I bought this...

...because my hands shake as I am taking the photo. I presume it's the arthritis and trying to hold the phone. All of our hands shake to a degree when we are holding a phone camera.

I have tried a gorilla stand, but that is only any good on a table, or wrapped round a tree but by then it's where has that peacock butterfly gone (it is about 10 minutes later...). And yes I did see a peacock butterfly a couple of days ago in my garden!!!

I have also tried a single pole/stick thing but because I balance on two crutches anyway, a third crutch albeit for the phone camera just does not work.

So that is where the thingumyjig in the photo above comes in. There were a whole pile to choose from. Different designs, and I could see flaws in some designs for the particular phone cameras I have.

The iPhone is now defunct as a phone, but I still like the phone camera for certain things. However it is a larger iPhone and my arthritic hands have a problem holding it steady when taking photos.

The thingumyjig has a ring on the back which can swivel round to hold the phone landscape or portrait. It means I can just have a finger in the ring and I don't actually have to grip the phone, which I think is where the problem is for me and causes camera shake.

It also has a lanyard, and so that goes round my neck, and that helps me stabalize the phone camera even more.

I photographed the back of the iPhone so you can see how it fits on the back. The camera lens is clear, and so is the torch light. It doesn't interfere with any phone buttons.

So at the moment I am very pleased with it. I will be testing it out later in the day. It is raining at the moment, so when that eases off I will be trying it out later.

If you look at the adverts for these things, they market them as being able to hang your phone round your neck all day to make it easily accessible, or if you are rock climbing then to hang it outside your backpack dangling in the air so you can access your phone easily....

Oh yeah...I wouldn't trust this thingumyjig for anything like that.

It looks well made and sturdy, and seems absolutely fine for the use I will put it to. It doesn't even interfere with the actual iPhone screen. Some reviewers said it did interfere with their screens and buttons, and one reviewer gave it one star because it was fiddly to get on the phone (but it's not) and they broke it trying to get it on their phone (all I can say is they must have been very heavy handed).


So, I then took it off and tried it on the Pixel phone, which is marginally narrower than my iPhone. Again, all is fine. The only thing is is slightly goes over the torch light at the edge. But that is neither here nor there. Also I have a finger print sensor at the back of the Pixel, and that is fully free to use. Actually, that fingerprint sensor is very sensitive, it is multipurpose, and I am forever activating it when I don't want to. But with this thingumyjig on the back I am not accidentally activating it, and I can now purposefully activate it.

Again the ring is useful.

I will be ordering a second one for this Pixel!!!

The pixel camera is different to iPhone. If it detects my hand is shaking too much (I am presuming that is what it is), the Pixel camera takes two photos and either chooses the best or magically merges them to get a decent sharp photo.

Have a good Sunday!

EXTRA: is Popeye down that hole in my bedcovers...honest he is...he is like a mole, makes tunnels in my bedcovers, pops his head out and pops it back in again...