“The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance," 1841
About a month ago I wrote a post about the UltraPod camera tripod, in that post I mentioned “The Stick Pic”, a tiny device for the end of you hiking pole to hold a cameral. Rod at “TheStickPic” sent me one to try out. This is quite an ingenious little gadget. There are various models of the Stick Pic made for specific brands of hiking poles, so that they fit on perfectly. Rod sent me the #5 for my Black Diamond hiking poles.
The Stick Pic weights practically nothing (10.5 grams about 1/3 of an ounce) versus the 2.6 ounces for the UltraPad tripod. So for these ultralight backpackers out there, the Stick Pic wins hands down. You use the gadget by holding your hiking pole out with the camera on the end of it, this easily lets you take a self portrait or a picture of you and your friends. Tip: Putting a small mirror like the stick on tiny mirrors they sell for cars (at Walmart) more easily allows you to see what the camera lens is seeing. You can also invert your hiking stick (handle on the ground) to use the pole to steady the camera as you take landscape photos.
Video of The Stick Pic:
On the downside, using the Stick Pic with heaver cameras like an SLR is a bit more problematic, and I was not able to find any good way to use it as a tripod since the angle is not adjustable (built into the curve of the hole in the plastic ring). You could try adding a second swivel screw type device onto it (like tripods have) to solve this problem, but I didn’t attempt that.
Overall, I love this little gadget. If I’m taking a more serious camera on my hike or think I will need a tripod, I will still take the UltraPod, but for simple shots of me and my friends the Stick Pic is perfect for the job.
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The StickPic or self portraits made easy
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Yeah, those should be included in the 'ten essentials' of hiking and backpacking. I wish the inventors of StickPic would make another version for DSLR cameras so that people won't have to carry those bulky tripods!
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