Instead of using a normal AS style QR plate I realized that there really is no need for such a wide plate.
Instead, I used a 3" metal corner bracket that is about 3/4" wide and cut down one side of it, making an very nice low profile L bracket that fits the camera perfectly and that adds no extra bulk. Drilled a new tripod hole and put some adhesive sided cork on it to protect the camera and prevent twisting.
For a clamp, I found that those little $10 hotshoe clamps with the adjustable jaws for using flashes work great as they have a dovetail bevel in them.
Took a couple of minutes with the dremel to bevel the edge of the L bracket so now it clamps and holds perfectly, just like a scaled down Acra-Swiss style system.
The smaller sized clamp makes more sense on my little travel ballhead as well.
about $15 in parts sure beats paying RRS etc $100+ for some bracket
I'm working on making a 2.0 version now where I am grinding out some material in the middle of the bracket to make it even lighter (it only weights a few ounces as it, but its steel, not aluminum so its still a little heavier than I'd like)
I couldn't find aluminum angle braces that where thin/long enough unless they were about 1/4" thick so went with the steel ones you can get at any hardware store. Made things much easier as I didn't have to built a way to get the right angle aspect.
Could just get a flat little piece for the bottom as well and make it even simpler than this, but I personally like having the L bracket design as I like to mount the camera vertically for a lot of tripod shots.
I'll post some photos when I get everything all done and spray painted. All and all it again ended up working better than I could of hoped and at such a low price and really so easy that anyone could do it at well, with parts anyone can. All the must haves of a successful DIY
If you scroll about a third of the way down the page, there's a "photo essay" that Ming Thien did on Pappan, Malaysia, with his RX 100, which may be interesting to the group.
A couple of shots from Yellowstone this week. I inadvertently set exposure comp to -1.3 when I thought I was setting flash comp. The shots came out OK after a little work in LR4. I really like this little camera!
I'm using it with an Epic and it works just fine using the Gigapan button pusher thing, camera fits easily onto the camera platform and the button pusher arm easily adjust to fit the camera.
I also build a little mechanical cable release that clamps onto my L bracket and then has a riser post and then a little flat metal cap that goes over the shutter, to which I have a threaded nut I screw the cable release into. Works pretty well and you can do long exposures in bulb mode that way which is nice
Bumping this back up to the top because I got my carryspeed mag filter and step up ring but can't find a way to take apart the mag filter. Others have posted "it comes apart easy" but mine is tight and I find no way to get purchase without damaging it with pliers. Do you have to break the filter glass to get the magnetic rign off?
Try holding it between some of those rubber jar opener type pads. The front and back pieces should unscrew pretty easily if you can get a grip on both sides at the same time.
If that doesn't work you could break the glass if you had to. Basically if your doing the method I made up and using a step up ring, the only parts you really want to keep are the red ring and the inner magnet.
It was on there super tight, had to break the filter to get it off and even then it was difficult. Guess some are drum tight and others are loose. Its done, works like a charm.
Mine works fine after breaking the filter and just glued on my step up ring to 49mm that goes with my existing filters. The profile with the magnet ring is tiny so the camera is essentially unchanged in size, snaps on and stays on, will have to see if I bump it a little if it falls off or not, but the magnets are powerful.
Interesting you guys are having such trouble getting it off. I guess they changed the polarizer glass sightly, and/or stopped using the clear piece on the backside (which I'm sure caused some internal reflections) Guess maybe those changes resulted in a unit that is a bit harder to get apart.
Or maybe the early batch came apart too easily....
At any rate of course, glad to hear a little brute force can solve the problem, and the 46-49mm step up adapter is working for everyone.
Its a brilliant way of attaching a filter and darn if having to sit there and screw/unscrew my ND's onto my DSLR lenses doesn't feel needlessly slow when I'm out shooting.
