SwitchPod

The minimal, versatile, handheld tripod.

3 followers

The minimal, versatile, handheld tripod.

3 followers

SwitchPod is lightweight, compact, and nearly indestructible tripod. It will save you valuable time between shots so you can focus more on shooting and less on messing with your gear.

Launch tags:Tech

Launch Team

Judging on the product shots it looks like those are some pretty white knuckles while holding in selfie mode. Does the leverage make it difficult to easily hold it that way?

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7yr ago

Fusebox

Maker

@nate_heath Good question Nate. Many people who have a heavier rig, but perhaps less strength, tend to choke up on it naturally. It was a design decision last year when we noticed that people started to grab it up there just on their own, to add finger grooves all the way up.

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7yr ago

SwitchPod

Maker

@nate_heath When we first started working on it, the grip and angle of your wrist was our first focus. That's why the handle/grip points almost straight down, so you can hold it like you would a baseball bat or hammer, not a tennis racquet or kitchen knife. So ergonomically it is in a natural position. Yes, the heavier the camera the more leverage there is, but you center the gravity of your whole rig pretty easily in my testing. Thanks for the question!

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7yr ago

@patflynn @calebwojcik thanks guys, I bet it's worth it to get the camera just a little bit further out. Looks like a product that is going to help a lot of people!

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7yr ago

Primer Library

Hunter

So excited to see @patflynn and @calebwojcik get this live on Kickstarter. They've been working on this for a year+ to really nail every component of the design and manufacturing -- based on exactly what filmmakers want. Got a chance to play with an early version and it's really quite incredible compared to everything else on the market.

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7yr ago

ConvertKit

@delk Thanks for sharing this Ryan! @patflynn @calebwojcik Incredible work. Not only on the product, but also the photos, GIFs, and sales copy. It's really fun to see a launch with so much effort and detail put into it!

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7yr ago

SwitchPod

Maker

@delk @patflynn @nathanbarry Thank you Nathan. When we are able to hand this to someone to use, they just "get" it. So it was important to us to visually show how it works as best we could through videos and GIFs on the KS launch page.

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7yr ago

So excited for you, Pat (and Caleb, who I am "meeting" through Pat!). This is such a flipping sweet design, so practical and so clean. I love that it is slim for us outdoor adventurer types who hoof it high into the mountains! :) Is it possible to extend the height at all? It looks like there's something that can be adjusted on the neck where the camera is attached, but didn't see it demonstrated, so I figured not. Keeping it simple is totally cool, especially for v1! For v2, I'd love to see that option, as well as feet that can be adjusted for varied terrain — but we backcountry outdoor folk are probably a small subset of this niche, so I can imagine that's probably not important until v4 or 5 — which I totally see you guys growing this thing. Love it!

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7yr ago

Fusebox

Maker

@ilikewinter Thank you for the feedback about the product! We've got a ton of great ideas for improvements already, but know the base model will be absolutely perfect for many, too. You can add your own ball head to the SwitchPod to allow your camera to swivel, but I've been using it no problem without it.

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7yr ago

@patflynn Completely agree! It's absolutely going to be a game changer for so many (and I have no doubts at all that your brains have been spinning on the next iteration for a while now). Like you know, the key to making it successful is edit, edit, edit, and making the best product for what your audience needs, which is what this is — absolutely no need for extras because this is really going to be a great fit for so many. No complaints here :) I'm really proud of what you've achieved here and man, so cool on your first product that it's buzzing like this, Pat! Way to go you guys!

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7yr ago

ConvertKit

I got to play with a prototype over the summer and it is a game changer for vlogging. Caleb and Pat have invented something special here. I bought 5.

Pros:

Super slim, instant setup, easy transition from handheld to tripod.

Cons:

You lose the ability to wrap a tripod around a tree, but it turns out I didn't use that nearly as often as I thought I would.

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7yr ago

Xbox One Party Chat Podcast #39: Bossa Studios Creators of I AM BREAD

I have a gorilla pod for vlogging. I rarely if ever wrap it around anything. Its always hand held our propped up/falling over haha. This does look pretty dang nice

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7yr ago

Realistic expert review by the incomparable Peter McKinnon:

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7yr ago

SwitchPod

Maker

Hey PH community, I'm one of the co-creators of SwitchPod. Let me know if you have any questions about it. We've been working on designing and prototyping this for over a year and are blown away by the support on the first day of the Kickstarter campaign being funded already.

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7yr ago

Xbox One Party Chat Podcast #39: Bossa Studios Creators of I AM BREAD

@calebwojcik This looks like an awesome product! Love how slim it is! Perfect to throw in my bag when I'm traveling/on the go... plus this looks much more stable than my gorilla pod that loves to fall over when I have heavier lens's attached to my dslr.

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7yr ago

SwitchPod

Maker

@unclejessy4real Thank you Clayton. That's what we wanted to focus on. Slim, lightweight, fast, stable, durable, etc.

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7yr ago

ConvertKit

@calebwojcik and @patflynn If you guys are up for it, I'd love to hear more about the challenges and stories from the last year of developing the SwitchPod. I've never invented a physical product like this before, so I imagine it was completely different from working on digital products. Thanks!

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7yr ago

Fusebox

Maker

@calebwojcik @nathanbarry It's definitely been challenging. Especially having been in the digital marketing space for over 10 years, I usually expect things to happen faster. Changes are easy online, but when there's a change with a physical product - SO MANY things have to happen, from shop drawings being updated, to getting new prototypes made, and of course, all the shipping involved. Costs come to mind, also. Also our Kickstarter was funded in 12 hours, that doesn't mean we're at 100k profit - not even close. This covers the cost to get the tooling made, which then enables us to mass produce these things. The unit cost per prototype (in the end when we began to use real material as opposed to 3D printed plastic) was between $1500 and $2000. Once the molds are created and tested, however, the cost per unit will be significantly less. All that has been on our minds since preparing for the Kickstarter and understanding the numbers. And then of course, the usual challenges of self-doubt and "who am I to even build this" come into play - having never done physical products before, I knew that was going to happen (like everything else challenging in my life) but I've learned to take it as a sign that this is something that could be great, a la Stephen Pressfield and The War of Art.

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7yr ago

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