Quick release base compatibility

Fredsie

Fredsie

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Fred
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Hi all

Being new to the mixing and matching of kit, I seem to have made a newbie error. I bought a monopod for use with my DSLR. It has a 1/4 inch (male) screw on th top which screws into the hole in the base of my camera.

But as you'll all be aware, this is not terribly convenient! Mounting and unmounting is a pain. So I looked online and came across something called a Giottos MH652 quick release plate. Sounded ideal.

But when it arrived I discovered that it didn't have the 1/4 female hole in the base I was expecting. Instead, it has a male screw in the base, so clearly I can't connect it. Worse, it's a 3/8 inch screw.

Polite suggestions as to the way out of this are welcomed! :D

Fred
 
Each manufacturer has their own proprietary base plate. Some manufactures have two different proprietary base plates.

However is there any reason you're unmounting and remounting the base plate repeatedly? I leave mine on my cameras pretty much all the time, there's no need to remove it.
 
CharlotteM said:
Each manufacturer has their own proprietary base plate. Some manufactures have two different proprietary base plates.
Click to expand...

The closest thing to an industry standard is the Arca Swiss system, which has been adopted by a number of manufacturers for at least some of their products.

Keep an Arca-Swiss plate or L bracket on your camera bodies and lenses (where they have a tripod foot) and you can then mount them on a compatible tripod or monopod head.
 
Arca Swiss is the way for all round flexibility - HOWEVER - if all you want is to be able to attach and remove your camera quickly then you've bought the right thing.
What you're missing is a 1/4" to 3/8" adapter that allows you to fit the MH652 base onto the monopod. Just google for "1/4 to 3/8" tripod adapter" and you'll see what it is. There might have been one in the box with the adapter that you've overlooked - it's only small - but you can pick them up for less than £2 if not.
 
Oh wait, I misunderstood! I thought you meant you already had a quick release plate and you'd bought a different one for some reason.

Yes, you can pick up adaptors to change the size of the screw threads! They're very cheap too.
 
Thanks all! I didn't realise there was so little uniformity or standards in these things.

But just to be clear about the adaptor: the 3/8 screw on the baseplate is male. The 1/4 screw on the monopod is male. So an adaptor would need to be (on the "top") 3/8 female, and on the bottom, 1/4 female. Is there such a thing?

Sorry if I'm being slow with this.
 
OK, stand down, guys! A closer inspection of the baseplate has revealed that I can remove the 3/8 screw, just leaving a 3/8 hole. So converting the 1/4 in male thread on the tripod to a 3/8 male lets me screw the tripod directly into the baseplate. As Homer would say, "Doh!"
 
Right closer inspection shows that based on the male thread on the plate then this is expected to fit onto an existing tripod head (some of the Giottos ones have them preinstalled) and not directly onto the tripod/monopod base. So not what you were after........
Get in touch with where you got it from and see if you can return it for credit against a ball head setup - and that way you would also be able to move the camera independently of the monopod for portrait orientation shots.
 
From what you are saying, on top of your monopod you have a flat disc with a screw thread protruding. You have bought a Q R Plate but you haven't bought the head for the plate to attach to. The head will screw onto the protruding screw on the monopod, the plate will screw onto the base of your camera and the plate will sit onto the head. I hope this helps
 
Just seen the reply - glad you got it sorted and I'll take off the "that doesn't sound right" hat I had on with the last post I made - usually barring the 1/4 to 3/8 issue tripod tops and bottoms are reasonably interchangeable once you move to reasonable stuff.
 
Fred, starting at the bottom, a support system might be tripod legs, head, QR plate, camera. Some tripods are supplied with fixed heads, others have removable ones (or may even be supplied without a head. The tripod legs are the basic support, the head allows the angle of dangle (aim!) of the camera to be adjusted (many different types and makes) and the QR system allows quick mounting/demounting of the camera. The QR system comprises of 2 parts, the base plate (which may be built into the head) and the QR plate (which screws into the bottom of the camera). Personally, all my supports are fitted with the Manfrotto RC2 system of QR heads and plates, with each camera (and lens, if fitted with a tripod foot) having a QR plate almost permanently fitted, so any of the cameras will fit on any of the supports. One of the heads came with a different QR fitting so I fitted an adaptor plate so that now matches.

As to your question about a 3/8 female to 1/4 female thingy, I think Manfrotto supply such things but it's an easy enough thing to get made up if there's an engineer in the family. TBH, I'm afraid you may have bought the wrong thing - from images I've found, the adaptor you've got is designed to be screwed down onto a Giottos head rather than to convert a screw in monopod to a QR one. I use a Manfrotto 234RC2 head atop my monopod which allows quick rotation from portrait to landscape orientation and screws straight onto the top of a monopod.
http://www.devoncamera.co.uk/index.cfm/product/manfrotto-234rc2-monopod-head--898
As you can see in the link, it comes complete with a QR plate for the bottom of the camera. Extra plates are available (and most decent camera shops that stock the head will stock [or be able to get hold of] them), part number is PL200. Pretty sure that the other manufacturers offer similar heads - maybe the fat bloke in red could arrange delivery in a couple of weeks (if you can wait that long!)
 
Be aware Arca Swiss is a type not a standard, Clamp's and plate's do vary in size so one arca type plate may not fit in another arca type clamp .
Rob.
 
Wow - so much information!

Yes, in retrospect I think I did buy the wrong thing. I'll try to lay of some of the blame for that on the online descriptions of stuff like this. Nowhere can I see that the plate I bought is configured as it is at the base. Guess you just have to know! :rolleyes:

I think this simple adapter will work OK for my purposes, now I know I can screw a 3/8 pin into the base place.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000JLK5NW/ref=ox_ya_os_product

By the way, talking of poor descriptions, if you look at that Amazon page you'll see that this adapter has "Large 127mm individually braked wheels with cable guards, and folds for transporting". I kid you not.

Thanks again.

Fred
 
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GyRob said:
Be aware Arca Swiss is a type not a standard, Clamp's and plate's do vary in size so one arca type plate may not fit in another arca type clamp .
Rob.
Click to expand...

Not really true. Arca Swiss is as close to a standard as it's reasonably possible to get. I have about a dozen AS plates from at least six different manufacturers, some of them anonymous cheapies off ebay, and they all fit perfectly in four different brands of AS-type clamp.

The only danger of mixing plates is when using a lever-lock AS clamp, that must be pre-set to exactly the right size, or the lever may not lock securely, or even lock at all (just a few thou difference can be a problem). That's one very good reason to avoid lever-lock AS clamps, but I dislike them anyway, much prefer screw-lock.
 
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