I am considering adding a smaller 6x9 front standard to my ARCA-SWISS F-Line Classic camera. This is a smaller front standard that will allow me to directly use ARCA's smaller 110mm x 110mm lensboards.

I have two options: the standard F-Line 6x9 front format frame, or the F-Metric 6x9 front format frame. The F-Metric adds geared, self-locking front rise (vs. the standard non-geared rise on the F-Line Classic). In the past, I generally valued lighter weight over ease of use, but as I've gotten older I tend to put more emphasis on convenience even if it costs an ounce or two here or there. In other words, that self-locking geared front rise looks rather appealing to me.

So, here's my question. How does the rigidity of the self-locking F-Metric front standards compare to the conventional F-Line standards with locking knobs on both sides? One of the things I like about my ARCA-SWISS is the rock-solid rigidity in a camera that is still portable. Intuitively, it seems like the self-locking mechanism couldn't be as rigid as one with dual locking knobs, but I have always been impressed with the engineering abilities of the folks at ARCA-SWISS. If anyone could figure out a way to make a lightweight, self-locking geared rise that doesn't sacrifice rigidity, I'm confident it would be the folks at ARCA-SWISS. So, anybody out there who has used both F-Line Classic and F-Line Metric care to comment on the relative ease of use and rigidity of the two? All comments welcome.

Thanks, Kerry