Do u use bean bag....

[cfcRebel]

to support your camera when taking shots? If yes, may i know where you got it from? Can u post a small picture of your bean bag? Currently B&H is charging $34 each! It's kinda pricey for a bean bag, don't u think?
Thanks in advance.

[Leorooster]

I don't have one, but if I need one, I would not get it from B&H. I can easy get one much cheaper and properly more stylish:D elsewhere.

[paulhillion]

I've only had mine a few weeks and to be honest I wouldn't be without it, so useful, especially when shooting from inside your car. $34 sounds about right to me, this is the type I've got....

http://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk/dbbag.htm

it's from a UK company but they may ship overseas?

[cfcRebel]

I don't have one, but if I need one, I would not get it from B&H. I can easy get one much cheaper and properly more stylish:D elsewhere. i agree with u. ;) Where's my mom's sewing machine?

I've only had mine a few weeks and to be honest I wouldn't be without it, so useful, especially when shooting from inside your car. $34 sounds about right to me, this is the type I've got....

http://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk/dbbag.htm

Wow! That is one neat bean bag you have, Paul!:shock: Thanks for the link. Now i get a better picture of what a useful bean bag looks like. ;)

[rent]

i don't use one, it's just too heavy to lug around. tripod is my preferred option for landscape shoots.

you can make one pretty easily. get a few pounds of beans (or rice) and put them in a plastic bag -- probably want to double or triple bag it -- and viola.

-alex

[cfcRebel]

i don't use one, it's just too heavy to lug around. tripod is my preferred option for landscape shoots.

you can make one pretty easily. get a few pounds of beans (or rice) and put them in a plastic bag -- probably want to double or triple bag it -- and viola.

-alex
LOL! Thanks Alex!:D
I agree, tripod is the way when taking landscape shots. But i find it not as helpful when it comes to bird photography. Unless the camera is constantly focusing on a bird feeder and capture whoever comes for the food, tripod is probably not as versatile as a bean bag. I could be wrong.

[gasrocks]

I don't think of bean bags and tripods (or monopods) as a contest. They are for diff situaitons. In the car, you can roll up your extra shirt/jacket/towel. Out in the middle of a field there is no place to put the bean bag onto. If you really don't want to make our own (bean bag) you can buy rice in nice canvas bags at the grocery store. Spray paint it if it makes you feel better (they are usually white.) Haven't you tried usung your camera bag as a bean bag?

[bachscuttler]

I just made my own bean bag...a big bag of rice and a cheap black cushion cover from the local store.

Total cost: £4GBP

Main reason for getting a bean bag for me was to get down on the floor for ground level shots. I also carry in the car a polythene sheet to lie on.
Just the job for lying on pebble beaches!

If there's nothing to shoot, I use the bean bag as a pillow and take 40 winks :)

[Mitcon]

I don't use a bean bag when shooting, just when watching TV sometimes lol. All the above are good ideas but why not grab yourself a small plastic bag or better yet sew one out of material and fill it with Buckwheat husks, they may be a bit lighter than rice. If weight is really an issue why not use the little foam balls, beans or whatever they are called that you use for normal beanbags that you sit on. Those Beans have almost no weight.

[Matatazela]

Make your own. I used a bank bag and put a zip along the opening. It takes about 6lb's of beans / rice but holds the camera dead steady. You may want to learn from my "mistake" and not use a bank bag, though. It could appear to the uninformed criminal that I carry large sums of money!

It is great for using on the door of the car, but the positioning limits creativity in composing the shot properly. These are generally hurried shots anyway, when there is no time to set the tripod up.

[Matatazela]

If weight is really an issue why not use the little foam balls, beans or whatever they are called that you use for normal beanbags that you sit on. Those Beans have almost no weight.

The weight adds stability - the polystyrene balls are not as good as beans. They shift around a lot and are not as stable. Beans tend to stay in one position, allowing a certain amount of positioning rather than just resting the camera in one position.

I have heard of sometone using plastic pellets with good results. They also have the advantage that they don't germinate or rot - but I have not been able to get them myself.

[mijbril]

I don't use a bean bag when shooting, just when watching TV sometimes lol. All the above are good ideas but why not grab yourself a small plastic bag or better yet sew one out of material and fill it with Buckwheat husks, they may be a bit lighter than rice. If weight is really an issue why not use the little foam balls, beans or whatever they are called that you use for normal beanbags that you sit on. Those Beans have almost no weight.

Last time I tried to use a beanbag for TV, this is what happened

http://vexie.cjb.net/albums/Mijs-Home/Saphron_001.jpg

(taken with a P&S some years ago)

Seriously though, 30 minutes with needle & thread (or 60 if I have to do it myself), fill up a bag with rice or beanbag beans (better for weight), a heavy cotton cover of some sort that is cut & sewn into the shape you want & bingo. Instant beanbag.

Although in terms of the cash that some people throw around on their lenses etc, you could ask what's $34 more?? Not even a drop in the ocean....

[cfcRebel]

Thanks for the great ideas! The bean bag will be used majority when i am shooting from the car window. When i hike, i carry my tripod with me because there maybe nothing for the bean bag to lean on.

[bachscuttler]

If you have enough beans or rice left over, ask your wife nicely to sow you up a smaller one to hang over a telephoto lens when your'e using a tripod.

I saw a guy doing this last week and he says it's to prevent movement of the lens.
Every little helps I suppose! :confused:

Oh...and get a loop sown on your main beanbag to hook under the tripod...
unless your kit bag is full of telephoto L glass, it'll do a much better job of weighting the tripod down!...or better still a handle, which would make it easier to carry around, or better still a shoulder strap...OK, I'll shut up :lol:

[cfcRebel]

LOL! I wish i had that many L lenses for the weight.:D
Actually i was adviced to put one hand on top of the telephoto lens when shooting with tripod, to reduce the shake. I think putting bean bag on top of the lens has the same effect. Now i have to figure out how to carry my 8lb tripod, and a 4 lb lens, plus a 4 lb bean bag at the same time and hike for hours. :( I'm no Navy Seal for sure.
To be honest, the diameter of my lens is bigger than the diameter of my biceps. :opps:

[condyk]

I think I paid £10 for my Pod beanbag via 7dayshop. They have 3 different sizes. I know from past experience how useful they are for safari style shooting from a vehicle, so it was pretty much the first thing I bought.

I don't like larger sizes due to weight. I like rice rather than anything else as you get good support but some degree of flex as well. Really, the bag only needs to support the lens, body base or tripod mount so why are some so large? Four lbs is a joke to me ;)

I couldn't be bothered making one when they cost only £10. If I had a sewing machine I'd maybe use the bank bag approach as outlined above.

Rice is good if you get stranded and need some grub ;) Not many MacDonalds in the Kalahari :lol:

[Mitcon]

Bah, stop complaining about weight. The more the better, it'll build you up. lol

I get told all the time I carry to much, between 12-20kgs. No wonder I'm always sore and love hot baths lol.:D

[cfcRebel]

Hey, i'm only 65Kg. If i keep losing weight as a result of adding gear weight, i'll look like a full-time photog who couldn't sell a single shot to make a living. LOL!

[JBillings]

A more compact solution... carry a few gallon ziplock bags with you. Fill them with rocks or sand as necessary. They also work well for moisture protection in a downpour. I use them in windy situations to stablize my camera/lens on the tripod.

Just my $0.02 worth

[grumpyhaggis]

On a cautionary note - I have one of the pods that condyk refers to. It's great, and came on a world trip with me last year. However, on entering Australia and having declared that I wasn't carrying any food items, my bags were x-rayed. (Is Australia the only place to x-ray bags in the way IN?). The nice lady who looked at the x-ray of my camera bag asked me if I was sure I wasn't carrying any food, and did I understand that I'd be subject to a HUGE fine if I was. I answered in the affirmative, but I was looking aound for somewhere to run - just in case!:o
We opened my camera bag (Lowepro Microtrekker) to find my little Pod nestling in there, quietly harbouring some plastic pellets which bore a striking resemblance to wheat grains when x-rayed. What a relief!
However, the point of telling you all this is to make you aware that if you're travelling to a 'food quarantine' area such as Oz, to be careful of what you fill your home made bean bags with. It's easy to forget them, and then end up with a hefty fine!
Happy travelling!:lol:

[cfcRebel]

That's good to know. The fine is probably as expensive as 10 bean bags or more. :D

[mijbril]

....However, on entering Australia and having declared that I wasn't carrying any food items, my bags were x-rayed. (Is Australia the only place to x-ray bags in the way IN?).....

Australian customs checks everyone both entering & leaving the country. Everything gets X-Rayed as well (even if you're not carrying drugs etc, there are duty free limits on things like cigarettes & alcohol etc.). So, even if you declare nothing, then your bags go through the X-Ray machine anyway.

[Lucky]

I just ordered the red pod shown here (http://www.thepod.ca/content/pod.html)
Glad to see some people have used one and like it.

[jylitalo]

I just ordered the red pod shown here (http://www.thepod.ca/content/pod.html)
Glad to see some people have used one and like it.

Red pod can be good, when you look for additional support, but it alone doesn't work very well. It can support itself, if I attach small prime to 20D (small prime = 50/2.5 or something else in that calibre), but as soon as I try 20D+17-40/4 or heavier on it, you will end up in situation, where lens is pointing downwards.
Just for comparison, Manfrotto 709B table-top tripod can handle 20D+17-40/4 combo (assuming photos orientation will be landscape) and that tripod is smaller and lighter than Pod. I think the key difference between those two is that legs in my table-top tripod are significantly longer than the radius in Pod.
I guess you get most out of Pod, if you have heavy tele lenses with tripod collars (70-200/2.8, 100-400L, ...), because those lenses with camera bodies will definately be too heavy for table-top tripods to handle on their own and bean bag will probably have better contact to the surface as well.

[robertwgross]

Now i have to figure out how to carry my 8lb tripod, and a 4 lb lens, plus a 4 lb bean bag at the same time and hike for hours. :( I'm no Navy Seal for sure.


When out on a long hike, sometimes I carry a bean bag, minus the beans. I will carry an empty nylon bag to my destination, then fill up the bag with pebbles or gravel. The bag can otherwise work as a ballast bag on the tripod. Ballast is where you find it.

---Bob Gross---

[condyk]

I guess you get most out of Pod, if you have heavy tele lenses with tripod collars (70-200/2.8, 100-400L, ...), because those lenses with camera bodies will definately be too heavy for table-top tripods to handle on their own and bean bag will probably have better contact to the surface as well.

The Red Pod is great for a larger lens and is best used attached to a tripod collar, but I have used it attached to body on a smaller lens too. I wouldn't use it as a table tripod replacement. If you want some more support then add some Rice or something 'non veggie' until it feels right. I haven't needed to and have used it with zooms up to Bigma size with no problems whatever.

I appreciate the import to Aussie point, which is well made above. I travelled from Singapore to Sydney one time with a Apple in my bag in case I got hungry, then forgot about it and got a healthy bollocking from a damn fine looking Sheila at Customs. Fair enough ... ;)

[cfcRebel]

When out on a long hike, sometimes I carry a bean bag, minus the beans. I will carry an empty nylon bag to my destination, then fill up the bag with pebbles or gravel. The bag can otherwise work as a ballast bag on the tripod. Ballast is where you find it.

---Bob Gross---Ah, that's a great idea. And i can return those pebbles before i leave the place. Simple but easily overlooked method. Thanks Bob. ;)