Quick release plate is slipping

Martyn

Hi,

I have a new tripod which I am very happy with, except, when the camera is in portrait position with a 70-200 lens the quick release plate is slipping where it is fastened to the camera. I have tightened it up as much as I dare but it still moves.

Are there any tips to make a better connection?

Toshido

Without knowing the actual tripod it is kinda hard to be specific, besides I don't know enough to be specific either

One thing that stood out though. Quick release plate on the camera with a 70-200 on it...

Try putting the QR plate on the lens tripod foot. That is what it is there for. Will balance better and might not twist on you.

time2smile

I think the weight just might be to much..
And you do mean that the U slot in the plate moves.
You should put it on the lens, as noted before, you also stand a Chance of breaking the lens mount in the camera if the lens is to heavy.

Makeroftoys

Martyn wrote:

Hi,

I have a new tripod which I am very happy with, except, when the camera is in portrait position with a 70-200 lens the quick release plate is slipping where it is fastened to the camera. I have tightened it up as much as I dare but it still moves.

Are there any tips to make a better connection?

aside from the load/torque questions involved with having that big lens supported behing the center of gravity:

is the friction/cushion surface on the quick-release in good shape? if that gets worn/torn/greasy/missing you'll have un-intended motion troubles, even with much smaller lenses.

gowiththeflow

As mentioned, you should probably put the mount on the lens foot, and rotate with the ring on the lens. I assume you mean when you flop the camera over in the portrait notch, the camera + lens is causing the plate to rotate on the camera base?

If you use the lens foot as it's intended, not only will you not have that issue, and not risk breaking the lens and camera body, you can go from landscape to portrait much easier.

borrowlenses.com

standard quick release plates will always slip with a decent size lens. It is inevitable. The problem can be mitigated by moving to an arca swiss system with a custom bracket for your camera that literally wraps around the body, making any flex impossible. This is expensive of course but it's what the pros use and it makes working on a tripod a lot easier!

ziggy53

borrowlenses.com wrote:

standard quick release plates will always slip with a decent size lens. It is inevitable. The problem can be mitigated by moving to an arca swiss system with a custom bracket for your camera that literally wraps around the body, making any flex impossible. This is expensive of course but it's what the pros use and it makes working on a tripod a lot easier!

The Manfrotto Elbow Bracket (#3288) also has an anti-rotate feature that allows adjustment for different camera sizes, eliminating the need for custom plates. (Of course it also needs to be used in the appropriate Bogen/Manfrotto system.)

Unless the lens in question is the Canon EF 70-200mm, f4L USM (or the IS version), which does not come with a tripod ring, I agree with using a tripod ring mount as it makes the switch from landscape to portrait much easier as well.

In the case of the Canon 70-200mm, f4L it's well worth the purchase of the tripod ring IMO.

Scott_Quier

Tripod rings, when they are available, is such a smart choice:

• Moves the camera/lens mounting point much closer to the CG, thus greatly reducing the length of the lever arm (and torque) induced at the mounting point.
• Takes the weight of the lens of the camera lens mount - less stress is almost always better, especially if one is attempting to establish/maintain a light-path alignment.
• Rotating the camera/lens from portrait to landscape (or back) orientation is so much easier - loosen the tripod ring clamp thumb knob, rotation the camara in place, re-tighten the thumb knob. No muss, no fuss.
• The tripod ring allows one to rotate the camera/lens combination without greatly changing the image composition.

I have the 70-200 f/2.8L IS and, of course, the lens came with the tripod ring. When (if) I ever get an f/4 version of this lens, I will pony up the $$ for the ring.

For smaller lenses, something like the RRS L-Plate makes life soooo much easier.

Martyn

Thanks everybody for the help and tips.

The lens is the Canon EF 70-200mm, f4L USM IS which was on an extention tube and I kinda figured the weight was too much. It looks like I need the tripod ring. I can get a locally made one "Designed for Canon" for about US$30 so I will give that a try. Can't really afford the official US$150 one - not after spending so much on the tripod.

Why don't still cameras have the little hole next to the tripod mount to accommodate the little spring loaded peg, the same as video cameras. This may have stopped the plate slipping.


Its a Gitzo GT1531 with a GH1780QR head by the way. Not rated for big heavy cameras but I wanted to keep the weight down. I wanted a tripod that would actually leave the house.

DeeCajun

I just bought a new tripod and my camera kept slipping when I shot the moon last night....

I didn't expect to have to buy a ring to hold my camera in place.. :cry

Zerodog

You don't need a ring for all lenses. Just the big suckers like a 70-200 2.8. But you will find almost any lens can make your plate slip in some positions. I am not sure why cameras are made this way. It is a really lame thing from the past. It is too bad they don't have a hole for the pin that comes in many QR plates and tripods.

I bought a gitzo tripod and ball head hoping this would cure my twisting problems and found it was the same as before if not worse. The problem is regular QR plates. They only attach to the camera on one screw. That screw just becomes the pivot point for the camera to spin around.

The solution is a real camera plate made for your camera. Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Arca Swiss and probably a few others make them. They are machined to cradle the bottom of you camera and can not spin. The downside is, you need to be using Arca swiss compatible components. This isn't really a problem if you start off on this path to begin with. They are even very low profile. I leave mine on my camera all the time.

This is a Kirk plate for a Nikon D300

DeeCajun

Zerodog wrote:

You don't need a ring for all lenses. Just the big suckers like a 70-200 2.8. But you will find almost any lens can make your plate slip in some positions. I am not sure why cameras are made this way. It is a really lame thing from the past. It is too bad they don't have a hole for the pin that comes in many QR plates and tripods.

I bought a gitzo tripod and ball head hoping this would cure my twisting problems and found it was the same as before if not worse. The problem is regular QR plates. They only attach to the camera on one screw. That screw just becomes the pivot point for the camera to spin around.

The solution is a real camera plate made for your camera. Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Arca Swiss and probably a few others make them. They are machined to cradle the bottom of you camera and can not spin. The downside is, you need to be using Arca swiss compatible components. This isn't really a problem if you start off on this path to begin with. They are even very low profile. I leave mine on my camera all the time.

This is a Kirk plate for a Nikon D300

Thank you for this info.. I would love to find this for my Canon

cab.in.boston

DeeCajun wrote:

Thank you for this info.. I would love to find this for my Canon

Just go to Kirk Photo or Really Right Stuff. Both have pretty good websites and you should be able to easily navigate to the correct parts, as well as read up on various tutorials (at least on the RRS site). Both vendors are well-regarded. Kirk sells through other vendors such as B&H, but as far as I know, one can only buy RRS equipment directly from them. I could be wrong.

Dan7312

Or you can just call Kirk or RRS and a real, knowledgable, person will give you all the info you need. Both are really good places to deal with.

cab.in.boston wrote:

Just go to Kirk Photo or Really Right Stuff. Both have pretty good websites and you should be able to easily navigate to the correct parts, as well as read up on various tutorials (at least on the RRS site). Both vendors are well-regarded. Kirk sells through other vendors such as B&H, but as far as I know, one can only buy RRS equipment directly from them. I could be wrong.