Using a tripod? Pay close attention to your tripod plate

Thursday 16 June 2022, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 6,018 views | 3 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

If you use a tripod, you know you need a tripod plate to attach your camera to it. That is also the weakest link and poses the greatest risk of an accident with your camera. I explain what you can look out for to reduce the risk of your camera falling.

I see it regularly during my workshops and masterclasses, and also during the photography trips I run for Fotografie-reizen.nl. A photographer who has not placed their camera properly on the tripod. That makes my heart stop, and I dread the moment when something goes wrong.

Tripods come in all sorts of sizes and varieties. Setting one up is one thing, but properly attaching a tripod plate to the camera is another.
There are two ways to set up a tripod. A bad way and a good way. The latter gives you stability and safety, allowing you to take the photo you want.

Whether you are using a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second or 1000 seconds. Whether you are photographing with a 10mm wide-angle lens or a 1000mm super-super telephoto lens.

A badly set up tripod is unstable, falls over easily and does not allow you to take a good photo. It is as simple as that. So be sensible and always spend an extra minute setting up the tripod properly.

But a firmly set up tripod alone is not enough. Also make sure that the tripod plate is properly attached to your camera.

A tripod plate from a Gitzo ballhead. This is an Arca-Swiss type connection, which is the standard these days, for good reason.
You often have a quick-release plate for the bottom of your camera. This may be an Arca-Swiss type, or a Manfrotto type, of which there are at least three different versions. Make sure that this quick-release plate is always very securely fastened.

This can be a challenge. Some tripod plates have a ring that you can tighten with your fingers. Other tripod plates require a coin. There are also some that require an Allen key.

You can use the ring, a coin or an Allen key to secure the tripod plate. In this case, you can use all three.
Whichever one you have, make sure it is properly and, above all, securely fastened. And most important of all, it must not rotate. If it starts rotating, your camera will become loose on the tripod, with all the risks that entails. Believe me, it happens much more often than you would expect.

This Gitzo tripod plate has a poor design. It makes anything but a good connection, allowing it to rotate under the camera far too easily. You do not want that.
A coin or an Allen key certainly helps to tighten a tripod plate properly. But be careful not to try to tighten the plate with all the strength you have, or more.

Although I have never seen it happen in real life, you could twist and break the tripod mount in the camera itself.

The problem with a rotating tripod plate is often the lack of resistance. Every tripod plate should have a piece of rubber on it. That at least gives you some friction to prevent it from rotating.

Especially when the camera is used in portrait orientation, this rotation can cause a very serious problem.

An animation of what happens far too often.
Even so, tightening it properly is not always enough. An even better solution is a tripod plate designed so that it cannot rotate. These are often plates with a raised edge.

They are usually made specifically for your camera, but not always. Arca-Swiss plates with a raised edge that cannot rotate are often available. I do not know whether they are available for Manfrotto.

This tripod plate has a better design. The edge prevents the plate from rotating once it is under the camera.

Are you buying a separate tripod plate, whatever the brand? Make sure it has a protrusion so that the plate can never rotate under your camera.
Another solution is an L-bracket. This has the added advantage that you do not have to tilt the tripod head. It may be an investment, but a camera that falls and breaks will cost more.

In my view, an L-bracket is the best solution. The custom-made versions, such as this one from Really Right Stuff, are expensive. The universal ones are much cheaper.
Despite all this, even with a non-rotating tripod plate, L-bracket or any other system, always check that your camera is properly and securely attached to the tripod. Prevention is better than cure.

One last tip. Do you have a lens with a tripod collar? Buy an extra tripod plate and attach it to the collar. That way, you will never need to remove or reposition a tripod plate again.

Has your tripod plate ever turned out to be loose? Share your story in a comment below this post.

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About the author

Nando Harmsen has been photographing for more than 40 years. He specialises in wedding photography and landscape photography. Nando also gives talks, workshops, masterclasses and photo trips, and regularly reviews new and interesting equipment.

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3 comments

guest wrote on Thursday 16 June 2022 at 23:43 | reply
Het valt me op dat bijna elk merk statiefkop zijn eigen systeem heeft om de camera op het statief te koppelen. Ik gebruik een redged statief. Een statief van nederlands fabrikaat. Ik heb zo het idee dat dit merk ter ziele is gegaan. Er werd destijds een balhoofd bijgeleverd van hetzelfde merk met natuurlijk een eigen type koppeling. Met dat balhoofd was ik om verschillende redenen niet tevreden en heb toen een nieuw balhoofd gekocht dat stukken beter is en werkt met een universele acra swiss koppeling. Na veel testen ben ik uiterst tevreden over dat nieuwe balhoofd en de acra swiss koppeling. Het was even wennen, maar dat is inmiddels ook gelukt. Als ik ga fotograferen, dan heb ik nooit haast. Ik neem de tijd voor elke foto en wanneer ik het statief gebruik, controleer ik of alle sluitingen op de poten goed vastzitten, het acra plaatje goed onder de camera of lens zit en de koppeling op het balhoofd goed vast zit. Ik neem dus de tijd en maak in ieder geval de foto 'voor het kalf verdronken is' .
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

guest wrote on Friday 17 June 2022 at 10:53 | reply
Zag deze week op Nikonrumors.com een nieuwe optie als alternatief voor de L-bracket. De ATOLL van het taiwanese bedrijf Silence Corner. Hierbij draait de camara in een ring rond de objectiefmond. Misschien een keer een onderzoek waard . Groet Hans
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

Stefanie wrote on Tuesday 21 June 2022 at 14:06 | reply
Statiefgondel met standaard arca swiss rand, geen extra plaatje nodig, nog beter. Ik heb voor het langzaam losrakende plaatje standaard een clipje met een boodschappenmuntje aan mijn fototas hangen. Het grote nadeel van de universele L-bracket vind ik dat je (afhankelijk van hoe om hij zit) of je batterij niet aan kunt of je kaartje niet anders had ik die standaard op de camera zitten ipv een statiefplaatje
This comment was written in another language and has not been translated yet.

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