Quick releases for LF cameras

[Ian Gordon Bilson]

If you can find one - The Mamiya Quick Release ( for the C series TLR's) . Two plus inches square,clamping lever for secure locking,removable anti-twist pins, copes with anything up to a 4x5 Horseman. Built like the proverbial brick outhouse.

[Whir-Click]

The sliding tripod block for the Kodak 2D may be one of the most aesthetically appealing large format accessories, but I found that it didn't provide enough fore-and-aft stability for my camera in the field, especially at longer focal lengths. After many trials of various quick release plate and clamp pairings, I've settled on a combination that delivers a gratifying combination of rigidity and convenience.

I use a Sunwayfoto DP-813 quick release plate, which measures 80x130mm (http://www.adorama.com/sundp813.html). I've applied a few strips of gaffer's tape to give the smooth surfaces of the plate a little bite into the camera's cherry base and avoid rotation with the camera's single tripod mount. I use this with the Sunwayfoto DLC 60mm clamp, and I can adjust the tension precisely to my liking. (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...l/prm/alsVwDtl)

This combination has been extremely effective at a reasonable price, and I'm pleasantly surprised at the degree of rigidity I've wrung out of my camera's 80 year old frame. The sliding tripod block had been a pleasure to use but a weak link between the tripod leveling base and the camera.

[axs810]

I posted this on another thread earlier this year, but thought it might be pertinent to this current topic at-hand:

What's the difference between the different adapter plates that they sell?

[pepeguitarra]

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:

http://www.kirkphoto.com/3_3_8in_Squ...era_Plate.html

On my larger tripod, which carries a Burzynski ball head, I've added this Really Right Stuff panning clamp:

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/Shop...ing-clamp.html

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

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/Shop...ase-clamp.html

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.

This seems to be the best solution I have seen.

[Kirk Gittings]

I'm just trying to grasp the idea of seeing the words quick and LF Cameras being used in the same sentence

To me it's important enough to organize my gear for speed and practice setting it up quickly. We have a saying here in NM "Don't like the weather? Wait 15 minutes." So maybe it's the rapidly changing weather here in NM, but I seem very frequently to be chasing scenes with very rapidly changing light/clouds etc. So on landscapes from near the car, I aim to be tripping the shutter in 3 minutes.

[johnj88]

This seems to be the best solution I have seen.

I’m a bit confused. I just ordered my master technika. And have a RRS tripod with a bh55 ball head that has a quick release clamp.

I know they used to make a specific master technika plate but I can’t find it online.

I’ve seen some old threads of people buying a B22 plate from RRS. Is that all I’ll need for my MT?

Really Right Stuff's B2-LR-II is the clamp itself, how does it attach to the MT? Can I just attach my Mt to a specific plate then to my bh55 ball head?