Plate / Clamp system, which is best for LF

[Ed Richards]

> the Bogen hex plate would seat nicely on the head, but the camera would very easily torque off the plate

The current plates (I do not know when this started) have some set screws in the bottom that can be tighened against the bottom of the camera to lock things down, assuming you have a solid bottom to tighten against. Combined with some locktite on the camera screw, esp the 3/8 one, it can be very stable - as long as you do not want to remove.

[Richard Schlesinger]

Where can one order replacement knobs that get around the 'falling off' problem? Arca makes a newer/different model with a cam lock, but apparently conversion is not possible. Some way to make the knob captive on the shaft would certainly be welcome.

[Paul Moshay]

I use the Bogen 3047 heads on my Bogen camera stand in the studio and on the Majestic tripods in the field. At first,12 years ago, I had the newer snap lock style but quickly found that no matter how hard I locked the clamp lever the camera would swivel when the film holder was inserted, especially when it was in landscape format. I feel it would take an automotive valve spring to securely hold the clamp locked, then it would be impossible to manually actuate it! I quickly sold the new 3047 and bought 6 of the older versions that use a screw clamp to lock the camera. I now have used them for all the cameras up to the Toyo 8x10 an have never felt insecure with them. You do have to be careful, as others have mentioned, to be sure that the hex plate is securely in the head, but that comes naturally when you remember the sound of a camera hitting the ground.

Paul

[Struan Gray]

My winter project is to finally take some pictures with my 12x15" ULF camera. One of the many challenges is how to mount it on my tripod in a convenient way. It has a 16" square baseboard and puts big torques on any standard quick-release, especially the skinny Arca ones. Since I have a Gitzo 3-series tripod, the simplest way is to hard-mount a tripod top-plate to the base of the camera, and use the tripod's crown-mounting bolt as a quick release. My quick release handle is a 10 mm spanner.

The next stage is to get a levelling base, which will give me rotation and 15° of movement up and down. I have been looking at jury-rig quick releases and trying to think outside the box. Naturally I have brain-designed the perfect release, involving anodised titanium and case-hardened roller bearings, but while I slowly fill the custom machining piggy bank I have been musing on Rube Goldberg alternatives.

The first was to mount a bench vise on the bottom of the camera. It works, but isn't really in the spirit of a field camera.

Then I envisioned screwing a section of a downhill ski onto the camera with its binding and then glueing the sole of my old ski boots to the top of the tripod - this one will also work, but will stick out awkwardly when the camera is not mounted.

Finally, I realised that hobby shops sell a wide range of sprung clasps and latched hook fittings for people who want to make their own custom cases. One of these, and some work with sheet plywood and I'll have a wide-mating-surface, latched quck release for ULF. Case closed :-)