SOLOSHOT Automatic Tracking Tripod

If you don't align the camera perfectly then it shots out of center and you miss what you're trying to film. The way to counter act this is to just zoom out so you don't miss yourself but you don't need the Soloshot ... just shoot wide lense from the camera and skip the $500 for the Soloshot. They need to do some work in it.

I surf and it is hard to get it to follow me smoothly. When I do turns it always gets ahead of me and i'm out of the frame. I made sure I was zoomed out enough with the camera but it seems no matter how far I zoom out the frame is still a little off.

One word of warning, ATTACH THE FLOAT. I didn't, and I lost the transmitter after 2 hours of surfing. Thankfully, if you've got proof of purchase and call customer service, they'll sell you a replacement at a pretty reasonable price. It's not cheap to replace, but it was less than I thought it would be considering the transmitter has the GPS, long life batteries, and waterproofing. And customer service was friendly and helpful.Anyway, the device works as advertised. It's easy to operate, and tracks you pretty well. I got 2 hours worth of good surf footage, and it was pretty well centered the whole time. I used the SONY Handycam HDR-CDX220/B, which has 27X optical zoom, and I had it zoomed exactly 1/2 way, which was just about right for 3-4 foot surf.I did notice that when I caught a long wave down the beach, where the camera needed to turn substantially from where I had centered it, the horizon was slightly tilted. I'm guessing this is part of the reason they added more degrees of freedom to the rotation of the soloshot 2 version. I'm also guessing that this was because I was on a slightly sloped beach, and had tilted the camera to compensate, rather than varying the tripod leg extensions to keep the camera more upright. Had I used a camera tilt angle that was closer to flat, the axis of rotation would have been closer to straight up, and the horizon would probably not have been as titled on those waves, but the footage was just fine.A word of advice for those looking to save money. Buy a used camera. You'll pay 1/2 as much or less, and it's going to be left on the beach, exposed to the elements and potential theft anyway, so you'll be less worried about it.Oh, speaking of theft, I did lock it. I used a luggage sized lock and cable on the thumb tab that screws on the camera, in order to keep someone from unscrewing and taking the camera but leaving the tripod, and I ended up grabbing some zip ties from the garage as a convenient way of building a make-shift loop to lock it to whatever was around. You can zip tie to things that your lock and cable won't fit around. It's not perfect, but at least it'll slow someone down.

No matter what I tried, I could NOT get this to track correctly.To make matters worse, instead of sending it right back,I called the company for assistance, and although they tried to be helpful, nothing worked. Then when I told them I wanted to send it back...they stated they wouldn't take it back because I'd had it for longer than 30 days.So they send me a 500.00 waste of time, defective product and take that position.....If you DO buy one of these, and you have issues with it..send it right back, or, like me, you'll pay 500.00 for a worthless pile of frustration.I consider this company unethical for NOT standing behind their product...

i was more into the Soloshot 2 but i decided to give the first generation model a shot. it comes all put together and its in its own little carrying bag. it takes 3 hours to charge both the onboard battery and the arm band. this unit comes with a very descriptive user manual. my first time setting this up was a bit tricky, but by the second attempt i was golden. it works best outdoors for it uses GPS. it works best when your at least 40ft away from the camera and tripod.....any closer and it won't track you properly. it is made out of a durable plastic and the tripod is made out of aluminum. it has a bubble level and a compass on the tripod. i don't know what the compass is used for but i hope i find out soon!PROS:light weightsturdy designcan hold larger cameras like DSLRslong battery lifewaterproof arm bandeasy setup instructions (user friendly)has a special mount for locking your camera to it (aka...so it isn't stolen)you can add multiple solo shots togetherCONS:price $299.....for just panning (but with a huge distance and accuracy of devise...its worth it)it only pans left and rightarm band can be a bit bulky to wearover all i love this and i bought 2 of these and both are perfect!i can't wait to get the 2nd one!!!!!!

I purchased it for riding and I am too close for this to operate. It is ONLY for distance. I emailed them asking if there was a way to change settings or ideas with zero reply. It sits in it's case, brand new. I'll sell it for half the price to someone that needs it for the rec. 200' distance. It works great in that regards. arnold . dressage @ gmail

Just received the solo shot. Built very well and sturdy. After reading instructions and charging I started to get turned off. After charging I have to leave it on for 15 minutes to warm up. After that took another 15 minutes almost to pair. So all of this was for set up and then it lasted a whole 15 minutes more before the battery died. So I decided to return it. No battery life and set up time is way too long.

Es el producto que estaba buscando. Pero a un amigo ya le pasó, algunos estan fallados. El primero que me mandaron, el transmisor no se sincronizaba con la base. Ahora con el segundo parece que funciona bien después de dos usos. Esperemos que no tenga ningun problema. Gracias al buen servicio de devolución y cambio de Amazon puedo tener este producto en condicones.Es un gran invento para poderse grabar uno mismo mientras estás practicando deportes al aire libre.