Quote:
Originally Posted by Delija
I can't imagine taking a plate off a tripod ring. I have A/S plates on my big lenses and I mounted them with a socket wrench - I'm stunned when I see someone use a coin...
Unregistered.Coward wrote in post #13651746
How about finger tight? I regularly remove and replace the Manfrotto plates from my equipment and have never found a plate loose, much less had something fall off.
Are you applying the proper amount of torque with that wrench? Did you properly prepare the threads before assembly?
Not sure if you are serious or just poking fun at me.. ??
But just in case you mean it ..which seems unlikely looking at your list of equipment - I'd think you would know how much torque there is if a long and heavy lens is even pushed with a light amount of force from the area of the hood. The leverage of the length greatly increases that force at the pivot point where the QR plate is attached to the tripod ring (or less likely with a big lens - to the camera itself).
It helps to use a dedicated plate a lot - those made for specific cameras or grips are shaped to not twist. Almost all lens plates have a "lip" that can be put up against either the front or rear of the tripod mount's "foot" to prevent twisting too. But the dedicated plates are pretty useless if you want to use them on anything else.
Using "finger-tight" force is close to impossible unless the plate has one of those loops that swing out to grab. I think I've only seen them on Manfrotto plates.... like this one:
The problem with that is obvious as far as not being able to get them on very tightly - but I guess if you are constantly moving a plate from one piece of equipment to another, then you'd be aware of a plate loosening up. I'm sure that they are perfectly adequate for light weight cameras or even for full size SLR cameras as long as they are used with a small and short lens. But long heavy expensive lenses? I think it's pretty obvious why virtually all pro sports photographers use Arca/Swiss clamps and plates on their huge and expensive lenses - an I am sure they never switch plates. I wouldn't be surprised if they use Lock-Tite when they put a plate on a big lens.
Manfrotto has their own proprietary plates and they don't have one standard that fits all their heads or clamps - even if you buy the extra plates, which can be expensive, how (for example) would it make sense to use a large pentagonal shaped plate on a lens collar?
After using their stuff for a while...years really, I just replaced every clamp I have with an Arca/Swiss clamp and now it's just easy to keep a plate on each lens and body - and know that everything is compatible and very secure - two tripods and two mono-pods and everything fits and is interchangeable. I even put A/S clamps on a couple of Manfrotto mono-pod tilt heads. I just removed the screw in piece with the big round plastic wheel and went to Home Depot and got a screw that holds an A/S type clamp to the basic tilt-head which cost about half as much without the Manfrotto QR clamp.
I just copied what Kirk does - only it cost me a fraction of the Kirk version (that also uses the exact same Manfrotto monopod head). Photo below is of a Kirk monopod head from the B&H site - the thing costs $100. I was able to make my own for about half that. My clamp isn't as nice and doesn't have a spirit level, but a level on a monopod seems like a waste. Can't even see it if using a large lens.
