While any Arca-Swiss plate will fit any Arca-Swiss compatible head (they are all 39 mm wide with a 45° dovetail), the safety retention systems (I don't mean the anti-rotation pin) are not always compatible amongst different manufacturers.
There is a risk that an inadvertantly loosened clamp could result in a scope or binocular crashing to the ground. IIRC the Gitzo GHF 2W has a small vertical pin on the head and a corresponding recess under the plate. To remove the plate the clamp would have to be loosened sufficiently for the inside edge of the plate to surmount the pin. Novoflex has a similar system.
Berlebach has an ingenious system, which retains the plate as soon as it is slid into the head. The heads will aso retain some Novoflex and Sirui plates but the Berlebach plates cannot be safely retained on other systems. Other manufacturers offer long plates with screws protruding on the underside at both ends but here the clamp has to be sufficiently loosened to drop the plate in from the top.
John
There is a risk that an inadvertantly loosened clamp could result in a scope or binocular crashing to the ground. IIRC the Gitzo GHF 2W has a small vertical pin on the head and a corresponding recess under the plate. To remove the plate the clamp would have to be loosened sufficiently for the inside edge of the plate to surmount the pin. Novoflex has a similar system.
Berlebach has an ingenious system, which retains the plate as soon as it is slid into the head. The heads will aso retain some Novoflex and Sirui plates but the Berlebach plates cannot be safely retained on other systems. Other manufacturers offer long plates with screws protruding on the underside at both ends but here the clamp has to be sufficiently loosened to drop the plate in from the top.
John