trekking in unknown territory. Are there any significant differences between the Kirt and RRS brands when it comes to L brackets? Is one better than the other? Is one brand better than the other when you start to purchase other components?
not significant enough which then for some makes it difficult to choose.
its a matter of personal preference
they both do the same thing just sometimes in slightly different ways.
i prefer the RRS approach which in my opinion is somewhat better thought out and more refined in the finished product. both are finished well and will do the job they were designed to do.
as an example of the differences of approach
the 1D3 and 1Ds3 have available a wifi unit that attaches to the left side of the camera body. if you wish to use said unit with an L plate here are you choices
from RRS there is a single L plate that can be easily adjusted for use with or without the unit with 1 hex screw. cost $183
from Kirk due to its basic highly skeletonized design they needed to design 2 seperate plates to do the job with and without the unit attached. cost $185ea x 2 if you to have it both ways.
I don't think there any real difference. Personally I like Kirk brackets because they seem to use less metal, but this is not a product that requires much in the way of complicated design.
Now I will say this, the RRS bracket for the Mk3 is not well designed. I will sell mine if you want it...just have not gotten around to putting it on the B&S board. The vertical section of the bracket sticks WAY out behind the back of the camera and ruins holding the camera. Now I do not yet have the Kirk but in looking carefully at the website, it seems to be much more flush.
As for other products, this is not one that matters. You can mix and match. There seems to be an issue with RRS level clamps...which you read about on their website, no need to repeat it here. I personally have Wimberley, Kirk and RRS products and have no problems switching any of them out. But then again I don't like lever clamps.
Having said that RRS has been great with me over emails and I have to call Kirk. They haven't answered one of my emails in years.
I have the RRS wedding flash bracket and I think its very nice. I think the finish on the Kirk stuff I have is great and I like the design better from an aesthetic point of view.I have owned 4 of their brackets, three QR plates and a ball head. Next ball head will probably be RRS (I want a big one)
Good info, this confirms the design issue mentioned. Agree with Kirk, for some reason, they don't like email...but you know, it is so nice to actually talk to a human it seems OK to me!
poorly executed in what way? i have used it with the wifi unit and without and it functions as it should.
i take you have used it? or are we looking and assuming?
Shane Canfield wrote:
I don't think there any real difference. Personally I like Kirk brackets because they seem to use less metal, but this is not a product that requires much in the way of complicated design.
Now I will say this, the RRS bracket for the Mk3 is not well designed. I will sell mine if you want it...just have not gotten around to putting it on the B&S board. The vertical section of the bracket sticks WAY out behind the back of the camera and ruins holding the camera. Now I do not yet have the Kirk but in looking carefully at the website, it seems to be much more flush.
As for other products, this is not one that matters. You can mix and match. There seems to be an issue with RRS level clamps...which you read about on their website, no need to repeat it here. I personally have Wimberley, Kirk and RRS products and have no problems switching any of them out. But then again I don't like lever clamps. ...Show more →
you will find the the location of the side plate is approx a little over a 0.25" further back so you have access to the most used i/o ports on the camera when it is flat against the camera. as a generality i don't handle the camera with my left hand as much as i do the lens. not an issue.
as to the less metal statement well weight wise there again within a gram or two. so much for that.
see i'll accept the minor compromises so that i only need 1 plate to do the job
Its my opinion that it looks great without the wifi unit attached and kludgey with it attached. I think its mostly because of that corner. I don't debate that it still works.
Mind you, I don't think buying an extra bracket is a great solution either. I am giving it some though. Really Surly Stuff coming right up.
sjms wrote:
you will find the the location of the side plate is approx a little over a 0.25" further back so you have access to the most used i/o ports on the camera when it is flat against the camera. as a generality i don't handle the camera with my left hand as much as i do the lens. not an issue.
as to the less metal statement well weight wise there again within a gram or two. so much for that.
see i'll accept the minor compromises so that i only need 1 plate to do the job
The bracket sticks way out behind the camera...no other backet I have ever used does this and IMO, it is a poor design. I have not measured it but really don't care how far it is...it feels terrible in the hand. For as much money as RRS charges, I expect more.
as to the lever lock that is a leverlock issue in that it has an max open dimension and a max closed dimension. they are two fixed points. in order to work correctly the plate width must be within a specified dimension. both RRS and Wimberly use that dimension. all they say is that theirs does but won't guarentee that any one else prescribes to their dimension. everyone in the past has just about done whatever they wanted because of the forgiving nature of the screw type lock (essentially a vise type lock. its real simple if you want to use the lever lock just make sure it fits the dimension designed to work with the lever if not don't go there.
dhlewis wrote:
glad I was able to give you guys a place to "talk" things over re RSS v. Kirk. In the interim you all helped me a great deal. Thanks a bunch!
Yeah, this is kind of religious war...who knows why. Anyway, in the end, these products are so close that you can't go wrong with either.
But I'm working on a portfolio and helping the boredom of endless PC work by hanging here on FM inbetween resizing and labeling shots. So it is a nice distraction. And even when it gets feisty, there is good info here.
dhlewis wrote:
glad I was able to give you guys a place to "talk" things over re RSS v. Kirk. In the interim you all helped me a great deal. Thanks a bunch!
Shane Canfield wrote:
Steve, I don't get the comment about '2 brackets" what does that mean?
with the kirk you get 2 choices
a L bracket that works with the camera only NO wifi. fixed position no option to adjust for fitting the wifi unit
or you get the one that does work with the wifi unit and hangs out the rest of the time about an inch of clear air fixed position when the unit is not attached. in short the the wifi version if you remove the wifi unit there is no adjustment to bring L arm back close to the camera body
that makes two complete seperate brackets to do the job of one
the reason that is is the kirk base skeletonization makes no material available for design of adjustment capability.
OK, I see that now...I don't want to buy two brackets. Good info. Now does the Kirk that takes the transmitter stick way out in the back too? If it does, then it is no better than the RRS. Also it does not look like it slides so you can use it either way? Hmmm, if both of these are true, better off with RRS then...
Now lets get you a new computer 
