VE6AB Technical
Really Right Stuff
Over the years I have used various mounting systems to mount my cameras on my tripods.
I was never happy with any of them, although I learned to live with them, but always on the lookout for something better than the tacky quick release plate mounted on the bottom of my cameras that never stayed where you wanted it, and only good for landscape photography, leaving portrait photography out in the cold.
In 2010 I found the ultimate mounting system in the form of a quick-release L-Plate made by "Really Right Stuff," a camera accessories manufacturer located in California.
Now I should also tell you that back about 20 years ago I discovered the benefit of using a ball-mount on my tripods, the only way to mount your favorite camera on a tripod. Once you try a ball-mount, you'll wish you'd have gone down this path a long time ago, never going back to what you had been using in the past.
The ball-mount seen in my insert photo attached to my DSLR is one built by "Acratech" also located in California. There are other makes of ball-mounts that you may find more desirable, including a really snazzy one offered by "Really Right Stuff."
The one thing good ball mounts have in common is a quick-release mounting system common to better makes of ball mounts from other manufacturers.
What I'm saying is that the RRS L-Plate as seen in the photo has a common dovetail that fits ball-heads of other manufacturers, including ball-heads by RRS, Acratech, Feisol, and others utilizing a Arca-Swiss style clamp.
The beauty of this mounting system is the fact that once you level off the camera with the built-in bubble-level located in the top-plate of the ball-head, and we'll say that your shooting landscapes, or portraits, or any other type of photography where you wish to quickly switch between landscape and portrait mode, its as simple as releasing the quick=release and remounting the camera via the L-Plate, yet the camera still leveled as originally set.
If you look close at the L-Plate in the photo, you'll notice the centering marks engraved at the bottom of the plate, and to the left of the plate, that indicate the centre of the camera sensor in either mounting position.
I leave my L-Plates permanently mounted on my cameras, and never remove them regardless of whether I'm using a tripod or hand-holding the camera while shooting photos.
Just so you know, the RRS L-Plate has cutouts that allow for accessing the various ports on the side of the camera. The battery may also be replaced without removing the L-Plate.
I also have extra mounting plates that reside on the lens in my arsenal that have their own tripod foot, allowing the lens to be quickly positioned on the ball-head and rotated in the lens mount.
When using my super-telephoto lens which is much to heavy for the ball-mount, I use a gimbal head on the tripod replacing the ball-mount temporarily, although the tripod foot built in to the lens, wears one of the same dovetail plates (Acratech) that fits all of my quick-release systems including the quick-release mounts on my monopods.
Bottom line is once you switch to an RRS L-Plate on your cameras, you'll never go back.
Seen in action here.....
https://www.jerryclement.ca/HamRadio/VE6AB-Technical/i-GzhwdRv
Gimbal Head seen here.....
https://www.jerryclement.ca/HamRadio/VE6AB-Technical/i-7Nn7KDF
