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Thread: Quick releases for LF cameras

  1. #21

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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    Quote Originally Posted by John Kasaian View Post
    I'm just trying to grasp the idea of seeing the words quick and LF Cameras being used in the same sentence
    John, you've just made my day.

  2. #22
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    https://youtu.be/u-jXeJtw_24

    If your camera has space for two camera screws, then that's even better.

    Easy, strong, cheap, light, bulk-free.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  3. #23
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    Excellent, and it looks very sturdy.

  4. #24

    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    I have extensive experience with Really Right Stuff's QR plates and BH55 ball head. I've used them for many formats since the company wasn't well known. I use QR plates on my LF equipment because I do shoot multiple formats and I need to interchange support gear.

    The rest of my comments here will be about the use of RRS's QR plates and LF cameras. The attached photos are of my Sinar P (newer style rail clamp though) with their B25 plate and the BH55 ball head. I should note that I use their screw head clamp not their lever release as I trust it more--even with small format gear. It's my habit to put the camera attached to a tripod on the backseat floor of the truck and drive as far as I can on single track four-wheel drive only "roads" until conditions force me to park the truck. I then get out, hoist the camera and attached tripod on my shoulder and hike for miles into the backcountry. I've never had any issues with anything loosening or being wobbly. Even when I was much younger and parked at the end of real roads and hiked the rest of the way--the tripod legs are padded with bicycle handlebar tape another concession to old age.

    Your concerns about something coming loose are understandable but in my experience with appropriate caution even heavy studio gear can be held safely under adverse conditions.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  5. #25
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    I used the old Bogen hex system for years, and for my Cambo SC, the type with the large flush-head brass 3/8" screw, tightened down with a big screwdriver onto the tripod adapter, worked acceptably.

    But now that I'm using a Sinar rail camera, the Sinar tilt head and tripod adapter has spoiled me against other systems. I leave the tripod adapter on the tripod, and just slip the rail into the adapter.

    For other cameras, I have switched to Arca plates, mostly because of the nifty L-brackets for my small cameras. For my Pentax 67, I use an Arca ball head, but I dislike ball heads utterly for large-format because they are too hard to precisely level. I buy the plates from anyone--Arca, RRS, Kirk, and so on. I even have a few no-name generics bought on ebay for long lenses or macro setups.

    For 4x5 other than the rail camera (example: Speed Graphic), I use the big Arca plate that also uses a big screw. And these are easy to drill for a second screw or alignment pin.

    Rick "who still has several Bogen 3047 heads now surplus" Denney

  6. #26

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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    I'm using the Bogen hex, also. For my 8x10 the large square plate works well, though I'm not sure there's really an advantage over the simple hex. At this point I'm pretty invested--three tripods, a mess of plates, but I don't have any reason to change. More important to me than the QR, shooting almost completely in the studio with strobes, is having a tripod with a center column and a good crank on the center column.
    Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
    Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
    Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
    You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear

  7. #27
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    Thanks, Ari. It works well. I normally use 3/8ths screws if I can. The mounting plate for my D2 has two mounting holes spaced a couple of inches apart. That's ideal.

    I use, and really like, Arca-style plates for many of my smaller cameras.

    Quote Originally Posted by mdarnton View Post
    <snip> More important to me than the QR, shooting almost completely in the studio with strobes, is having a tripod with a center column and a good crank on the center column.
    That's very true. I had my Sinar P2 at a fairly long extension a couple of weeks ago. Raising it up with a tripod with a manual center column was not fun. I'm going to make a board that sits on the table of my bi-post Century stand. It'll have slots for 2 Sinar rail clamps, and I'll use a quick clamp at the front and back of the board to keep it from moving on the table. This will allow me to roll the camera into position easily, use the big wheel on the stand to raise and lower the camera, and the table tilt mechanism for, well, tilt.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  8. #28
    William Whitaker's Avatar
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    Quote Originally Posted by Oren Grad View Post
    Seems that the most secure connection for a large flatbed camera ought to be a plate that screws into two sockets.
    The mounting plate I made for my 12x20 uses side rails to "contain" the camera bed and prevent twisting, obviating the need for two camera screws and any associated "surgery".

    In 2010 I wrote the following in response to a similar post:

    http://www.largeformatphotography.in...l=1#post667376

    I'm still using that system and it still works now as it did then. It manages to dispense with some of the more time consuming aspects of setting up the camera. So, while not a "quick release" in the normal sense, it is a "quicker release" than the stock system.Click image for larger version. 

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  9. #29
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    Quote Originally Posted by Will Whitaker View Post
    The mounting plate I made for my 12x20 uses side rails to "contain" the camera bed and prevent twisting, obviating the need for two camera screws and any associated "surgery".

    In 2010 I wrote the following in response to a similar post:

    http://www.largeformatphotography.in...l=1#post667376

    I'm still using that system and it still works now as it did then. It manages to dispense with some of the more time consuming aspects of setting up the camera. So, while not a "quick release" in the normal sense, it is a "quicker release" than the stock system.Click image for larger version. 

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    Click image for larger version. 

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    Sounds great Will. Would you consider reposting here the images from the linked post as those images are lost.

    Just an example of how we all should upload our images directly into posts using the forum guidelines.

    As I research this site I really am disappointed when I encounter broken or lost image links.

    Tin Can

  10. #30
    William Whitaker's Avatar
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    Re: Quick releases for LF cameras

    Randy, I already did that with my last post. I let my web site go last month because I don't need the continued expense. But if I still had it, I would continue to link my images in that manner because it gives me more control over the images and allows me to update them, if necessary. So, the images are not lost. They're re-posted using the forum system!

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