Any Idea's ? (L bracket)

[PhotogRAFer]

Hi all,

Can anyone suggest an 'L' bracket for my D7100, that is NOT an Arca swiss type? I have looked at those, and to be quite honest, the cost of the bracket plus the Arca swiss type head is very expensive, and a huge rip off, in my humble opinion. (That's Britain for you!)
I recall a few years ago seeing a bracket that you could attach the plate too but can't find one now.
I use a Vanguard tripod, which has a standard ball head.

Any help / advice greatly appreciated.

John

[russellsnr]

eBay item number:
261423239079

[PhotogRAFer]

Thanks Russell,

But no good I'm afraid. The plate I use doesn't slide all the way through, it can only be attached by sliding in from one side of the head.
It has to be able to have my plate attached to the bracket.

Thanks anyway.

[Polar01]

John why not get a local CNC Mill smith to make one out of "Al', put a hole through it like on the bracket you have to attach the camera to. Now it will have to be miller to the shape of your grooves, the vertical bar can be attached with metal screws that bar and into the horizontal one.

Cheers: Allan

[PhotogRAFer]

It may well be a custom job Allan, as a last resort.

[Manfred M]

I don't know your head style, but another option would be to buy an Arca-Swiss style clamp. Remove your existing clamp and replace it when you use your L-bracket and then flip back when you finish. My clamps are held on the ball head by an Allan screw.

A new quick release clamp should be a lot less money than a whole new ball head.

[jcuknz]

This is the one I made out of aluminium flat ....



My problem was that the ball-head of the mini-tripod does not permit a horizontal format when held against a wall etc. I would expect if you need quick release such gadgets could be fitted ... I am happy with the old fashioned screw
I do have a quarter inch Whitworth tap but such flat pieces of aluminium used to be common when people hung their flash units beside the camera rather on the accessory shoe.

[DanK]

I don't know your head style, but another option would be to buy an Arca-Swiss style clamp. Remove your existing clamp and replace it when you use your L-bracket and then flip back when you finish. My clamps are held on the ball head by an Allan screw.

A new quick release clamp should be a lot less money than a whole new ball head.

That's exactly what I did for my Manfrotto geared head, which comes with a proprietary plate and clamp. I don't know about the UK, but on this side of the pond, Hejnar photo on eBay sells such things.

[rpcrowe]

Not sure how much this would be after VAT in the U.K. but this might work
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360-Swivel-P...item418368747f

BTW: does the U.K. military have any stores (post exchanges) where tax is not charged?

[loosecanon]

I use the manfrotto one with attached 200PL plates. You can buy a 200Pl plate adapter to make any tripod take these plates.
An advantage of this L bracket is that you can adjust the position of the camera on the plate and position of the plates, and so make sure the camera is centred over the head at all times. It does have a disadvantage in that if you use the camera side support it makes access to the remote socket difficult.

[rpcrowe]

Speaking about difficulty accessing the side of the cap with the remote socket. I had a RRS L Plate on my Canon 40D and when I purchased my 7D I also purchased an L bracket. I purchased both of these plates used on eBay at quite a savings. However, when I purchased my second 7D, I tried to use the L Bracket from my 40D and it fits well enough to use. However, the remote socket is not easily accessible when the L Plate is on the 7D. However, since I have one L Plate/camera combination which will give me access to the sockets on the side of the camera, that is fine for me. I don't need access on both my 7D cameras and I saved myself close to a hundred dollars which was approximately what I paid for the used plate and I am not really disadvantaged by the fit of the plate on my second 7D camera..

On the other hand, I have seen Chinese ripoffs of the RRS L Plates. A fellow camera club member had one and I could see no obvious difference between his Chinese plate and my RRS version. It was only a matter of time until they would produce counterfeit plates at a less expensive price.

There are also Arca compatible clamps which can be mounted on Manfrotto tripod heads to convert them to Arca compatibility. Some of these are quite inexpensive. I have several. Perhaps a Chinese L plate and a a third party Arca clamp for your tripod head might be the way to go.

One really nice thing about the Arca clamp and L Plate, it can place the center of gravity of the camera over the apex of your tripod in vertical compositions. Thus you don't have to hang the camera/lens cantilevered over to the side of the head in order to shoot a vertical shot...