There are a number of products out there that connect your strap to your DSLR via the tripod mount, allowing it to swivel, but taking up the mount is an inconvenience for photographers who actually use it regularly with their tripod. San Francisco-based Custom SLR (makers of the C-Loop) has come up with a solution that offers the best of both worlds: the M-Plate.
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There’s plenty of mini-tripods out on the market, but Joby’s new GorillaPod Micro tripods are special in that they’re designed to stay attached to your camera at all times. The legs fold up neatly when not in use, allowing you to stick your camera into your pocket or a case without having to remove the tripod. It features zinc alloy legs, rubber feet, and a head that offers 36-degrees of tilt-motion.

The tripod comes in two models: the $20 Micro 250 supports 250g and is meant for compact cameras, while the $30 Micro 800 supports 800g (~1.8lb) and can be used with larger mirrorless cameras.

Thanks for the tip, Bryn!

Gomite’s new Tiltpod is a simple “tripod” designed for people who do a lot of traveling with a compact camera. Stored on the end of your hand strap, it attaches quickly to your camera’s tripod mount to help you frame and stabilize your shots when there’s no one around to help you take it. The underside is made of a “grippy” magnetic material that helps it stay still on most surfaces, and the angle of the base can be adjusted after the camera is attached.
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Back in March of 1954, Popular Science magazine featured an invention called the “dentapod” — a metal bracket attached to the tripod mount that you bite with your teeth to stabilize your camera. For some reason, this didn’t seem to catch on back then, but if any of you aspiring entrepreneurs decided to revive this thing for DSLRs, I’m sure it would be the next big thing.

(via Reddit)

Lost in the commotion of Sony’s awesome camera announcements was the official unveiling of the LA-EA2 A-mount adapter, which we reported on a couple weeks ago. This fancy lens adapter lets you use Sony’s Alpha line of DSLR lenses with NEX mirrorless bodies without the loss of autofocus functionality by having a translucent mirror and autofocus system baked into the adapter itself!

Adding a large lens and electronic viewfinder to a NEX body leaves you with one strange looking camera, but the ability to use your existing lens collection on a new mirrorless camera is definitely a big deal (hopefully Canon and Nikon offer something similar if they announce mirrorless cameras soon). The LA-EA2 will cost $400 when it arrives in November.

(via Foto Actualidad)

We’ve shared a lens cap and hood hybrid here before, but this one is much nicer. “Flower”, dreamt up by designers Rhie Hyi Joong and Lee Sang Hwa, is a concept lens cap that blooms into a hood by simply turning a ring.
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Leica offers a funky $200 lens holder accessory for its M system film rangefinders that screws into the tripod mount and lets you store an extra lens on the bottom of the camera. Here’s the description found on the site:

[...] the second lens also serves as a handle when it’s inserted into its bayonet mount, helping to provide additional stability when shooting handheld at long exposure times. The setup could even be used as a miniature tripod.

Makes sense. As we all know, the first thing a Leica shooter thinks when they drop big bucks on a new lens is, “Hmm. I’ll bet this lens would also work well as a mini-tripod!”.

Leica Lens Holder M (via Gizmodo)

Pose is a camera case that doubles as a simple stand. Designed to replace the little bean bags or mini-tripods that many people carry around separately, Pose has an attachment mount built in, and can either be propped up by itself on flat surfaces or wrapped around poles and curved surfaces. The $24 accessory is available for pre-order over at quirky, and will be manufactured if at least 1,000 people join in.

If you’re a professional photographer taking your camera into extreme environments, the cheap plastic body cap that comes with your DSLR might not cut it. That’s where LockCircle comes in — it’s a solid billett aluminum body cap designed to seal your camera from the elements while providing a special grip for removal even if you’re wearing thick gloves. They’re available for Canon EF mount cameras in silver, titanium, and black, and will soon be available for Nikon’s F mount as well.

You’ll need a thick wallet in addition to your thick gloves though: unlike the plastic caps, which sell for a couple bucks on eBay, LockCircle caps will cost you $99 each.

LockCircle (via planet5D)

If for some reason you’ve always wanted pair up your SLR lenses with the tiny sensor found on the iPhone 4, Photojojo has a new mount that can make your dream come true. The package includes a special aluminum case for your phone, a UV filter attachment, and the lens adapter, and almost guarantees that you’ll be the strangest looking iPhone shooter on your street.
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