New - Trail-Tech Outdoor Photo Kit

We've had a bumper delivery of photographic kit from US outdoor photographic accessory specialists TrekTech including a very neat flexible, bendable tripod and an compact camera stabilsation device. There are also compact tripods and a neat all in one modular hiking pole, monopod and tripod device. Furthermore they are all now available in the UK via JP Distribution.



The Optera 460 Pro is an interesting bendable, flexible tripod that really is pretty limited only by your imagination. The Neoprene covered legs are bendable and grippy so you can wrap them around fence posts or dry-stone walls or bend the longest leg up to provide support for a long lens - u p to 400mm say the makers.

A quick play suggests that when used carefully it makes for a very solid camera support and at 430 grammes, it's a lot lighter than a full tripod, but also a lot more versatile for outdoors use than a standard mini-tripod.


Weight is about the same as a waterproof jacket, so if you're a keen snapper, it makes a lot of sense. Also very neat is the magnetic MagConnect Pro camera mounting system - above - the tripod features an industrial strength magnet which mates with a steel disc that screws into the underside of the camera. Ingenious and very effective, just don't be tempted to pop the disc in the mount without a camera, it's hard to remove...

The Optera Pro 460 retails for around £54.99, there's also a smaller Optera 230 version which sells for £44.99 and .

Also from TrekTech is the MagBag 2 a camera stabilisation device that's basically a high tech bean bag complete with the MagConnet Pro camera mountain system, again, and a rain cover and ground tarp.


At almost 800 grammes, it's not light, despite the fill being plastic pellets, but would be ideal for resting your camera, say, on top of a handy wall or tree stump for slow shutter speeds. You can actually remove some or all of the ballast to save weight or even fill it with handy items like sand or Peak grit or rice and just carry the bag.

As a further use, you can use it to stabilise one of TrekTech's lightweight TrekPods by wrapping it around the shaft to provide ballast. Interesting stuff. Price is around £35, again there's a more compact Magbag 1 available.

Available in the UK via JP Distribution. More product information at www.trek-tech.com