RRS Body Plate??? (Standard vs. L-plate)

[AndrewR69]

I need to get a body plate for my 1D Mark III. What is your opinion on the standard plate vs. the L-plate?

I have never used an L-plate. I've always used the drop in the ball head to go vertical. But I can certainly see the advantage. My biggest concern would be added bulk. Do you get used to it being on when hand holding? Do you leave it on all the time?

[johnastovall]

I would never go back to a single plate. I leave mine on all the time. I never notice the weight and it acts as a roll cage protecting the body also.

If the weight is problem do some free weights for a while and it won't be.

[d2creative]

Ditto what John said.
L-plates rock!!!

It keeps your lens in the same position, so you don't have to reposition the tripod after switching from horz to vert or vice versa.

[jeffkohn]

L-Plate is the way to go, not only for convenience but it's also more stable since the weight of the camera stays more centered over the head. Plus when you use the drop-notch to go vertical you lose height and you also don't have as much freedom to adjust camera position.

[jhom]

The RRS L bracket is custom designed and becomes part of the camera. You will easily adapt to it despite its extra weight. As already mentioned, keeping the camera on the center axis of the tripod adds to the stability of the legset.

[Cerbera LM]

Another member of the amen chorus. The L is much much better then non-L and leave it on all the time. It will add weight but the bulk added is minimal and only an issue if you're already nicking equipment when it's stuffed in your bag.

[AndrewR69]

Thanks everyone for the input. I can always count on this group to spend my money. I ordered the L-plate last night.

[groovyone]

Dumb question, but is there any way to use the L-plate on a standard tripod head? Are there any adapters instead of having to buy a whole new head?

I've been eyeing the L plate to use with the pano setup, which if I understand correctly I can screw the pano gear onto my standard Giottos Pan/Tilt head.

I also love my vertical grip so I'd probably be swapping the L-plate and VG on and off since the L-plate for the A900 does not work with the VG.

That was a horrible sentence, but I am just getting over food poisoning, so bear with me.

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by groovyone

Dumb question, but is there any way to use the L-plate on a standard tripod head? Are there any adapters instead of having to buy a whole new head?

I've been eyeing the L plate to use with the pano setup, which if I understand correctly I can screw the pano gear onto my standard Giottos Pan/Tilt head.

I also love my vertical grip so I'd probably be swapping the L-plate and VG on and off since the L-plate for the A900 does not work with the VG.

That was a horrible sentence, but I am just getting over food poisoning, so bear with me.

If you can remove the clamp on your existing tripod head, you should be able to add just the Arca-Swiss compatible QR clamp to your head. For instance, RRS sells their lever-release QR clamps separately from the head. I'm using the RRS clamp on my Bogen/Manfrotto Geared head, I just removed the Bogen QR clamp (which sucks IMHO) and replaced it with the RRS clamp.

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

If you can remove the clamp on your existing tripod head, you should be able to add just the Arca-Swiss compatible QR clamp to your head. For instance, RRS sells their lever-release QR clamps separately from the head. I'm using the RRS clamp on my Bogen/Manfrotto Geared head, I just removed the Bogen QR clamp (which sucks IMHO) and replaced it with the RRS clamp.

I don't think I can. I have the MH-5001

[jeffkohn]

I can't tell for sure from the B&H picture, does that head have a quick-release, or does it just have a screw meant to screw the camera's tripod mount to? If it's just a screw, you should have no problem adding an Arca-compatible QR plate. If the MH-5001 has its own QR and it's integral to the head (can't be removed), you might not be able to use with with Arca plates.

Edit: Looking closer it seems to use a QR plate. I suppose you could screw the Arca-style QR clamp to the Bogen/Manfrotto QR plate, but I'm not sure how stable/robust that would be. I guess with loc-tite it might not be too bad.

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

I can't tell for sure from the B&H picture, does that head have a quick-release, or does it just have a screw meant to screw the camera's tripod mount to? If it's just a screw, you should have no problem adding an Arca-compatible QR plate. If the MH-5001 has its own QR and it's integral to the head (can't be removed), you might not be able to use with with Arca plates.

Edit: Looking closer it seems to use a QR plate. I suppose you could screw the Arca-style QR clamp to the Bogen/Manfrotto QR plate, but I'm not sure how stable/robust that would be. I guess with loc-tite it might not be too bad.

Yeah, if it came to that I'd probably just break down and buy an A-S style head.