Safety stops on your camera/lens plates/brackets

Do you use them? I can see why they have value but they seem like a hassle. I just reinstalled them on the plates for my 400 f/5.6L and 70-300L.... but I'm not sure yet how much they will annoy me.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

I think the annoyance of safety stops depends entirely on if you have throw lever clamps or screw knob clamps.

On throw levers, it's really no big deal. Open the lever, yank the plate out, done.

On screw knobs, you need to move the full 3.2mm of dovetail engagement, or about 4 turns on a 1/4-20 drive screw, sometimes a lot more depending on the plate engagement profile. That can get super annoying.

Greg,

That is what I'm thinking.... my RRS stuff has screw clamps. I guess I should have trusted their self-adjusting lever clamps when I bought my stuff but I have some plates from different manufacturers as well so I purchased the screw clamps.

I'd have to agree with Greg. Beyond that, the stops aren't removable on my ballheads, and they are machined into my L bracket so. . . . . . .

I have a screw clamp, and I tend to unscrew it all the way when removing the plate. I kinda just stuck with that method, problem solved.

I prefer screw clamp and slide in, slide out. Even if I also have a RRS lever clamp, but I don't like it.

So all safety pins on the plates are removed. The safety pin in the clamp of my Markins head is also removed.

afoton wrote in post #17161208
I prefer screw clamp and slide in, slide out. Even if I also have a RRS lever clamp, but I don't like it.

Question: Why the pref for slide in/out instead of lifting? And you don't like the RRS levers? I've always thought they were super slick, curious as to what you don't like.

Not trying to grill you, just wondering...

I don't know. After having tried both for a longer time, slide in/out just works best in my hands.

I don't use the stop screws. A PITA.

Thanks all who have responded so far. I do know, I like the slide in/slide out approach. It's simple. I guess I'll leave the safety stops in on my next shoot... but bring along the right allen key so I can remove them if they end up being too much of a hassle.

My BH-55 and my MH 02 Pro have never loosened up, but I didn't want to be stupid. I have heard of people's cameras dropping to the ground/concrete, etc. and I think that would be a good thing to avoid.

A friend had a 600mm f4 lens slide out of a gimbal head. Dropped 4 ft, camera first. Camera cost $300 to repair but the lens was OK. My friend uses stop-screws now...

^^^^^
This is my fear..... knowing what can happen and not taking the easy steps to prevent it.

IS having a lens fall out of the mount to the ground annoying?

Just wondering?

I always found parachutes annoying to wear flying aerobatics... But on occasion they come in handy...

To each his own..

Mark H

I don't use them with RRS quick release lever clamps because for me they just get in the way. I know others that swear by them; so I guess whatever floats your boat. Too much of a PITA for me.

ricsha wrote in post #17166443
I don't use them with RRS quick release lever clamps because for me they just get in the way. I know others that swear by them; so I guess whatever floats your boat. Too much of a PITA for me.

It is kind of ironic, but safety stops work best with quality lever clamps...

BUT - a quality lever release clamp basically negates the need for the safety stops; ain't nobody gonna not notice the lever opening 25% of the way accidentally without closing it (and the good ones are locking anyhow).