Common Problems With the Selfie Stick

This accessory is a must for the trigger happy traveler. Gone are the days when you need a dedicated camera to snap something interesting. Gone are the days of composing a scene before snapping a photo remembrance. Anyway interesting bits throughout your travel happens in a spur of a moment, unplanned adventures and random scenes. This is why you need a point and shot snapper, but of course you want yourself to be in the scene as well, that's why a £7(or less) investment of a selfie stick is not that bad idea at all..



Although simple, it also comes into different models and different minor disappointments. This post will give you a head start on what to expect using the different models and hopes to help you decide which one to go for.

Triggers

• Compatibility of the wired trigger stick.

With the two main operating systems, android and iOS, the later is a bit primadonna, not every stick is compatible to apple product. This is because of the 3.5mm male socket of the stick. It somehow can not activate the volume sensor inside the iPhone's 3.5mm input.

So if you have an apple product, be sure to test it in the store, or if you are not allowed to do this, try it as soon as you pass the door so it is easier and faster to return or swap for another product.

If in case you have bought it and could not exchange it for any reasons, you can keep it and just use your remote earphone (volume control -/+) to control the camera button.

• Bluetooth trigger blues.
  

With the above problem, you might be contemplating of just buying a bluetooth trigger stick. This is also not bad, but in my experience of pairing, turning on the bluetooth is  a hassle for me. Plus the fact that bluetooth transceiver on both devices uses power and it could affect specially the phone's stamina. Another problem when you are running low on battery is the phone swithes to power saving mode and this usually turns off the unnecessary connectivity of the device, bluetooth included. The stick might go low bat as well adding to your disappointment.

In case this happens, setting up the timer could save the day but a little fiddly, or just use the remote earphone!

Barrel 

• Smooth model.

Unstable holder rotating to either the right or the left is a design flaw. If you have this problem, 100 percent you are using a stick with a smooth body. When new, this is still tight and can hold your mobile phone in place, but because of wear and tear, it becomes loose. And depending on the weight of your mobile phone, heavier ones are more affected and it's position to the center, it will rotate either each side when you extend the stick to adjust the subject's position. This is so far the most annoying problem and this is the time to upgrade to a grooved model.

• Grooved model

The grooved model has not given me as much annoyance as the smooth one. You just need to choose a sturdier model though. Specially when you have a heavy phone, you will be better off with a bigger diameter barrel. Using it most of the time with the barrel extended to its maximum can bend the stick and positioning it too much at an angle can also misaligned the trigger button from the protective sleeve, causing a miss shots. But this is easily corrected by manually rotating the sleeve to correspond to the triggering  mechanism!