I've standardized on Really Right Stuff lever-release clamps. For my 4x5 and smaller cameras, Really Right Stuff's own plates/rails work perfectly, providing adequate contact area and, with two screws mated to two sockets on the camera or an anti-twist lip, complete elimination of rotation.
For my Ebony 5x7 and wholeplate cameras, I had S.K. Grimes machine replacement baseplates that incorporate Really Right Stuff-compatible dovetails. The attached images show those, as well as an earlier Really Right Stuff clamp I used at the time.
For my 8x10 Phillips Compact II, I use a Kirk plate that's no longer offered. It's four inches square and has a ribbed surface that mates to the camera base, slightly digging in to Dick Phillips' composite material and totally avoiding any possibility of rotation. This is the closest thing I've seen that's still available new today:
On my larger tripod, which carries a Burzynski ball head, I've added this Really Right Stuff panning clamp:
It gets rid of the annoyances encountered with ball heads and view cameras. After setting up the tripod, I level the clamp using its built in bubble, then tighten down the Burzynski. If, after placing the Compact II in the clamp, a leftward or rightward framing change is desired, I simply loosen the pan lock and rotate my camera, which stays level.
I've found it straightforward to correctly drop all my cameras' plate dovetails directly into the Really Right Stuff lever release clamps and had no issues with them loosening from the camera. Also note that both the PC-LR panning clamp and Really Right Stuff's B2-LR-II clamp
now automatically adjust for most non-Really Right Stuff dovetails that might be slightly different in size or profile. Both securely grasp my Kirk plate by a simple flip of their levers, while also maintaining compatibility with Really Right Stuff's own plates as well as the Grimes versions on my Ebonies.
In my experience, the most critical aspect of selecting a quick release for large format cameras is ensuring adequate contact area. Once you've met that minimum, which varies with camera weight and size, other factors must be dealt with.
Either of the Really Right Stuff clamps linked above provide more than sufficient clamping force for anything up to (and possibly beyond) an 8x10. I've performed extensive testing to determine the weak link in these support systems and found that, in addition to needing a sturdy and adequately rigid tripod, the head itself must be selected with care. The Linhof 3663 seen in one of my attached images is only sufficient for cameras as large as 5x7. It's incapable of avoiding vibration when asked to hold the Compact II, even though those cameras' weights are within ounces of each other. If wind excites things, the Compact II's greater moment arm exceeds the Linhof's damping ability, even on the same Series 3 Gitzo carbon fiber tripod I've outfitted with a Burzynski. Many decades ago, Art Kramer wrote a magazine article about tripods titled "Law of the Thinnest Section." My investigations confirm that its premise applies equally to heads and quick releases.
Bookmarks