Cool Gear: Novoflex Photo Survival Kit

No one, and I mean no one, likes to carry a tripod, but at the same time, there’s no single tool that can improve your images as much as using a tripod regularly. No matter how fast a shutter speed you use, your pictures will be sharper, crisper and clearer if you put the camera on a tripod. Period.

So why don’t more people use one? Well, let’s face it, they just aren’t fun and they can be a bit of a pain to use. It’s just much simpler to pull out the camera. But what if you could reap the benefits of a tripod without the hassle of hauling a cumbersome piece of gear everywhere you go? Enter the Novoflex Photo Survival Kit. The kit comes in a self-contained case that’s smaller than some daily organizers you’re likely to see and includes components that offer four different tripod-type solutions.

The whole package is compact. Instead of struggling to carry an ungainly tripod over a shoulder, you can slip the Novoflex kit into your camera bag so it’s always with you. For travel, in particular, this is a welcome feature. The next time you plan to take your camera on an airplane, you won’t have to leave something else at home in favor of bringing the tripod.

The Novoflex kit exudes high build quality. The parts are a combination of machined aluminum and durable plastics. The basic configurations you can set up with the system include a mini tripod, a clamp with a 1¾-inch opening that can be affixed to just about anything, a mini-ballhead, a suction-type clamp for adhering to smooth surfaces, a plastic clamp for holding objects other than a camera, a six-inch extension post that can extend any part of the kit and the storage case. The kit can support camera weights of up to about 6½ pounds.