Get Really Low Using a Platypod

This is a thin, super-sturdy, lightweight (3.2 oz) plate you attach your ballhead and camera to instead of using a tripod. This has been, hands down, one of my favorite all-around camera accessories for the past few years, and I’ve become somewhat of an accidental evangelist for it, telling everybody all about it because it’s so awesome. I use a Platypod (instead of a tripod) when I either: (a) want to get really low to the ground without having to mess with splaying out my tripod legs; (b) need to shoot someplace where tripods are impractical or not allowed; or (c) want to put my camera someplace a tripod won’t fit, or might be dangerous (might tip over). I literally keep it in my shirt or jacket pocket. It’s made of commercial-grade aircraft aluminum, and it’s so strong you won’t believe it—I put everything from my camera with my biggest wide-angle lens, to my 70–200mm (using the foot plate mounted on the lens’s tripod collar) on it, and it works like a boss! It comes with four screw-in, metal, spiked feet, so it can grip onto rocks or wood, and it has a strap that lets you attach it directly to railings (great at waterfalls or bridges over streams). You will love this accessory on a level that makes you an evangelist, too. It’s $59 for the Playpod Ultra, or $99 for its much larger, heavier big brother, the Platypod Max, for folks using really long lenses or those with tip-over anxiety.