I am have used the Manfrotto quick release clamps and plates for the past couple of years, but am considering moving to an Acra Swiss type of system. It seems that "AS" type systems are the choice of many professionals and very serious amatuers. I now think that I took the cheap way out a few years ago, but as I am progressing/evolving, I think I need to make the change.
Any advice or experience is welcome.
Dan.
I bought a Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 DP w/Quick Set about six months ago. I have a Wimberley Head WH-200 Version II that I have been using with my supertele's for almost two years now. Wimberley uses the Arca-Swiss style so I decided to go all Arca-Swiss so all my stuff is uniform and I don't have to switch plates around. I bought Acra-Swiss adapter for the monopod and one head that is not compatible so I can still use the one head I have that is not Arca-Swiss compatible.Originally Posted by DanoPhoto
All of my plates are Wimberley, I have one on each camera body. A plate on my 70-200mm L and the supertelephoto lenses. I use a bracket system made by Wimberley to get the flash off camera. It attaches to the Arca-Swiss style Wimberley plate.
To sum it up, everything I have that is Arca-Swiss or Wimbereley is as solid as a rock. I couldn't speak to any other brands that are Acra-Swiss compatible.
If you go with the Arca-Swiss brand, be prepared to lay out more cash than you will with many systems. It is not a cheap brand. I don't think you would be disappointed with the brands performance at all.
@HDNighthawk - thanks for the AS & Wimberly endorsements. They look to be the top of the line. Would rater spend more now, than have regrets later.
Just a small question to tack onto this thread (as I'm about to invest in a "real" tripod system fairly soon, and want to do it properly from scratch):
Are there any heads/plates in the manfrotto system that are Arca-Swiss compatible?
An awful lot of electrons were terribly inconvenienced in the making of this post.
Gear Photos
It depends on what you mean by "compatible". There are several levels:
1. Cannot be mated at all.
2. Can be mated with adapters, but will be janky, wonky, and/or funky (e.g. single-bolt adapters twisting with heavy gear).
3. Can be mated with adapters, and is solid as a rock (e.g. two-bolt adapters).
4. Can be mated without adapters.
I know Manfrotto has items in the 2 and 3 category, but I don't know if there are any 1 or 4.
I recently made a similar move, myself. I have a Manfrotto 468MGRC2 head, and I simply changed out the RC2 clamp for a Wimberley C-12 clamp, put a Wimberley P-5 plate on the camera body, and Wimberley P-20 plates on the tripod feet of my lenses. For the 234RC monopod tilt head, the clamp is built-in, so I got a 234 instead, and put another C-12 on that.
Only a few Manfrotto heads have a clamp which can be removed, they are listed on the Wimberley C-12 compatibility page.
I had the additional complication of wanting a system which would be easily quick-release with a BlackRapid strap, as I had been using the FastenR-T1 lugs with my RC2 plates. If you are in that situation, let me know.
I was thinking along the lines of getting a RRS Arca-swiss L-bracket, and getting a head to match, I was wondering if it would just clip into something like the 357/501/504 slidy-plates. (I like the idea of the slidy plates because it's less to shell out on a real macro-rail or for panoramae-positioning, even if it's not as easy to use).
Do arca-swiss plates slide, or are they just clipped in and held fast in all directions?
An awful lot of electrons were terribly inconvenienced in the making of this post.
Gear Photos
I will give you credit Dr, you come up with some very good ideas. I usually don't shoot macro with a rail, but I think your idea will work. The Wimberley P50 would be ideal. The P40 on my 500mm has two screws in the end that act as a keep to stop it from running out of the head. What Wimberley had in mind is that you can set your supertelephoto lens in your Wimberley head, move it back and forth and balance it perfectly.
It would do what you are asking; I think if you tried this using an Arca Swiss Compatible head, I would go with the screw type head rather than the quick release head. It would give you more control. The only thing I see that might be a problem is the spacing and mounting of the longer plate, as it either needs to mount foward or would need to pass under your camera.
If I'm following the logic, it's a process I use and it works fine. In my case, I found a 6" Wimberly plate used. I put the rubberized anti skip material on it to prevent twisting. As a mini-macro rail I screw it perpendicular to the wimberly camera plate and for pano support I mount it parallel to the camera plate. It's also useful for when I use Wimberly's flash bracket system. My ballheads are Arca-Swiss and Markins both compatible with Wimberly.
Mine slides. Has little marks on the head you can set to or just put it on dead center.
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