RRS L-plate question

flyfisher wrote in post #18242163
I do not assume that every one uses a 1dx camera I would leave the L plate on any camera body. In my opinion the size of the L plate does not add enough size to camera bodies to make that much of a difference.

What use is the L-plate if you are not using a tripod? I can't imagine lugging around the extra bulk and weight for a day if I'm not using it.

I guess that's a personal preference. I don't consider my L plates to be bulky or heavy.

Hogloff wrote in post #18242191
What use is the L-plate if you are not using a tripod? I can't imagine lugging around the extra bulk and weight for a day if I'm not using it.

I can protect your Camera body from getting damaged or marked up, I use an L Plate on my camera bodies and it covers a lot of the outside edges that tend to get scuffed from putting the camera down when I'm Hiking.

flyfisher wrote in post #18243147
I can protect your Camera body from getting damaged or marked up, I use an L Plate on my camera bodies and it covers a lot of the outside edges that tend to get scuffed from putting the camera down when I'm Hiking.

I guess you and I are different then. I'd rather save the weight and bulk rather than worry about scratching the body. Body scratches don't affect the camera options so I've never worried about them.

During travel, I carry my camera around my wrist for up to 15 hours a day. Having the extra weight and bulk for no functional benefit is just a waste.

Now when I'm out shooting landscapes, then the L-plate stays on the camera...but I shoot all my landscapes from a tripod where using the L-bracket is a big benefit.

I should check the actual weight of the RRS L bracket for my 1D IV.... I just did, however the L bracket for my 1D IV is out of production. The weight of the two part L bracket for the ID X Mark 2 is just over 9 ounces. That surprised me a bit. I don't believe any of my one part L brackets are that heavy. I just checked Kirk and as I thought, their one part L brackets are only 6 ounces.

Anyway, I use both a monopod/tilt head and tripod/gimbal head when shooting wildlife photographs so I keep my L brackets attached. I've grown accustomed to their presence. I don't even notice the extra bulk or weight. Since I attach my shoulder strap directly to the L bracket, it has that additional function as well.

I switch out the gimbal for a ball head when doing landscape only stuff but my gimbal does an excellent job when shooting in the landscape position: it is a tad cumbersome when shooting portraits, hence the change to a ball head. I have my tripod set up for a quick change for both heads: it takes a few seconds to switch.

OP-Tech with or without L bracket. Black Rapid for occasional use when situation arises.

I have absolutely no idea what use an L plate has - and I do use a tripod!

I am told that they are great when you want to switch quickly from landscape to portrait view and that they keep the weight of the camera/lens over the center of the tripod. Perhaps this is true? However, even with my geared head, dismounting and re mounting the camera is hopelessly slow compared to just swinging the camera into the vertical (portrait) orientation and I use decent tripods so the weight being a little off center is irrelevant - even on my travel tripod.

Perhaps I am missing something? But L plates do seem to be one of the most useless accessories available. Perhaps someone could educate me here?

johnf3f wrote in post #18243562
I have absolutely no idea what use an L plate has - and I do use a tripod!

I am told that they are great when you want to switch quickly from landscape to portrait view and that they keep the weight of the camera/lens over the center of the tripod. Perhaps this is true? However, even with my geared head, dismounting and re mounting the camera is hopelessly slow compared to just swinging the camera into the vertical (portrait) orientation and I use decent tripods so the weight being a little off center is irrelevant - even on my travel tripod.

Perhaps I am missing something? But L plates do seem to be one of the most useless accessories available. Perhaps someone could educate me here?

Many times my tripod is setup in very uneven and unstable ground and having my camera and lens hanging over on one side just scares the hell out of me. I'd much rather flip the camera over using an L-bracket and have the center of mass over top of the tripod than hanging over on one side...especially if that side happens to be pointing down hill.

johnf3f wrote in post #18243562
I have absolutely no idea what use an L plate has - and I do use a tripod!

I am told that they are great when you want to switch quickly from landscape to portrait view and that they keep the weight of the camera/lens over the center of the tripod. Perhaps this is true? However, even with my geared head, dismounting and re mounting the camera is hopelessly slow compared to just swinging the camera into the vertical (portrait) orientation and I use decent tripods so the weight being a little off center is irrelevant - even on my travel tripod.

Perhaps I am missing something? But L plates do seem to be one of the most useless accessories available. Perhaps someone could educate me here?

It takes like 3 seconds to go from landscape to portrait on the L-bracket, I wouldn't consider that "hopelessly slow". And you don't always have as much maneuverability trying to compose the shot when the camera is hanging off the side of the tripod compared to being centered over the tripod, especially when very low to the ground.

Also, I don't always have a lot of options on where to put the legs of my tripod meaning that I may not be able to get the comp I want with the camera hanging over the side of the tripod. Not to mention there are times when I need every mm of height the tripod has to offer and on my tripod (non-geared head) I would lose a good 5-6 inches by rotating the camera into portrait vs. flipping into portrait with the L-bracket.

An L bracket is faster to switch than changing on tripod. In studio tripod height might need to be changed too if just using ball head to go to portrait.

If you are using a ring light a L bracket is a must.

I see your point!

Shouldn't you have bought a tripod with a larger footprint? Just a thought.

My main complaint about the "Copy" tripods is not the quality of their carbon fiber etc - it is the fact that they have much smaller footprints which compromises stability. There are only two brands (that I know of) who do not skimp here - namely Gitzo and RRS.

My lightest tripod (Gitzo 1550T) is slightly lighter than my 1DX but is not upset by the camera hanging off one side because it has a relatively large footprint. Incidentally cameras do not get much more top heavy than a Canon 1 series!

johnf3f wrote in post #18243704
I see your point!

Shouldn't you have bought a tripod with a larger footprint? Just a thought.

My main complaint about the "Copy" tripods is not the quality of their carbon fiber etc - it is the fact that they have much smaller footprints which compromises stability. There are only two brands (that I know of) who do not skimp here - namely Gitzo and RRS.

My lightest tripod (Gitzo 1550T) is slightly lighter than my 1DX but is not upset by the camera hanging off one side because it has a relatively large footprint. Incidentally cameras do not get much more top heavy than a Canon 1 series!

If you are talking to me, I am not under tripod-ed http://www.indurogear.​com/products/induro-clt104.aspx

"It takes like 3 seconds to go from landscape to portrait on the L-bracket, I wouldn't consider that "hopelessly slow". And you don't always have as much maneuverability trying to compose the shot when the camera is hanging off the side of the tripod compared to being centered over the tripod, especially when very low to the ground."

Perhaps this is the case, but (to me) having to dismount the camera and then re mount it is hopelessly slow compared to just slapping it over to one side. Also I can see how using an L bracket/plate would give me the roughly the same height (portrait or landscape) at low levels but wouldn't tipping the camera give me even lower heights in portrait mode?

I agree with your point about the lack of options as to where to put the tripod legs - though I have (yet) to find this an issue. Tripods with a large footprint will help here but probably not cover every situation?

As to height? Isn't your tripod tall enough? Perhaps it wasn't the best choice?

Perhaps I didn't word my original post very well - if so I apologise.

I am not having a GO at anybody.

It is simply that I have no idea what advantage an L bracket/plate offers. I have used one or two and found that they just get in the way for me. The effect of the camera hanging off the side of the tripod (by not using an L plate) is not really an issue for me as I use good quality tripods (Gitzo in my case).

Before anybody screams about Gitzo prices I currently have 4 Gitzo tripods (3 bought brand new) and one Gitzo mono pod - the total price was less than a single RRS 3 series tripod in the UK! We are not talking about silly expensive tripods here!

Maybe I am missing something (it's happened before!) but their use evades me - still I am here to learn!

rburgett wrote in post #18243062
I guess that's a personal preference. I don't consider my L plates to be bulky or heavy.

I agree. They only weigh a couple of ounces and there really isn't much in terms of bulk.