Kodak Gear Mini Tripod

For the price, it might be worth it, but I would suggest you go with a real tripod (even a small one), you'll be much happier.


compact and versatile with my coolpix   June 24, 2001
 28 out of 28 found this review helpful

I have been looking for a cheap minipod for a long time (and saw a Bogen at a local camera shop...). So I bought this one AND the Tiffen on Amazon because they were both really inexpensive and I wanted to see the difference between the 2. (To be warned: on the back of the cardboard package, it says "Tiffen," so even though it is branded "Kodak Gear," it's probably made by Tiffen.)
To describe it (in lack of a picture of the item): it's very light (all plastic), folds into a blunt wedge about 6" long, and provides only limited amount of movement, though it might not be stable with a very heavy camera. The Tiffen miniphotopod, by comparison is substantially heavier (mostly metal), larger (~8" long x 1" thick cylinder), provides pretty much 3-D freedom (ball/socket joint) of motion, though not necessarily more stable.
The Kodak Gear minipod works very well with a nikon coolpix (I have the 950), though you will not be able to position the camera vertically due to the design of the mount (basically a pivot hinge) such that the camera hits the legs of the tripod before getting to the 90degree tilt. If your camera's tripod mount is near the edge of the camera, you might be able to use this minipod to shoot vertical pictures.
For conventional photographers: be advised that you will probably need a table of other high surface to shoot off of, or else your face will be pressed against the ground, trying to see through the tiny viewfinder of the camera!! For digital photographers: pretty much the same holds true, because the LCDs are not easily seen from an angle, especially in bright sunlight. For Coolpix and similar (2-piece digital camera) photographers, this tripod is excellent, since you can screw the camera to the minipod, then tilt the LCD to a nice viewable angle, lock the tripod at that angle, then rotate the lens to capture your image!
I just came back from vacation and this minipod let me take so many pictures of my family and me--which might not have been possible without it, or much more difficult to say the least.
All in all, I would give this minipod 5.5 of 5 stars for coolpix950/990/995 photographers (3of5 stars for general photographers), because of weight/portability/size/usefulness with my camera equipment. A full-sized tripod will obviously give you the best performance, if you can lug it everywhere, but for spontaneous self-timer portraits of yourself (and those close to you), this minipod is the way to go.