Tag Archives: tripod mount

There Is A New GLIF, Now An Adjustable Stand For The iPhone

The team over at Studio Neat are at it again. You may remember them as the folks that brought us the GLIF via Kickstarter. The small bit of plastic that held our iPhones at any angle on a desk and served as a way to mount the iPhone on a tripod. Later, came a GLIF for the iPhone 5. The reason for needing a new GLIF for the iPhone 4 vs iPhone 5 was that the solid plastic was exactly machined to the edge of an iPhone. The GLIFs wouldn’t work with any kind of case or other smartphone.

Yesterday, I learned that Studio Neat is introducing a new version of the GLIF, this time it is adjustable. With the included allen wrench, just twist open/close the clamp to match the outside edge of whatever smartphone is being used. The newer GLIF still makes it fast to mount an iPhone onto a tripod for long shots and videos. As well, it comes with a keychain ring to securely fasten the GLIF when not in use (in a bag or your pocket). Lost is the super simplicity perfection of the original GLIF, found is a usable tool for anything I may be tossing at it in one device. When mine shows up, I will post if the new GLIF lives up the hype I have built up in my head.

01 New Glif iPhone

02 New Glif iPhone

03 New Glif iPhone

Mixing slow motion and regular speed videos into one movie

It all started with a simple single piece plastic wrap around iPhone stand. The stand was available through Kickstarter, making it easy to mount the iPhone to a tripod for those low light or self shots. The mount, The Glif, was created by Studio Neat. Since then, the team has introduced updates to the month, an big hands stylus, and even square ice cubes. Finally, iOS software.

The first app was a stop motion photography app, Frameographer. Today, I received an email to enable more creative movie creation on the iPhone. Slow Fast Slow starts off by recording video at 120 fps on the 5s, and 60 fps on the rest of the newer iOS devices. Playback can be slowed down to 1/8 speed, which is twice as slow as the 5s built in slo-mo.

Well, I know I personally have played with other slow motion apps, so that just slowing down my video isn’t that ‘new’. But, further investigation explains the name, Slow Fast Slow. Which references the apps unique power to have full control of every part of a video’s speed across any portion. When viewing a video (forward or backward), any part of the video can be slowed down a little or a lot. Imagine a video of a car zooming by, normally you have either a car streak by or take forever to get to the closest view in slow motion. Now, just choose the part when the car is closest and show down at an increasing rate till you can see the driver and car details, then speed up to zoom off.

0 slow fast slow

As an added bonus in Slow Fast Slow, the audio of the slowed down portion of the video doesn’t get highly destroyed like found in normal slow motion movies. There is Pitch control to level out the fast and slow bits of the video.

Joby iPhone stand for still photography

I have played with a variety of grips for the iPhone in an attempt to produce better shots where the camera needs to avoid movement. The most popular ones are either cases that must stay on the iPhone or a edge mount that wont work with my iPhone since I have a thin vinyl protection sticker on the back. So, I set out with a friend to do our own with the help of our million friends on Kickstarter. About the time we were doing the video, the Joby GripTight was found. The expandable frame that will work with about any iPhone is really close to what we thought we would be cool, so we bought a couple Joby unites.

For this weekend, if your thinking you may need a mount for your iPad, Joby is offering 20% off!

There are three different versions of the GripTight kit available. All of them use the same ‘grip’ feature, but each have their own stand to best suite your needs. The little fold up tripod fits in about any bag so it’s handy when the need pops up.

A lot of others call these flexible three legged stands, Guerrillas. Great for those times you need to hold your iPhone to a pole or tree. The legs are much longer than on the solid tripod above.

If you already have a favorite tripod you may have for other equipment, GripTight is available with a standard mount on the bottom without being attached to an included tripod.

KLYP iPhone Accessories for the serious photographer

There are many fun accessories for the iPhone to give it help with photography. You can clip on lenses, add a case that protects the iPhone in all weather or clip on a edge so the iPhone can mount to a tripod. The KLYP package makes all of that look like entry level options.

When looking over the KLYP options, you may ask yourself if it would be easier to just carry a regular digital camera that has much of this built in. If you prefer using your trusty iPhone 4/4s, then these accessories will put the iPhone over the edge into the land of enhancements for noticeably better shots.

KLYP offers a case that has two mounting areas: one for a tripod and one for a light attachment. The tripod isn’t included in the packages so you have to add that one or use the one you already have. The lighting isn’t a flash, rather a high power LED group that comes in a variety of sizes (available separately or with the package).

Do you ‘need’ this set up? Most likely it is way more than the average snapshot needs. But, if your doing close ups or video, these should make a marked improvement. Price wise though, the parts add up pretty quickly… as does any professional camera equipment.

iPhone photo item for Buy Small Saturday

I seem to have missed, or it is actually a new thing, Saturday after Black Friday is ‘Buy Small’ day. The idea is that everyone who has bought all the big things with big discounts on Friday should buy at least one item from a small company.

Last year, on Kickstarter, a couple guys had a little plastic gadget they called the Glif. It is a tripod mount for the iPhone 4/4s. Rather a simple idea, the iPhone sits snuggly either in portrait or landscape mode for those shots you need to be really still. Yet, a quick little twist and the iPhone is free. No, it doesn’t work with any iPhones in a case and even a thin vinyl skin makes it a rather tight squeeze. These are still for sale on their site studioneat.com .

Visiting their site today, they have added to the original Glif. A package that includes: The Glif, Serif, and Ligature (no idea where they come up with these names!). It amounts to a Glif, a addition strap that wraps around the iPhone and Glif for a really solid lock on your tripod, and a keychain loop so you can keep your Glif with you handy. The keychain loop is neat, since you can use the Glif to hold your iPhone on the table for hands free viewing too, not just as a tripod mount.