Capture the Action!

We’ve all been there. Trying to fit ourselves and others in for a group shot. No one wants to be out of the mix, otherwise they’d be taking the photo for us. So we’re left with shots up close and our arms extended as far as possible to hold the camera out. Those days are in the past with the XShot Sport Camera Extender Pole. Yes — Extender Pole — not “selfie stick”. This product is made for more than just selfies, it’s made for action!

We familiarized ourselves with this at home a bit before heading out to Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, and Lake Lenore Caves to try it in the field.

First Impressions

The product is made up of five components, all of which connect together to make one unit. However, not all components are needed in all situations. For instance, when attaching a DSLr camera you can detach the phone holder.

The packaging includes the following:

• XShot Sport Pole
• Adjustable Phone Holder
• Standard Camera Adapter
• Paracord Lanyard
• Aluminum Thumb Screw

Weighing in at only 7 ounces, the saltwater resistant pole collapses down to 12" and extends to 39", all while being able to stop and lock at any position in between. It’s lightweight enough to carry in your front pocket, even if it does stick out a bit.

The first thing we noticed upon handling it was the hand grip. The textured, rubber grip is nice to the touch and you know that it’s going to take a lot to accidentally slip out of your hands. But, just in case, you should always slide the included adjustable lanyard over your hand and around your wrist. The components were easy and quick to put together.

Extending the Pole

Trying to extend the pole was tricky at first. Per the instructions, to extend you should hold onto the hand grip and twist the pole counterclockwise. Trying this, the first section in the pole always extends, the rest of the sections are hit or miss.

After playing around with it a bit we figured out a sure way to get all sections to easily extend. With one hand, use your thumb and fingers to hold onto the mounting brackets where the orange thumb screw is. Place your other hand on the hand grip and twist the grip 3–5 full turns, counterclockwise. Now all sections will be loose and you’ll be able to fully extend the pole.

This was initially a minor annoyance. After using the technique mentioned above, it became quite easy to extend every time after.

What Fits

The extender pole works with GoPros, phones, and cameras. We didn’t have a GoPro to test with but, the XShot Sport Extender is touted as a GoPro pole. We were, however, able to test with our two phones and a camera. The Nexus 6, which is a large phone — larger than the iPhone 6 Plus — fits into the phone holder with a bit of room to spare. The Sony Xperia Z3 fits just fine and is very easy to get in and out.

We also attached a Sony Alpha 6000 by removing the phone holder and screwing the camera directly onto the camera adapter. It worked great.

Using the Extender Pole

The first thing we did with it was test out some video footage inside the house. Not only does using the pole help steady the video, but it’s also very convenient to film hard to reach spots. We shot a video of Stacy making dinner and the pole was able to get a great over the head shot in order to fit her and the counter space in frame.

After that we took it around the house and were able to film our cat down on his level without needing to squat down, above some cupboards which we would have normally had to stand on a chair to see, and various other places. As a matter of fact, it was quite enjoyable to use. We didn’t want to stop recording!

Now it was time to take it out on a couple of our adventures. The first stop was the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. We took a few photos and some video. It was very windy that day so having the pole extended fully certainly made it difficult to hear us speaking during playback. With that in mind, we collapsed the pole about halfway. Having the ability to extend/collapse at various lengths is helpful.

We also took it out to Lake Lenore Caves while exploring. The extender pole made it very simple, and safe, to get some footage while hanging it and the camera over the edge of a cliff. This was exactly what we were needing! 

We’ve been on a lot of hikes with sheer cliffs at the top. We’ve always wanted to get that “over the edge” photo but the need of staying alive in order to post that photo kept us from getting too close to ledges. This is perfect for those situations. We’re able to safely stay far enough from a cliff while capturing footage.

Although there is no button or remote to snap a photo, we were able to easily set a 10 second timer on our cameras. For video we simply brought the phone/camera in closer to us to start/stop recording. Easy enough to edit those parts out with any software, including YouTube.

Video footage while using the XShot Sport Camera Extender Pole at Lake Lenore Caves in Washington (2:15)

What we liked most:

• Fits the Nexus 6 which is 3.27" wide (one of the larger phones out there)
• Paracord lanyard is handy
• Solid aluminum build, sturdy feel, and sporty look
• Makes for steady shots and video capture
• The variable extension gives you the ability to frame your shots perfectly

Possible room for improvement:

• Difficult at first when trying to figure out how to fully extend
• Orange thumb screw doesn’t tighten as much as we would like

Conclusion

We’ve had fun testing the XShot Sport Camera Extender Pole! It has become a part of our checklist of items we bring with us on hikes. This is a great way to add variety to your photo and video captures.

Disclosure of Material Connection: We received XShot Sport Camera Extender Pole for free from XShot as coordinated by Outdoor PR in consideration for review publication.

Follow along on our wanderings around the Pacific Northwest.
The only thing better would be being there yourself!
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