Mounting camera in portrait position on a tripod

[Cage]

@ Arthur......The comment about anti twist plates is actually incorrect. A properly designed plate doesn't need these anti twist plate designs, and I've personally ground flat two of my (expensive!) plates so designed, so that they now fit on any camera I own. They don't twist on any of the cameras I own, even the lil cheapy P&S my daughter owns.

Without getting into a bun fight Artie, I have to disagree. If you use a 'L' mount plate for portrait mode you don't have a problem, but if you have your gear mounted normally on a ball head, and you flip it to portrait orientation, you are asking an awful lot from a single 4mm or 5mm fixing point. Even a DX camera plus kit lens is nudging 1kg.

And of course your daughters little P&S won't twist. It only weighs a tad more than a feather.

[arthurking83]

No bun fighting is OK by me .. but I can only describe it as I see it(with my gear).

None of my plates are of the tailored fit type, either by purchase, or by my own making.

My two plates that were of a snug fit, dedicated camera type have been ground down to flat types to fit any camera model.

With that, try as I might, I can't force the camera to twist on any of the plates I have.
By force I mean, either twisting the plate so that it sits crooked on the camera .. or having the camera mounted to a sturdy tripod, tripod secured and stable, and trying to force the camera whilst it's secured to the tripod.

of course I have both types of brackets, L-plate and flat types.

The cameras include D800, D300 and D70s.

In fact the most difficult part of mounting the plates(any plate type) onto the camera is in keeping the plate true to the camera as the final amount of force is set on the plate's screw.

My heaviest lenses without tripod mounts are Nikon 105VR, Tammy 24-70VR and Sigma 12-24mm.
I've never seen any rotational/twist issues with any of these lenses mounted to D800(heaviest camera I have) neither with the flat plate, L-plate, nor mounted to the battery grip with L-plate.
(I've never mounted the flat plates to the battery grip to see if this causes any issue).

Note tho that I can get some twisting slippage with any of the brackets when attached to the battery grip, but it's not much.
The best bracket for this purpose tho has turned out to be the Hejnar L-bracket which proves to have the best grip of the brackets I do have(and they include Hejnar's own flat brackets too).

FWIW: sometimes I get lazy(surprised to hear? ) and can't be bothered to remove the flat bracket I may have mounted on the D800 and fit the L-bracket I have sitting in the bag.
So mounting the D800 with flat bracket in a dropped portrait orientation on a ballhead, is something I used to do both regularly and still occasionally do too.

ps. in an unforced situation, it's obvious that the little P&S wont twist of its own accord, but my definition of 'twist' in this situation, is a forced twist action applied by me to see if it's secure before I set it up to shoot in this way.

Of course everyone has a different set of rules that they live by, and some folks are a bit worried about tightening screws too tight(for whatever reasons). I tend to tighten right up to what either feels like an absolute upper limit, or as far as my sometimes arthritic joints can provide.

D800 and D300 are both magnesium in their material, so the 4-5mm mount point forces aren't too much of a worry.
Even the poor lil D70s which is just plastic still feels more than solid enough to handle itself and a heavy lens without any trouble.. and having said that, I've never mounted either of my two L-brackets to it, so portrait orientation has only ever been with a flat plate.

[oneeyedphoto]

I'm in agreement with others that you cannot beat quality accessories for any expensive camera, particularly when it comes to plates and tripods. I stuck with RRS on that basis. Hideously expensive, but you can get some good ones used on ebay.

I like to buy well & buy once!

[Cage]

As Arthur has alluded to, you can only go by your own experiences.

When I got serious about my photography, well serious for me, being an OAP and keen on saving a buck, I looked at the cheaper end of the market. I started with a tripod which was a Chinese 'frotto knock-off, specs to die for, but as far as the head, plates and clamps were concerned, the tolerances were, in a word, intolerable.

The tripod however, was built like a brick outhouse, and weighs about the same. I will keep it forever as my macro mount.

I decided to invest in a 'frotto head with clamp and plates. To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. I had already learnt that a stable platform was crucial to sharp shots, and the Manfrotto heads, clamps and plates, at least IMHO, just did not measure up, tolerance wise.

I started researching tripods and ball heads (see my post in the library) and conversely finished up with a Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod and a Markins ball-head. The Markins heads are extremely well engineered as are their plates and clamps. About three or four years down the track I have had no reason to regret my decision.

As far as personal experience goes, I have had my gear twist on a cheap mounting plate when in portrait mode on my ball-head. I've upgraded to a Markins non-twist plate and it doesn't happen any more.

If I sound like I'm a Markins troll, I can assure you I'm not. I just found out it suits my requirements, and whilst not the cheapest, it is not the most expensive either.

In answer to the OP's original question, I would suggest an 'L' bracket specifically designed for your camera, or if you have no budget constraints, go to the RRS website, they have heaps of the 'Really Right Stuff' for all sorts of applications.

Cheers

Kevin

PS: I would help heaps with giving advice if you could nominate what sort of camera and tripod you have.

[AllanKidd]

"Allan, if you have any way to measure the thread length of the screw with it fitted to the plate(so that the measurement is taken from the plate to the tip of the thread, I can try to help with info on whether it's too long for that application"

The thread extends 6.3mm from the plate to the tip of the thread.


"PS: I would help heaps with giving advice if you could nominate what sort of camera and tripod you have."

Tripod is a Velbon CX 586. The camera is a Nikon D90 and I am using a Tamron SP 60mm F/2 Macro lens.

Allan