• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

arca swiss type plate, set screws?

abruzzi

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2018
Messages
3,331
Location
New Mexico, USA
Format
Large Format
I'm just curious, I was looking through a long list of arca swiss type mounting plates both on B&H and on eBay, and I don't think I saw a single one that had set screws to hold the camera in place and keep it from twisting. All my Manfrotto hex plates have that which is very useful when mounting an 8x10 camera with 60cm of leverage.

Am I looking in the wrong place or do they just not make them? I did find a bunch with the raised edge which will probably for with the camera I need a solution for at the moment, but what about cameras with a circular base? How to you hold them in place? Or should I stick with Manfrotto hex plates for those cameras?
 
My 8x10 Nagaoka has two mounting holes so I purchased a 100mm plate that has twin mounting bolts that span them and locks down without any twisting.
 

Those don't look like set screws to me--they don't pass through to the underside of the camera, so they're not going to help fight twisting. I saw lots of plates like that, but I don't know what those screws are for.

EDIT: you can see the three set screws on Manfrotto hex plates here:

 
All those set screws do is keep the mounting plate from sliding out of the pan or ball head once you've clipped it in.
 
Sometimes a ready-made solution doesn't exist and you have to get creative, by either fabricating one from scratch or (easier) by modifying an existing part. In the case of Darr's plate, drill and tap existing screw holes through the entire plate, find replacement screws which are long enough to make contact with the base of camera, and you are set (no pun intended). Modifying existing stuff is how I was able to create a custom-fit Panasonic GM5 l-plate, starting with plate originally made for GM1, and combination plate + strap lug for Soviet FT2 panoramic camera out of another plate which I wasn't using.
 
Manfrotto have/had a couple of "architectural" versions of their plates, that added a sliding plate designed to be in contact with the front edge of the base of a camera and thus prevent the camera from twisting.
I'm not sure how that might be implemented with a view camera.
If I had been all powerful and all seeing at the time, I would have tried to convince camera manufacturers to implement the shoe into the construction of the base plates of cameras.
 
I ended up being a plate that had a lip on it. There are a bunch on Amazon.
Dep ding on the camera of course, but mine had an edge the lip sits against and prevents it from twisting.
 

that would have been nice. Everyone follows the flash shoe the same (more or less) if there was a well engineered camera mount standard that would be nice.
 
Generally I've used long plates and multiple screws if the camera has multiple mount sockets to prevent rotation on large cameras. I think some people are averse to the set screw method as opposed to the lip as the set screws can mar the bottom of the camera. That being said, there are a number of Arca compatible plates that have holes tapped all the way through for numerous 1/4 and 3/8 holes, like this Kessler crane plate; you could get one of those and pick up some flat headed set screws to use the same method that the Manfrotto plates use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register