I don't know how many would want to but if you happen to have a manfrotto video tripod head and it uses the small-form quick release plate and want to use the same quick release system on an Arca-Swiss p0 stills head or if you simply want to spend far, far less on quick release adapter and quick release plates:
well the manfrotto 323 quick release adapter for the RC2 and 200PL-38 plates has a bolt that juts down so it won't fit properly onto the Arca-Swiss p0. However if you first attach an 088LBP 1/4" to 3/8" adapter plate (a little thing) it raises it up high enough to work perfectly.
JohnJ80 wrote:
Why would you want to do this? The A-S system is far superior to the Manfrotto RCxx system.
J.
As I said, I have a manfrotto video head and a simple pop it off and onto the other head is far superior than having to pop it off, unscrew an A-S plate, get the manfrotto plate, screw that one on and then mount. By the time you do all that why even use a quick release. At times I do a lot of quick switching back and forth between still and video.
(and as I also said, the A-S system also costs a LOT more, the little plate alone costs more than the entire manfrotto release system plus plate)
JohnJ80 wrote:
uh ok. I guess I'd be a lot more likely to put an A-S clamp on the Manfrotto. My experience with the Manfrotto plates was not positive....
j.
Well the video heads have the clamp built in so you'd have to mount the arca-swiss quick release adapter to the manfrotto plate held by the manfrotto clamp.
And you'd need to now spend yet even more with a second A-S quick release adapter + plate purchase being necessary, suddenly it's all adding up to something significant. $228 vs. $36. Not exactly a nothing difference. That $200 can get you from a SLIK tripod to a 190CXPRO3.
So far I haven't had any trouble with the Manfrotto plates at all, hopefully it stays that way.
In some parts of the world like Australia, arca swiss is somewhere between hard and impossible to find. Importing can be very expensive - as much for the delivery charge as for the item. Down here Manfrotto is far more popular.
I mostly converted to a-s but it was expensive. I did it largely to match the wimberley head and to then avoid various incompatible combinations of lens plate, monopod head and tripod head. I had never had a problem with manfrotto.
The problems I had with them is that the plates are not an exact fit on the body so I always had problems with twisting. Also, there is no real effective L bracket sort of solution. Both are big issues with me in the sort of active sports shooting I do. I guess I'd do the upgrade no matter what and found it well worth the expense.
It's a kludge (kluge, sp?) but consider checking the thread size for the AS head stud. then check against the mounting size for the Manfrotto. This kind of info may be available from the Kirk or Really right Stuff sites as they deal with adding A-S type plates to Manfrotto products, this time you are going backwards.
If the threading is compatible, buy a Manfrotto 484rc2 and swap the top plates. However, Manfrotto also makes the 322ra and 323 mounting plates which look like they might be adabtable to the AS post as well so you wouldn't need to toss the rest of the head. B&H stocks them, at about $40 US.
That's a lot easier than putting an A-S system on many of the Bogen/Manfrotto heads because of the way the head is cast. but their ballheads are a simple post like many of the others.
Oh yeah, on the Manfrotto plates, there is a set screw that if tightened to the camera, it's not going to twist. The Manfrotto L plate is grossly inelegant, but again, cheaper than the AS types.
