Best Arca Swiss Plate? (1 Viewer)

I've been thinking about getting a new Arca Swiss compatible plate to replace my Calumet one for a while now but I can't seem to settle on one I like so would like to hear from others as to what experience they've had with the various makes (Wimberely, Kirk, Benro etc) and how they rate as the best particularly for ease of taking on and off the tripod collar and overall security of fit to the head base plate.

The one thing I know for sure that I want from another plate is that it has the same specific design as my Calumet QR plate in that it has a notch so that the QR plate has two points of contact with the base plate (see picture). I don't know which of the makes fulfil this criteria as it's hard to work out from the smallish pictures on their websites which also tend to view them from above.

Hope everyone understands that lot. Cheers. B
Adam

Jaff said:

I've been thinking about getting a new Arca Swiss compatible plate to replace my Calumet one for a while now but I can't seem to settle on one I like so would like to hear from others as to what experience they've had with the various makes (Wimberely, Kirk, Benro etc) and how they rate as the best particularly for ease of taking on and off the tripod collar and overall security of fit to the head base plate.

The one thing I know for sure that I want from another plate is that it has the same specific design as my Calumet QR plate in that it has a notch so that the QR plate has two points of contact with the base plate (see picture). I don't know which of the makes fulfil this criteria as it's hard to work out from the smallish pictures on their websites which also tend to view them from above.

Hope everyone understands that lot. Cheers. B
Adam

Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean about trying to work things out from small thumbnails on the net. You can't beat trying out in person, but here lies the problem for most of us, especially now that we are losing more and more camera stores that actually keep stuff in stock.

The difficulty for us though, is that we don't know what clamp you have, so instead I'll relay my own experiences with the arca system.

Having owned a number of different heads/q/r systems over the years, from Manfrotto, Giottos, Slick, Culllman etc, it became apparent that I needed a decent system that would replece all of the above, and the more I read, the more I realized that the Arca system was the answer. This was especially obvious after I started using a DSLR, with various different bodies/lenses. Arca clamps are generally the best in quality, and importantly, they allow you to balance your rig, which is important for camera/lenses as well as digiscoping.

However, as you have learned, not all Arca clamps/plates are the same, even though they follow the same basic standard. The first I tried was from Giottos, but I quickly found that these didn't work for most other Arca pattern plates! They work ok for their own brand of plates which have a different safety stop mechanism to most others, but when I bought 2 Wimberley plates (which use tiny grub screws at each end to stop your gear inadvertently falling out of the clamp should you forget to tighten them up) I discovered that I couldn't slide them in from the end of the clamp, because of these very studs! To make matters worse, the Giottos clamps don't open wide enough to drop the plate in from the top. Useless!

In the end I bit the bullet and bought a Wimberley C-12 clamp, which is simple but brilliant. So far all other Arca type plates I've tried fit into the clamp, which is half the battle! though some have very slightly different dimensions. Even the studs (like the ones that are causing you problems) vary slightly in size/shape, but essentially they all work. Be aware though, that some of the newer flip-lock clamps (that work like a bicycle Q/R) will not work so well because of these slight variations in size. If you opt for one of these, make sure all of your plates are identical.

Sorry if this was a bit long-winded, but it's worth asking yourself if you do need a new plate? or indeed a better clamp! Personally I don't like the way yours is being 'distorted' in the picture. The Wimberley ones don't do that, presumably because their tolerances are closer. I would feel much safer with a better quality clamp/cheaper plate combo than the other way around, as clamps by Wimberley, Kirk, Really Right Stuff etc are tried and tested with much heavier gear than I use. I'm not sure that can also be said of some of the cheaper ones I've seen on Ebay etc.

btw, I've found that these plates are of decent quality, are cheap, and fit fine in the Wimberley clamp

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...s+plate&rh=i:aps,k:kiwifotos+lens+plate&ajr=0

Wimberley clamps and plates are available from here (watch the video):

http://www.bobrigby.com/wimberley/wimberley_c12clamp.html

Most other decent stuff has to be bought in from abroad as far as I know, though Kirk stuff is available from Warehouse Express. Never tried them though.

I've used Kirk clamps/lens and camera plates for the last 6 or so years now on all my gear including 500mm and 800mm primes.
Quality and fit is excellent, on a par with Wimberley. Highly recommended.
I also recently purchased an Acratech head and am equally impressed with their Arca-Swiss clamps. They also produce lens and camera QR plates, and are available from Bob Rigby.

Rog

Arca-Swiss style QR

Jaff said:

I've been thinking about getting a new Arca Swiss compatible plate to replace my Calumet one for a while now but I can't seem to settle on one I like so would like to hear from others as to what experience they've had with the various makes (Wimberely, Kirk, Benro etc) and how they rate as the best particularly for ease of taking on and off the tripod collar and overall security of fit to the head base plate.

The one thing I know for sure that I want from another plate is that it has the same specific design as my Calumet QR plate in that it has a notch so that the QR plate has two points of contact with the base plate (see picture). I don't know which of the makes fulfil this criteria as it's hard to work out from the smallish pictures on their websites which also tend to view them from above.

Hope everyone understands that lot. Cheers. B
Adam

Click to expand...

I hear many answers which are good. Why not get an Arca-Swiss classic QR as it will take all of the plates and is really well made. They are now smaller and accept both Arca-Swiss classic plates and third party plates, as well as the newer Monoball Fix plates. Nothing like the original.

Thanks for that guys. Just to explain fully then what my situation is for you, I have a Calumet (TRIOPO) Gimbal head which is a copy of the Wimberely MKII and for what I paid for it I'm more than happy with it's performance (look for the thread further down) but I don't like the the Calumet plate that came with head as it's a pain to take on and off the lens. Now if I wanted to shoot at ground level with a tripod (this was before I got my Gimbal head) I'd reverse my centre column and use my Manfrotto ball head and simply rotate the tripod collar so my lens was right way up, works an absolute treat. I've found though that the Gimbal head isn't suitable for shooting this way as it's too bulky and keeps knocking the tripod legs but my Manfrotto ballhead uses Manfrotto QR plates. So I have two choices (although you have by accident introduced me to a 3rd Steve), I've been looking at the Benro B1 Ballhead which I assumed would accept my Calumet plate or that the Benro plate that comes with it would work on my Gimbal head, seeing as how it's meant to be Arca Swiss (my Gimbal head is too BTW just to clarify) but as you've confirmed to me it may not be that cut and dry, sort of hence the thread really. The alternative would be getting a better Arca Swiss plate than the one I have which would be a lot easier to take on and off in the field thus allowing me to put on my Manfrotto QR plate with minimal fuss and keep on using my Manfrotto ballhead. Obviously the third option you've presented me is getting a ball head that I could put the Wimberely C12 QR clamp on it and use that as my ball head and would mean I'd leave the Calumet plate permanently on the lens like I at the mo. So in terms of price (hence also order of preference for me) getting a new Arca Swiss plate is the cheapest, the Benro ball head next and some decent sub £100 ball head + c12 clamp would be the most expensive, albeit probably the best, option.

Not an urgent matter at present but one I'll ultimately have to decide upon.

Sounds a bit of a pain having to remove the plate from your lens so you can use it on different heads. That's why I decided to move over to the AS system. I now have 3 Wimberley clamps on various heads, but try to economise by using (some) cheaper plates too.

btw, I have one of these Giottos ball heads (actually 2, as I have the medium model too) and can confirm that with the hardware supplied with the Wimberley clamp, it screws straight on. Just use an allen key to remove the supplied clamp. The Benro ball heads look good too, though I have never tried one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Giottos-MH1300-621-Sliding-Quick-Release/dp/B001COB8P4/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314297336&sr=1-5

Have a look at the TRIOPO RS3 if you like ball heads. My RS3 easily holds the heaviest combo available from Canon - namely my 600 F4 IS + 1D4 + Flash + extenders + extension tubes etc (even when set up deliberately out of balance) - with no droop/creep. Unfortunately this little 250 gram head makes my Gitzos look rather inadequate! Also the RS3 is the smoothest ball heads I have yet tried (including Arca, Gitzo etc). Of course it's not perfect - nothing is! It has only one control lever - so no pan lock + no friction adjust - also I would prefer it in black!
So the RS3 is cheap (£30 from Fototip + others, on a well known auction site) light (250 gram) and simply the most rigid ball head I have yet tried. Add a QR clamp (the 50mm one from CGUK at about £22 is my choice for light stuff - upto 5 Kilo) and you have a very good setup for under £60 quid.
As to QR plates I have one Kirk, one Wimberley, 4 unknown Chinese cheapies and 2 Fotopros - all work perfectly on my Wimberley 2, DV clamp and 50mm Clamp fron CGUK (brand unknown).
I am looking for a "Better" ball head, and I have been dissapointed with everything I have tried to date.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help Steve. I think you understand well where I'm coming from and I think you've persuaded me to scrub option 1. I've had a look and I don't think the clamp on my Manfrotto ball head will come off (old 488RC2) so I can't put a c12 clamp on that which would have been an ideal solution, which means I defo need to look for a new ballhead. One thing i've been unable to do until this very moment is see what the PU-50 plate looks like that comes with the Benro B1 because the Benro website is screwed up and when you click on the link for the PU series plates you get the PS series plates instead (Benro fix your website!!!). But a quick search through google has allowed me to see it and it's quite a small plate and as I prefer a longer plate so I can can carry my lens by it, so only if my Calumet plate sits well in the Benro head would that be a viable option. Would though have the added benefit of me using the plate that comes with the head on my camera for doing macro work and allowing me to sell off my Manfrotto ballhead and recouping some of the money. I'll try this first with the Wimberely clamp on a suitable ballhead being my fall back option I think. Luckily there's a shop near to me that sells Benro stuff (most of the other high street shops don't even stock them!) so I should be able to see if my Calumet plate fits in nicely before I commit to buying one. Thanks for your help here, most appreciated.