A Universal Camera L-Bracket
When I first bought my Leica R9 and DMR, I investigated custom "Arca-style" L-brackets for the Leica DMR. No manufacturer was willing to take on a small order. One of the things that has bothered me about the L-brackets for professional size bodies is the shear size of the things; I find that no matter how much is attention is paid to detail, they become unwieldy when shooting hand held. I really wanted an L-plate that could come off really quickly, seconds instead of a minute or two.
For the DMR my options were less than ideal--the Really Right Stuff "generic" L-plate left the camera a bit off balance when in portrait mode and the Kirk generic L-plate had a lot of flex in it. I also realized that with 4 camera bodies I was looking at hundreds of dollars in L-plates and more than a pound of aluminum. Since I rarely have more than one camera using an L-plate at once, it seemed natural to seek a unifiying solution. Looking through the Really Right Stuff catalog, I came up with just that. I put a RRS lever release clamp on one of their multipurpose rails, used a MPR-L joining plate, attached a second rail and....
Here are the parts:
MPR-L L connector (1)
MPR-113 rails (2)
B2 LRII lever release clamp
It is versatile although the weight comes in at around one pound, so I did not make progress there. The added weight makes for a compromise, but Im very pleased with it overall. I could have gone for a lighter clamp, but I liked the idea of having a built in bubble level (a backup, my levels always wind up in the other bag), the 6 centimeter width of the RRS clamp, and the speed of the lever release.
Here is the 1ds Mk2 with my Leica 15/3.5 Super-Elmarit-R mounted.
And the R9/DMR with the 100/2.8 Leica Macro. Theres room to access the electronic ports on the left for the electronic release and data cables. I found the Kirk PZ-111 plate for the R9 to have a superior fit compared to the Really Right Stuff R8/9 plate. Despite dire warnings from RRS that only plates from RRS and Wimberly will work with the Lever Release clamp, the Kirk works just fine.
And if you have a sense of humor.
