Camera Bean Bag Suggestion?

[Tony Printezis]

Hi all,


I'm looking for a portable bean bag for resting my camera on to take long exposures. Yes, I know a tripod is best, but there are places where I cannot take my tripod and also my mini tripod will be awkward to set up. The camera in question will my 40D with/without battery grip, and the 10-22, 17-40, or maybe the 24-105 (i.e., no really large lens).


Thanks!


Tony

[Oren]

Tony, have you considered making your own? I've just did that and it's extremely easy to do. Got a chance to use it yesterday for the first time and I love it.

[Tony Printezis]

Hi there,



have you considered making your own?


I did. But, I've come across something like this:


http://www.cam-pod.com/about_cam-pod.php ("http://www.cam-pod.com/about_cam-pod.php)


which looks nicer than what I can do. It looks kind of bulky though...



I've just did that


Just curious, why did you use stuff it with?


Tony

[Oren]

Well at $15 the cam-pod is pretty cheap. I saw bean bags at $100 so there was no way I was going to pay that for some bean and a bag lol.


I did mine using rice. After you find all the materials needed to make it, it takes no more than 1min to make it!


I took some rice, put it inside a piece of nylon and then took it and put it inside a small old bag which has a zipper, so I can take the rice out of it in 2 seconds and replace it or do w/e I want.


Since I used an old bag, it also has a strap, so I can put it on my shoulder when I'm just walking around.


If you really want to, I can post pictures here.





P.S I've heard that sometimes the rice contains little bugs in it which might be a problem. Once I get a chance, I'm going to replace it with something else.

[Tony Printezis]

Hi,


$100? I don't think so! :-)


Actually, I'm looking at the $19.95 one, as it's bigger and probably better for my DSLR. I think I'll go for it. Your suggestion about making it out of rice is a good one! However, I like the fact that the Cam-Pod has several compartments that can be folded up in different ways.


Thanks again for the feedback! Regards,


Tony