica Ellis at Galileo Learning which hosts awesome innovation camps for kids. Check ’em out!)

On a warm summer morning in Palo Alto, twenty middle school students are busy at work planning their set for the world’s next great movie, so they proclaim. They are equipped with Pentax adventure cameras, a sense of determination, a willingness to collaborate and, a JOBY GorillaPod Video tripod. Summer camp is not the typical setting for JOBY users, but these tripods are no less valuable here.

Galileo Summer Quest: GorillaPod Video Positioning

Campers need equipment that is weather resistant and can withstand eight straight weeks of heavy use. Galileo provides over 36,000 weeks of camp to Bay Area kids and providing high quality equipment that enhances the camp experience is a top priority. High quality equipment is important because it enable kids to focus on the art of their idea. Galileo Summer Quest helps campers tap into their natural creativity and empowers them to design and build projects with tools that are often unavailable at home or at school. Their adventure is one of wild imagination and innovation. The JOBY tripod helps budding photographers and videographers push their ideas beyond the confines of a typical class and into the exciting and risk-free environment of an innovation summer camp.

Galileo Summer Quest: GorillaPod Video Notebook

All summer, campers at Galileo Summer Quest’s 14 camps from Tiburon to San Jose have been putting JOBY tripods to the ultimate test of endurance and usability. Galileo Summer Quest offers a wide range of one-week courses in the fields of Digital and Fine Arts, Building and Making and High Technology. This year, JOBY tripods were offered as a compliment to three of these courses: Digital Filmmaking, Digital Photography and Lego Robotics. In Digital Filmmaking, campers use the JOBY GorillaPod Video tripods for shooting a 3-5 minute movie. In Digital Photography, campers use the GorillaPod SLR Zoom tripods with their Nikon SLRs to set up their images for portrait photo shoots and for their Public Service Announcement photographs. In Lego Robotics, campers use the JOBY GorillaPod Hybrid tripods to film their “vlogs” of robot competitions, which they then upload to YouTube to share with parents and friends.

The JOBY tripods replaced the aluminum tripods used in the field last summer. They had been one of the greatest bottlenecks for campers in Digital Filmmaking and Photography. The aluminum tripods continuously broke and were a great frustration to campers who had designed their projects to require tripods for stability in their films and photos. This summer, the tripods have far exceeded expectations. One highlight of the JOBY tripods has been their use in Digital Photography. Campers love the size and versatility of the Zoom tripods. One camper wrapped her tripod around the branch of a tree to get a unique angle and another balanced it on picnic tables for a wide aperture photo shoot.

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The JOBY tripods not only have proven rugged enough for constant handling by 11 and 12 year olds, but have also engaged middle-school aged campers with their bendable and magnetic legs. Stored with the magnet side attached to metal file cabinets and hanging from metal binders, the Joby tripods looks very much at home at Galileo summer camps.

Galileo Summer Quest: GorillaPod Video Herd

 

As the summer comes to a close, the tripods will be packed with their cameras and stored away for next year when campers will return, eager to capture their ever-evolving stories. A sense of adventure and openness to new ideas has always been part of the culture at Galileo and now, so is JOBY.

 

 

What’s YOUR Angle? New GoPro Mounts & Tripods from JOBY!

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

We’ve seen our customers do some pretty wild things with their GoPro cameras and our GorillaPod line from the humble GorillaPod Original to the mighty GorillaPod Focus. But we thought that ,you know, we really should be creating products specifically for the action video crowd. I mean, there are only a trillion of them being sold every day.

So, we thought about where our products do well with GoPro users and where they don’t do as well so we could create a proper GoPro family (don’t worry Contour and Sony ActionCam fans, these products equally well with those too!)

JOBY GoPro Mounts and Tripods

To see the whole family in its blazing glory and soak in an awesome skate video, check out the Action Series family in action!

First up is our GorillaPod Action Tripod. With a quick-release clip (our Tripod Mount for GoPro) designed specifically for GoPro Cameras, plus our standard 1/4″-20 quick-release clip, you can use your Action Tripod to capture epic off-body footage with any action camera and compact system camera up to 2.2 lbs / 1 kg. We know we’re preaching to the choir when we talk about how awesome GorillaPod’s flexible legs are for getting footage in tricky environments, but those flexible legs and grippy rings are even more helpful in the wild places you take your GoPro.  Another awesome feature of the GorillaPod Action Tripod is it’s integrated ballhead. It’s 360° of pan and ±90° tilt knob makes it easy to fine tune your compositions, plus it has a bubble level to help you get a level shot. No LCD screen to preview, no problem! Plus, GorillaPod Action Tripod is durable and lightweight.

 

GoPro Tripod

 

But if you already have a GorillaPod or a tripod, no worries!  You can buy the Tripod Mount for GoPro as a standalone piece and you can use it with whatever GorillaPod you already have (or any other tripod with a 1/4″-20 screw) The mount is built to also instantly slide into the GorillaPod SLR-Zoom, GorillaPod Hybrid, and GorillaPod Action Tripod so you don’t even have to remove the mount from your GoPro! In fact, for a totally different take on tripods for action video cameras, combine our Tripod Mount for GoPro with our Gpod Mini Magnetic. Check out the little guy defiantly gripping on to this metal platform!

Small GoPro Tripod

 

Next up is our Action Clamp series. Our GorillaPods can adapt to almost everything, but one thing they’re not as good at are staying clamped securely to the edge of surfaces like the edge of a door, a car window, etc., especially where the surface might be moving a lot. Maybe you want to make sure that your GoPro can’t be knocked over while filming. For that, what you really need is a clamp, not a flexible tripod.

But a lot of clamps out there are annoying to use. Some are hard to use (ie, you need the hand strength of a professional rock climber to work its jaws open enough), and some are just slow (screw the top….screw the bottom…and then repeat when you move it.) So, we created this awesome clamp that has a moveable locking arm that automatically locks in place as pressure is put on it. By closing the majority of clamp gap with the sliding locking arm, you only have to tighten the other arm just enough to secure a firm grip as opposed to screwing to just close space.  This lets you resize your clamp super fast from something as thin as a stop sign head to a table ledge up to 2 inches / 5 cm in a flash. Each side has two 1/4″-20 screw openings which lets you place your attachments on either end (or use both at the same time!)

Action Clamp for GoPro Video Cameras

 

So, we created two Action Clamps. The first is the Action Clamp with GorillaPod Arm. This has a 5 balls and sockets arm of GorillaPod goodness. Use the Action Clamp with GorillaPod Arm when you think you’re making a lot of quick tweaks, and you just want to bend the arm to get the position you want quickly.

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But we also created the Action Clamp with Locking Arm which has this terrific locking arm that has two pivot points where each one can rotate 360 degrees as well as pivot 180 degrees to the left and right. Not only can you get even more crazy angles than the GorillaPod Arm, but the locking arm that locks the pivot balls in place helps give you a much more vibration-resistant, longer lasting hold for your GoPro cameras in case you want some alternative platforms like…

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We’d love to hear what you think of the new Action Series line, and how’d you use them. Tag your photos and videos on Twitter and Instagram with #whatsyourangle or #gorillapod so we can check out your shots! Who knows some lucky winners might be the beneficiaries of some cool gear in the near future (*ahem*).

 

Behind the Scenes: Creating Album Art

By | Artist Profile, delightful design, Gorillapod | No Comments

Ashlan Nathens, or ‘scribblegraph’ as he is now known, is an independent artist from Perth, Western Australia. He shared this great video of the behind the scenes process of him creating the album art for singer-songwriter Heather Fay. Not only did he use his GorillaPod SLR-Zoom to film the behind the scenes video, he also used it to photograph the artwork for the album. Super cool!

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To see more of Ash’s great illustrations check out his website!

New camera straps: Pro Sling Strap and Convertible Neck Strap!

By | Camera Straps | No Comments

To round out our camera strap family, JOBY launched two new camera straps today!

Go pro with the Pro Sling Strap

Last year in the fall of 2012, we launched the UltraFit Sling Strap for Men and the UltraFit Sling Strap for Women. We weren’t in camera straps at the time, but we applied JOBY design and engineering to come up with what we thought was a pretty dang cool sling strap (even got a design award nomination!)

But we don’t believe that one camera strap can be everything to everybody. One group of photographers that we got a lot of feedback from was from professional photographers. They wanted all the speed of our SpeedCinch mechanism but they wanted a sling strap that was even lighter and more durable than the UltraFit Sling Strap and wanted more peace of mind for their $3000 gear. So, for the pros, we created the Pro Sling Strap.

Pro Sling Strap

Like the UltraFit Sling Strap, the Pro Sling Strap has our SpeedCinch deployment system that lets photographers quickly secure their camera if they needed their hands free for a few moments but still lets them quickly deploy their camera. But we also included a cam lock to let you lock your camera in place if you wanted to do things like like ride your bike, hike, etc. but still easily unlock it when you needed to get shooting. One of our designers even wanted a video of somebody jumping on a trampoline with the sling strap and camera locked in place because that’s not something other camera straps let you do (or maybe he just wanted an office trampoline.)

To solve the puzzle of something lighter but stronger, we scoured the world for just the right materials and manufacturing. We designed a material and shoulder strap that is extremely tough and durable but still soft enough to fold up to practically nothing without even getting kinks. The new shoulder strap on the Pro Sling Strap is computer-loomed and manufactured with so much precision that we were able to put in an integrated tread on the strap to prevent it from slipping but still have the shoulder strap be one seamless material. The UltraFit Sling Strap is already one of the lightest sling straps on the market already, but we don’t think you’ll feel anything like the Pro Sling Strap. 

 

Pro Sling Strap integrated tread

 

The second feedback that we got from professional photographers is that they wanted more security and peace of mind from the strap. The new strap is substantially more durable than the UltraFit Sling Strap (which is still plenty tough) because of its more precise, integrated construction. But we’ve also included a camera tether for those photographers who were uncomfortable with relying solely on a the camera’s 1/4-20″ tripod mount. If you screw in your sling strap tight into your camera tripod mount and regularly check it to see if it’s secure, your camera should be secure. But we understand that some people want extra insurance. So, we created a minimal but super strong camera tether that attaches to the shoulder lug of your camera and is made out of the same Dyneema cording that you’ll see in mountain climbing or sailing.

Camera tether

Combine the Pro Sling Strap with our popular UltraPlate that lets you use your tripod and camera strap at the same time, and you’ve got the perfect pro setup. Check our the Pro Sling Strap and let us know what you think!

Don’t wear a pain in the neck

The second camera strap that we just launched today is our Convertible Neck Strap.

Convertible neck strap

Neck straps seem to be the most common straps used by beginner photographers, but so many of them seem so limited, bulky, and uncomfortable. They often look more like torture devices than camera gear. How many times have you seen a neck strap turned into a tourniquet wrist strap as the photographer wraps it around his wrist until it starts to turn blue?

By creating a neck strap out of the same materials that we use for our sling straps, we could substantially cut down on the bulk and weight of the strap while still providing a softer, smoother neck strap. Now instead of looking like a mummy wrapped up in your neck strap, you can look all sleek while the wind blows through your hair (your results might vary).

Convertible Neck Strap

But since we’re JOBY, we thought it’d be cool to create a neck strap that could do more. Why just drive a car, when you can own a Transformer?

Our convertible neck strap can quickly turn into a wrist strap if you want to give your neck a break.

Convertible camera neck strap
You can even quickly transform your convertible neck strap into a carrier mode for a third way of carrying your camera!

Convertible camera strap - carrier mode

At JOBY, we think our customers should decide on how they should interact with their gear depending on the environment or just plain mood that they’re in. And we just think gear should just be fun! Check them out and let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!

“GorillaQuad” Quadcopter Creates Awesome Aerial Photography

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

Petr Jan Juračka is a professional science photographer, based at Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic. Every day, he takes on the challenge of taking shots of various objects, from really small microorganisms to aerial shots of large areas. In the latter case, he decided to build an amazing tool—a quadcopter. Petr is much more  a photographer than engineer, so he improvised in the creation of his quadcopter. Still, he’s been really satisfied with his unique “GorillaQuad”. Using his invention he can capture very professional (and strikingly beautiful!) aerial images on very low budget. Check it out and get inspired!

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Quadcopters are becoming really popular these days. Their prices are falling strongly down and you can see them flying over almost every big sports events. The bird’s eye view is an attractive perspective, showing simply more. Although it looks easy, flying with these drones for shooting is very demanding activity and requires a lot of training.

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“I decided to buy a quad and supposed it will be another accessory, just easy way how take shots from above…” Petr says. “However, it was much more challenging than I ever thought. I got injured during the first fly, the quad fall down and broke many times. Moreover, I was disappointed with the image I got from the small sport camera on the board. For the stills, I wanted to rebuild my quad into something bigger holding advanced compact camera shooting in RAW. Gorillapods were my choice, as I was used to using them for other types of photography before. GorillaPods make really easy to rotate my camera as I wish, and it is easy  to fold up my quad for traveling. Other professional photographers might might make fun of how it looks, but they have to admit it works.”

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Petr’s GorrilaQuad consists of the quad (Czech DIY frame, cheap Chinese electronics, propellers from US) and two gorillapods – one serves as quad foots, second holds a camera. Their weight is 270 & 30 grams, what is just acceptable for flying – GorillaQuad can still fly about 5 minutes per battery, which is enough time to take breathtaking stills from the air.

“It is quite new solution for me, we constructed that in my favorite camera shop last week. So these images are really first shots I took using gorillas on my quad, but hopefully not last. I really, really like it!”, Petr adds.

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Do not forget to visit Petr website, or follow him on Facebook or Twitter to see more amazing photography! Thanks Petr for taking the time to chat with us today!

 

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