I SHOOT from a tripod 95% of the time when I am out shooting landscapes. At one time, it was probably 95% for all images of any kind, but my last 10 years of travel has made me change that approach, engaging in a lot more handheld shots. But when I can, I am going to be using that tripod. So these "bracket" gadgets occupy a fair amount of my attention. In the beginning, we all screwed our camera directly onto the tripod with the socket in the camera base. Pretty inconvenient, and depending on the tripod head, difficult to change from landscape to portrait orientation.
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| Arca - Swiss style QR |
THEN, SOMETIME in the 1990s, the Arca Swiss company introduced (what I believe to be) the first "quick release" (QR) system for cameras. It was (is) disarmingly simple and secure (my father was a professional engineer and was fond of saying that the most effective design was usually the simplest - I have begun referring to these designs as "elegantly simple"). It is a dovetail arrangement consisting of a machined, dovetail "v" plate that secures to the camera base and a reverse "v" receptacle clamp. This arrangement can be firmly tightened down. There are some other QR systems, but frankly, I don't know why they bothered. The perhaps most common was the Bogen/Manfrotto system which involved a hexagon shaped plate that snapped into a spring-loaded receiver with a lever release (they later released an alternate, smaller "consumer" square plate and receiver). Bogen was kind of the "everyman" tripod for many years (especially before the carbon fiber boom) and I don't know anybody who didn't own at least one of them over the years. Gitzo tripods (now also owned by Manfrotto) - which had their own quirky QR setup - was the "gold" standard for tripods. But the Bogen models were the workhorse and much less costly. The QR system on them, however, was their achilles heel, in my opinion (though they doggedly continue to use that system for most of their tripods). Because I owned several Bogen tripods and heads, I felt "stuck" with their system. It was heavy, bulky, and I never really trusted it to securely hold. I probably could have used the Bogen legs only and attached an Arca Swiss style head. I never did, and when the opportunity presented itself, I moved to a carbon fiber tripod and the Arca Swiss system. For a very brief period, I owned the Bogen L-bracket pictured below, and, while it served the intended purpose, it was - anything - worse than their standard gear. It was large, heavy, clunky and certainly didn't engender thoughs of secure clamping any more than the original stuff did.
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| Bogen QR Systems |
AT THE same time, tripod heads were undergoing an evolution and today, the former 3-way adjustable head has been mostly replaced with the ball head. One of the problems with the ball head for landscape photographers was the versatilityy of the ballhead that was so championed, was also the downfall of something a lot of us landscape shooters value: precision. It was difficult, if not impossible, to change the orientation from landscape to portrait on a ballhead.
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| Arca - Swiss style L-bracket |
THE L-BRACKET, which became popular in the 2000s, solved that problem. It fit my definition of an elegantly simple solution. The solution was only partial and and short-lived, however. As camera bodies became more complex, the "traditional" L-bracket began to interfere with the movable rear LCD panels that have become popular. Not to mention the numerous electronics and memory card ports that now adorn modern bodies. While L-bracket makers have partially addressed this problem, they have not been entirely successful. Seems like there has to be a better solution. There are some contenders out there, to compete with the L-Bracket. I think my own newest discovery - the "i-bracket" may be the best one. It certainly fits the "elegantly simple" description.
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| Bogen L-bracket |
THE OTHER approach that has rapidly become a thing - at least on the online accessory market - is the camera-mounted, rotating tripod collar. To the best of my knowledge, the first of these was introduced by a company named Atoll a few years back. I reviewed it (and for the life of me, cannot find the blog where I did that) and concluded that it was a nice idea not yet ready for prime time. They were originally designed and released for a limited number of camera models (Sony, Canon and Nikon). I personally didn't think the model I tested felt very durable or sturdy. Following up on them, several competitors have released their own copies, including Neewer, Ulanzi, Smallrig, iShoot and Nisi. Each has its pros and cons (not the least of which is incompatibility with certain popular lenses). And now, more recently, Atoll has released its newest model, the AtollX, which purportedly is more of a universal design and is said to fit most camera/lens combinations. For articulating LCD screen lovers (I am one), these all appear to rotate the wrong way, rendering the screen pretty much useless. 😒
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| New Atoll "X" collar |
NOW, THERE is another variation, the 90 - degree 1/2 lens collar, which looks like about a 1/2 cutaway of the circular collar and essentially performs the same function (moving from landscape to portrait orientation). I like the idea with these collar arrangements because once mounted, there is no need to remove the camera and re-orient it (much like the lens collars on many telephoto lenses). This makes the transition back and forth smooth and seamless. I am just still concerned about the shortcomings and the potential lack of sturdiness of the arrangement. Time will tell.
FOR THOSE who may have tried one or more of these devices, I would love to hear your feedback on them in the comments section below. And now, having beat brackets to death, I think you will agree: it is time to move on to a different topic. 😏
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