10 of the best sports spectator gadgets

Canon 600D

£570 (body only) canon.co.uk
Canon's award-winning 600D is not quite as robustly built as its 550D predecessor but the new 18MP CMOS sensor and vari-angle 3in LCD screen are great improvements. For that elusive long-shot, lose the 18-135mm and splash out on Canon's 70mm-300mm USM lens and you'll zoom right in on the action. The lens's excellent two-mode image stabiliser keeps blur to a minimum, its AF is near-instantaneous and the picture quality is commendably sharp. Of course, it shoots HD video, too.

Toshiba Camileo B10

£70 toshiba-europe.com
The shiny, phone-sized Toshiba Camileo B10 doesn't have many bells and whistles, but as a budget pocket camcorder it performs well enough at capturing 1080p video – if you avoid taking its jerky 16x digital zoom to its extremity. As an alternative to draining your smartphone's battery, the Camileo B10 does what it says on the box, and at a nice price too. Pretty handy once your beach volleyball ticket payments have gone through.

PostureLite self-inflating seat pad

£20, manageathome.co.uk
You wouldn't catch us picking up one of these seat-pads in a bricks and mortar store but it could be the one item your body thanks you for – especially if you're perched watching a long, drawn-out cricket match or a 67-lap F1 race. The PostureLite's built-in vacuum valve lets you choose the amount of padding to suit your posterior and you can unscrew the valve while sitting on it to deflate the pad again. A genuine spectator essential.

Panasonic Lumix GF5

GF5 £660, 100mm-300mm lens £560 panasonic.co.uk
Ditch the 14-42mm kit lens that comes with Panny's latest 12MP Micro Four Thirds cam and pair the GF5 with a Lumix 100mm-300mm lens for some diminutive, SLR-grade sports snapping. The combination may look (and feel) ridiculous but you should end up with some stunning close-up shots. Instantaneous focussing, full HD video and a brilliant 3in touchscreen complete a cool but pricey package.

Nikon Sportstar binoculars

£135, london2012.com
Not one to miss a trick, Nikon has just launched a pair of binoculars emblazoned with the London 2012 Olympic logo. The Sportstars could never compete against the more expensive Swarovskis and Leicas of this world but for size, practicality and price they're pretty good value. The Sportstars offer 10x magnification and a decent field-of-view for getting up close, whether it's tracking Jessica Ennis' javelin from the other side of the stadium or following your favourite horse round Aintree.

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