Apart from enjoying a lovely morning, the aim of today’s hike was to find out how well an iPhone 7 Plus and a Gorillapod work together as a video filming set up for backpacking. Sadly, I can’t show you the results as this blog doesn’t accept video so you’ll have to take my word for the acceptability of the product. It’s plenty good enough for me and would look fine on YouTube.
However, my interest lies in a set up for backpacking and there is a problem. Filming on a cold day absolutely demolishes the charge in the battery. Viewranger claims I was out for 2 minutes under 4 hours. Filming occupied the first 3 hours and, in that time, the battery charge dropped from 100% to 21%. For the walk home, I put the phone inside my jumper and listened to a podcast. For this leg of the walk, the charge dropped from 21% to 20%. So, for backpacking, the iPhone and Gorillapod set up would need to be used sparingly even though my Anker battery pack is pretty huge.
The Gorillapod is part of the problem. It’s head is stiff and not easy to deploy. Getting the tripod out of a rucksack, attaching it to the phone and setting it up would be tedious enough to keep me from shooting video except when highly motivated. Today, I kept the iPhone locked into the Gorillapod and held the phone in my hand. The legs of the tripod lay along my forearm. This set up was convenient and very easy to use but exposed the phone (and my hand) to the cold wind. A permanently attached tripod could also be a problem if I chose to take a side trip up Suilven on my next hike.
I’m hoping my next trip will take no more than 5 days between power sockets. Even so, discipline will be crucial. Using my iPhone, a Gorillapod and an Anker power pack will get me the results I want so, failing a lottery win, that’s what I’ll be taking.
meallanliath 