Not every photographer or enthusiast can spend thousands of dollars on one single tripod manufactured by the high-end names of the industry, but that in no way means that they cannot have a high-end tripod in their photography kit. With this vision, Joby released their Gorillapod Focus a while ago. Costing less than 120 dollars, it offers almost every feature one might be looking for in their next tripod.
Just write “Joby Gorillapod Focus Review” in the search bar of the search engine, and your timeline will be flooded with positive reviews. Not only that, I’ve been hearing quite a lot about it in the photography community.
So, I thought to try it, examine every feature of this gadget, and bring a hands-on experience for the readers of GottaPics with a complete list of pros, cons, and in-field performance.
Especially for the readers, who are also the believer that you do not need to spend a fortune on an accessory or device for it to be good. So, let’s begin with the Joby Gorillapod Focus review details.
Joby Gorillapod Focus Features and Performance:
This tripod is one of the sturdiest Gorillapod that you can find in the market. It can support most of the camera and is very lightweight to carry around with you at places. It will easily fit in the water-bottle compartment of your backpack.
The design and operation of the gadget are pretty simple at heart, but it offers beastly performance. The tripod is a launch for the target market of table-top tripods, but its performance is good enough to be a go-to tripod for professional-level photography.
Design and Built
Joby Gorillapod Focus’s design is very different from mainstream designs of the tripods. Standard tripods have straight metal/carbon fiber legs, but this one has a beady one. Joby went out-of-the-box for all of their Gorillapod, and the results are exceptional. This design makes the tripod a super-flexible gadget that will fix any space, opening unlimited creative opportunities for the photographers.
With a weight of just 1.7 lbs. (762g), it can support the camera/lens weight of up to 5 Kg. Most digital and mirrorless cameras and lenses fall under this category except heavier Zoom/Telephoto/Astro lenses. This means one Joby Gorillapod Focus will compliment all of your cameras, smartphone photography, and different lenses.
The built material combines ABS plastic, aluminum, and rubber. ABS plastic allows the Gorillapod Focus to have more abrasion resistance dimensional stability without adding up a lot of weight, aluminum gives it strength, and high-quality rubber feet enable it to stand firm on the ground.
The platform and the 24mm balls under each leg joint are composed of highly durable ABS plastic, while the Ballhead X and each leg joint’s socket are made of precision-machined aluminum.
Overall, it has a very robust feel, despite its negligible weight. The firm, gripping rubber that surrounds each joint and the end balls of the tripod legs feels just as tough as the rest of the body. The joins are made up of TPE. The tripod, on the whole, is sturdy enough to last for more than half a decade.
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Joby Gorillapod Focus comes with a one-year warranty as well.
Available heights of Joby Gorillapod Focus
The folded length of this tripod is just 14.4″ (36.5cm). With that, it offers a maximum height of 11.8″ (30cm) and a minimum height of 4.9″ (12.5cm).
Though the height is not that tall, the price tag of Joby Gorillapod Focus does not leave any room for complaining. We do not recommend taking this tripod outdoors for landscape shooting or at places where you cannot find a place to mount it.
But on the other hand, because of its height, it can be beneficial in several types of photography such as taking low-angle shots, skyscapes, street photography, product photography, table-top photography, et cetera.
Legs
The bendy and beady legs of Joby Gorillapod Focus are one of its most noticeable features. These legs make the gadget capable of sitting almost everywhere. The beady design makes the tripod legs bendable and wrappable around all sorts of surfaces, from railings to tree branches.
Cameras and smartphones are in no-way cheaper gadgets, so the concerns of damaging them with this sort of design are pretty genuine. We checked the mounting of legs on fences and railings under different circumstances and with various gadgets, and the results are surprising for the price of the Gorillapod Focus.
Wrap it around any surface, and it will stay hard and steady. Unless your camera is under the limit of 11 pounds, you’re good to go.
A ring of grippy rubber surrounds each socket of the leg. The rubber grip enables each of the 9-joints to stay firmly in place.
Ballhead
The ball head of Joby Gorillapod Focus turned out to be capable of doing everything the manufacturer mentioned in the official specifications and the marketing campaigns of the tripod. Not a perfect one, but still a good one. Users can buy this ball head separately, but buying it in a bundle with the tripod’s body, will cost a few dollars less than the price of an individual ball head.
A huge knob locks the ball and adds friction, while a smaller knob locks and unlocks the panning base, which is unusual for a ball head of this size. These knobs, like the rest of the Gorillapod, are constructed of metal and covered in the same sticky rubber. The Arca plate conveniently connects to your camera. The camera/lenses are held securely with the 1/4″-20 standard tripod mount and 3/8″ adaptor.
On a 26mm ball with a dovetail-style quick release and a 45mm, X-shaped plate, this head can support up to 11 pounds (5kg). But we firmly recommend not using it with gears heavier than this weight limit or gadgets heavier than 4 Kg after the warranty period.
One major drawback of the Joby Gorillapod Focus’s ball head is that it lacks the quick release feature, which is mainstream now even in the tripods that fall in the same price category.
With this ball head, you’re stuck turning two screws each time you need to change the camera’s position. Still acceptable for a relatively slow type of photography, i.e., street photography, but when you’re shooting for speed, that’s a natural killer.
Joby Gorillapod Focus Specs:
- Compatible Devices: DSLR
- Brand: Joby
- Material: ABS Plastic, Stainless Steel, TPE, Zinc-Aluminum
- Tripod Head Type: Ball Heads
- Colour: Black/Gray
- Maximum Height: 7.3 Centimeters
- Weight Limit: 11 Pounds
- Item Weight: 1.79 Pounds
- Attachment type: 1/4″, 3/8″
- Folded length: 14.7″ (37 cm)
- Load capacity: 11.10 lb (5.03 kg)
- Weight: 1.70 lb (0.77 kg)
- Number of leg sections: 1
- Quick-release plate: Yes ( old Arca-Swiss style)
- Connection Point: 1/4″-20 standard tripod mount, 3/8″ adapter
- Foot Grips: Rubber
- Physical Dimensions: 3.62 x 3.62 x 14.69 in
- Designed for: DSLR with Zoom Lens up to 5kg or External Flash
Pros:
- Meager price with value of money
- Incredibly multifaceted when it comes to exploring different angles in photography
- Solid built
- Very lightweight
- Portable
- 1-year warranty by the manufacturer
Cons:
- Not a very versatile tripod when it comes to the height
- Beads of the legs might loosen up a little bit after the warranty period of 1 year
Conclusion
Considering every aspect, if you are a serious photographer, we do not recommend you replace your tripod with Joby Gorillapod Focus even though it can support the most camera+lens weight.
It is mainly because of the lack of variety in its size, but it is a pretty nice accessory in your photography kit. This Gorillapod can come in handy, especially if you are a frequent traveler and do not carry heavier tripods.
Also, its twistable legs open possibilities of exploring unlimited angels, so it will be a welcoming change. All these opportunities, especially angles, durability, and lightweight, at this limited price, is quite a stellar deal <– Affiliate Link 🙂
Overall, highly recommended. Perfect as a go-to tripod for traveling and adventure-filled trips, exploring different types of low-angle or close-up photography, and an excellent tripod to have for indoor photography as well.
