PMA Notebook: Stuck on you

There’s something about seeing a digital camera stuck to the business end of a golf club that really grabs your attention—especially if that golf club comes dangerously close to your person.

“See, it doesn’t come off even if I hold it upside down,” brags Tyler Byrd while jabbing the club somewhat precariously into the passing crowd at Sunday’s Photo Marketing Association (PMA) convention in Orlando, Florida.

Tyler is the younger member of a father-and-son team that has invented a sort of anti-tripod called the MonsterPod. The $30 MonsterPod has no telescoping legs, clamps, or straps. Instead, it sticks to surfaces via a “viscoelastic morphing polymer”—if that means as little to you as it does to me, imagine a giant wad of extra-sticky Silly Putty.

MonsterPod sticks to almost anything that has a hard surface; in addition to the golf club, I watched it stick to the side of a piece of wood (shown right), the underside of a table, and a metal pole. The MonsterPod attaches to the tripod mount on a compact digital camera (because of weight concerns, MonsterPod’s makers don’t recommend using it with an SLR or other large-body camera) and can be molded to fit almost any form. Want to stick it on a doorknob? No problem.

The beauty of the MonsterPod lies in its versatility. How many times have you wanted to take a low-light photo or to use the self timer (to get yourself in the shot), but couldn’t find a flat surface to set your camera on? With this, all you need is something at the right height—for example, the back of a chair, a fence railing, or even a column. Plus, it’s compact enough that you can easily carry it around with you—it’s 1.75 inches tall, 4.5 inches wide, and weight 6 ounces.

Just don’t leave it stuck somewhere public for too long, or you get an unpleasant visit from the bomb squad.