Why L Plates? Why RRS plates over others?

Ok, I've been researching ballheads, plates, and clamps.

Looks like the most effecient combo from other members is:

Markins M10
RRS B2 LR II
RRS Plates

I'm lost though. Why are L plates better than a standard body plate and adjusting the ballhead to orient in portrait position?

Also why are RRS plates considered to be the best? The way I figure it, Arca type plates should be standard size across the board to maintain compatibility, no?

L-Plates are nice because they allow full use of the ballhead adjustment while in portrait orentation. *Edit* after re-reading your question it appears that you know their better, but not why their better. When you drop the camera into the slot in the ballhead to go into portrait you loose any fine tune adjustments, in other words you might not be able to drop it enough to make it perfectly level. This could be because of uneven ground, or your tripod ins't adjusted right. The bigger problem is all that weight is off axis which makes it extremely hard to move it within the ball head and not have it shift around. Also it could cause your tripod to fall if you are not watching what you are doing.

RSS equipment is made really well, and a lot of users (myself included) buy from them because they are often suggest around here. Kinda like how Alien Bees have a following here.

With an L plate the weight remains centered over the ballhead; flipping the camera and head to get portrait mode gives you a less well-balanced load.

Here is the RRS link explaining the L bracket. It would be the same if you use Kirk L brackets. Both companies produce nice products. You will find photogs who prefer one over the other. It is a matter of preference. http://reallyrightstuf​f.com/video/L-Plate.html

Does the center weight balance of the L plate matter with a macro tripod like my Gitzo 2220?

It makes a difference in the stresses on the ball head. If the weight's squarely over the head there will be less likelihood of slippage than if the camera's off on one side of the head.

If you're using a quick release clamp for your head, you can rotate the camera from portrait to landscape w/o moving the head. This makes it easy to level the head and leave it in position while you change orientation.

An L bracket is larger and on some bodies, makes accessing the remote port difficult. This is true with the Canon 1D series and the RRS L brackets.

The L-plate also makes it possible to do panos in the portrait orientation, something which is difficult to do if the camera is slung over the side of the head.

ian408 wrote in post #5070878
An L bracket is larger and on some bodies, makes accessing the remote port difficult. This is true with the Canon 1D series and the RRS L brackets.

I don't have any problems accessing the remote ports on my 1D2 with RRS L mounted. That is one reason why RRS plates are popular. They manufacture custom plates for many of the more popular cameras. You don't have to settle for a universal plate.

The L-plate also makes it possible to use your Wimberley F-9 flash bracket on the camera without the need to have it mounted on the Wimberley HD200 head for those who already have this setup.

As for why the RRS L-plates over any other, for me, it's because I like the design of the RRS L-plates better than those of the Kirk L-plates. As someone already mentioned, it's usually a matter of personal preference.

Dropping the camera/lens into the portrait position slot on the ball head is great. Until you get a pretty heavy camera/lens combination, then you put a lot of strain on the ball head and it won't stay level. Most of all...you may end up with the whole lot overbalancing (as others have said).

You can also use a rotating bracket or flash bracket too. I use a Newton Rotator at the moment.

Sweet, thanks guys. I just put in my order for RRS L-Bracket and 70-200/2.8 bracket. Markins ordered, and on the way. Damn, this hobby is so expensive.

drPheta wrote in post #5071040
Sweet, thanks guys. I just put in my order for RRS L-Bracket and 70-200/2.8 bracket. Markins ordered, and on the way. Damn, this hobby is so expensive.

Only if you keep on buyin' stuff

One thing nobody mentioned...with an L-bracket you're able to switch from landscape orientation to portrait without having to re-position your tripod and recompose the shot, as you would need to do if you had to utilize the drop slot on the head. Real time saver...

Nitpicking mode: hard to reach the review and delete buttons with the RRS-L on 1D.
Might not be an issue on your 40D.