Toronto Photography Meetup Group

well, Thanks guys for very useful info. Quickly searched Arca Swiss Z1 on amozon.com, it comes out 400USD without the plate, plate is actually another 60USD. I feel like I do need a solid head, but the Arca Swiss is a bit out of my budget. I think I will go for the Manfrotto 498. B&H also offers another quick plate CR4, looks slightly bigger than CR2. Any comments?

get the CR2, lighten the load, easier on your knees, enjoy life and be happy.

CR4 is made for medium format cameras

Oh the Z1 is a beast of a tripod, and not what i'm suggesting. Let's back this up for a moment.

I apologize for the confusion on what I'm about to tell you.

First off, the Arca Swiss the company (as found online): "ARCA is an acronym made from letters in the words All-Round-CAmeras. This was combined with SWISS referring to Switzerland the home country and the name ARCA-SWISS was born."

When Arca Swiss came out with a quick release (QR) plate/clamp system using a rail with a double dovetail joint, a long list of manufacturers followed suit with plates that were "Arca Swiss Compatible", and those of us who bought it just got lazy and call the system Arca Swiss even though Arca Swiss itself is not the only manufacturer. Pretty much AS is as close to an open standard for quick releases on cameras as one can find.

Manfrotto is the only company that makes the RC2 plates, and generally do so well due to market penetration, but mechanically and operationally they suck.

So:

1. Manfrotto makes good ball heads. The quick release system itself sucks. What I'm about to suggest will work with either ball head. So feel free to buy the ball head.

2. Go down to Jobu Design's factory in Mississauga (I know the hours are not convenient if you have a day job), but I mention them because they are 1. Local, 2. Inexpensive, and 3. You will pay significantly less than the MSRP listed on Jobu's website if you hit the factory. Google online for alternatives.

3. Buy a QR clamp to *REPLACE* the one on the manfrotto ball head. Bring your tripod with you so they can make sure you get the right one. My old manfrotto ball head needed a clamp with a 3/8"-16 threaded hole, I believe all the new ones use the version with the thru hole. http://www.jobu-design.com/quickreleases.html

4. Buy an Arca Swiss plate for your camera body, for example: http://www.jobu-design.com/catalog/item ... 933948.htm or look on ebay. The flange on the back of the plate will prevent the plate from rotating, and will save you a long list of future frustrations.

sounds like too much work for a simple tripod solution, millions of people, including me, have been happy enough to put the Manfrotto products to good use and get awesome photos. Are you going to the Arctic circle?

Maybe it sucks from an engineer's point of view, and maybe the profession gives a huge monetary feedback to spend on extra professional grade, but for people like me the Manfrotto still remains one of the best options without compromising usability and reliability

Quick search on ebay reveals a couple of affordable Acra Swiss compatible heads with plates. I've been using a heavy duty Benro head myself for about 5 years with no issues.

see:
Induro DM01 $95
Benro B-2 & plate $129
Benro KB-2 & plate $119