Homemade "Angle Bracket" for tripod head

Here's a photograph of the "angle bracket" I made for my studio tripod rig.

I normally use the Bogen/Manfrotto 3130 Quick Release Micro Fluid Head (mounted on a Bogen/Manfrotto 3502 Compact Leveling Head) on my Bogen/Manfrotto 3051 tripod in the studio. The only problem is that the 3130 head is only a two-axis head and at times I need to put the camera into "portrait" position.

Using the Bogen/Manfrotto 3299 RC2 System Quick Release Adaptor wth 3157N Plate and a piece of 3-inch aluminum angle, I fabricated the "angle bracket" shown in the photo. It has the two pieces of the 3299 kit permanently attached. The quick-release adaptor is fastened to the aluminum angle with a short 3/8-16 bolt and the QR plate is screwed into a 1/4-20 threaded hole just like the one in your camera.

The beauty of this "angle bracket" is that it doesn't have to ride on the camera like a lot of the ones I've seen on the forums.

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Very nice! I made my own L-bracket, but it doesn't look that good, good job!

That's amazing. Would you mind taking a picture a bit further back so i can see more of the tripod? I'm still trying to figure out how the camera switches from portrait to landscape. I'm familiar with the Arca standard, but this doesn't quite look like that. That really does look wicked...If you hadn't said anything, I'd think it was pro.

Skip, correct me if I am wrong, so you have a quick release plate mounted on the bottom of the camera. To have the camera in vertical position, you attach the camera to the angle bracket as in the photograph. To horizontal position, you first remove the camera, then remove the bracket from the camera, then put the camera with the QR plate on to the tripod?

SunTsu wrote in post #4242966
That's amazing. Would you mind taking a picture a bit further back so i can see more of the tripod? I'm still trying to figure out how the camera switches from portrait to landscape. I'm familiar with the Arca standard, but this doesn't quite look like that. That really does look wicked...If you hadn't said anything, I'd think it was pro.

Lotto wrote in post #4243372
Skip, correct me if I am wrong, so you have a quick release plate mounted on the bottom of the camera. To have the camera in vertical position, you attach the camera to the angle bracket as in the photograph. To horizontal position, you first remove the camera, then remove the bracket from the camera, then put the camera with the QR plate on to the tripod?

Lotto, I believe you understand more or less correctly.

The first step, though, is simply removing the camera from the QR adapter bracket - the method is just like if you were removing the camera from a tripod head with an RC2 quick release. Second step is taking the bracket off the tripod's head by releasing the RC2 lever on the tripod's head. Third step is mounting the camera directly to the tripod's head (after putting the bracket somewhere). Doing the conversion is quite fast, as the camera's QR plate fits both the angle bracket's adapter and the tripod's head. Thus, the same QR plate stays on the camera at all times.

The only down side to this setup is that when using the camera directly on the tripod, you have the extra piece - the adapter - to deal with. Since this is something I use only in the studio and I don't often change the camera's position in a single session, the "extra piece" is not a problem.

The up side is that this is a very strong setup and it was very inexpensive to build. I scrounged the aluminum for nothing and paid less than $30 for the RC2 adapter kit.

I'm posting another photo here, because I think the confusing part about the first photo is that the RC2 lever on the head I am using is not readily apparent.

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A very professional job! Good work.

Very nice job on this project. I enjoy making high quality stuff too, however I was in an apartment at the time I bought my tripod head.
I was lucky enough to save up & buy a new a Bogen 3047 a few yrs ago with the tilt built in. However the 3021 pro with a 3047 weighs in at 10.5 lbs too.

That's nice work Skip and makes perfect sense. You could always hang a baggy of some sort on the 'pod to slip the adapter into while not in use.

That's a helluva lot nicer than using a pistol grip and letting it hang off one side like I do. Of course, I pretty much never use the tripod so it doesn't bother me much.