Camera Plates for Small Cameras

2013-04-19 • SEND FEEDBACK •
Related: gear, L-bracket, lens mount, Really Right Stuff, tripods and support

Really Right Stuff
B6 Small Bi-directional Plate

On the Leica M Typ 240, I’ve been using the Really Right Stuff B6 Small Bi-directional Plate for tripod mounting the camera (with a Really Right Stuff B2-Pro II clamp with Metric 6 screw on my Arca Swiss Cube). It’s small and light and inexpensive.

The best part? The flange fits solidly against the side of the camera’s bottom plate, so it goes on squarely and stays that way, every time. A very nice solid mounting solution.

Small camera plates

Camera plates allow instant mounting of the camera in any compatible quick-release clamp on a tripod head, such as any of the Really Right Stuff tripod heads, or my workhorse Arca Swiss Cube with Really Right Stuff B2 Pro II clamp.

Really Right Stuff
B9 Bidirectional plate

Here are camera plates that I have found useful on a variety of small cameras:

• The Really Right Stuff B9 plate is useful on many cameras (not just Olympus PEN), and it has no cork to 'squirm' when tightened down. Its anti-squirm flange can be engaged or ignored.
• The Really Right Stuff BPnS: Small Bi-directional plate is small and square and has a durable cork backing (I’ve used it on a variety of cameras of all sizes).
• The Really Right Stuff 'BPnS-S: Narrow Plate for Slim Cameras (below) is the smallest plate offered by RRS, and is suitable for very narrow cameras like the Sony RX100.
• See also full L-bracket with grip for the Sigma DP Merrill and also the L-bracket with grip for the Olympus OM-D E-M5.

BPnS-S: Narrow Plate for Slim Cameras like the Sony RX100

The Sony RX100 cannot accept any camera plate without blocking the card/battery access door; the hinge is only 1-2mm from the socket screw threads, an incredibly bad design but there it is.

The Really Right Stuff 'BPnS-S: Narrow Plate for Slim Cameras fits well on the Sony RX100, but to avoid the anti-twist flange being blocked by the lens bulge, put the screw on one side, which shifts the plate over the battery/card door—doesn’t matter because there is no way to mount the plate without blocking it anyway.

Really Right Stuff BPnS-S: Narrow Plate for Slim Cameras

Cork-backed plates

Really Right Stuff
BPns Small Bi-directional plate cork bed

Cork-backed plates havve occassional uses for awkward camera sizes and bottoms, but in general cork is a poor choice: it compresses as the screw is tightened and also rotates and squirms, leading to cockeyed mounting.

Some brands also disintegrate with use: I recently tried one brand and it failed the very first shoot, the camera started slide-rotating an the cork began distintegrate.

However, the Really Right Stuff cork-backed BPnS has performed well for me for several years, showing no sign of cork loss.