Adapter to secure wiggly Gitzo head to Nikon scope (1 Viewer)

[Dr. K]

Some months ago I read a post here, somewhere, that said that the Gitzo heads sometimes allow for some play in their arca-swiss plate connection. Welp, yes... I bought one of those Gitzo "birdwatching" heads and now my scope wiggles around (it did not when using my Sirui head). The post where I read about this had a comment that I knew I should bookmark, but didn't. Can anyone tell me what the adapter is that can secure this connection, or, can anyone refer me to the thread where this is discussed?

Thank you!

 

[Dr. K]

FYI, I found the solution. The problem is that the gitzo heads aren't arch-swiss friendly. But, with a small drop in adapter it works just fine. The only downside is that you lose the built in safety catch to prevent the scope or camera from sliding out when you're loosening the tension screw. Here is the adapter that I bought, and works well: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08S3BPYV5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Tringa45]

If you are using a Gitzo 1720 or 2720 head it might be better, for safety's sake, to attach the original QR plate directly to your scope.

John

 

[Alexis Powell]

Dr. K -- Like you, I've found those iShoot 5160 and similar adapters (from Desmond) to be quite useful. In fact, they are integral to my system of Gitzo, Manfrotto, Kirk, RRS, and Sirui heads and plates that I use for birding and photography, but I did have had trouble with one iShoot plate on a Sirui head. I was able to fix the problem as described in this post: Kowa 883 - best arca swiss plate?

Here's the most relevant part of the post, quoting myself:
"...I discovered some things worth noting about my iShoot 5160 adapters. I hadn't ever even removed them from packaging (having bought two for spares now that Desmond and Gitzo no longer offer similar), but on so doing I noted that they are not quite as well finished as my Desmond adapters. Still, I found they worked fine to fit a Desmond Arca-type plate to my Gitzo and Manfrotto heads, but (in one case) not to fit the Desmond plate to my Sirui VH-10x. The combo was too tight to slip into the slot in the Sirui head to reach the clamp! On close inspection, I found that the offending iShoot 5160 was slightly taller than my Desmond adapters. I used a broad metal file, followed by sandpaper, to remove ~0.5 mm of metal from the entire bottom surface of the plate. It now works perfectly (but what a hassle!). I bought that plate a few years ago, so with any luck iShoot is making the adapters better and more consistently now."

--AP