Dave Sanders
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Upload & Sell: On
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molson wrote:
RRS L-brackets are nice, but it's too bad they can't pay the same attention to detail on their other products, like their lever-release clamps... unless that was a conscious decision to make it more difficult for customers to use other brands of plates and L-brackets...
Your costs for RRS products are a little out of date, too... for an A7R III L-bracket the landed cost in Canada is now north of $300 if you buy from B&H and get "free" shipping (which as of the beginning of March now comes by DHL, with normal delivery times of 30 to 45 days...).
If you buy directly from RRS, the cost is well over $400 since they have implemented a rip-off shipping scheme of their own.
I guess that's just peanuts for you rich people... but now that I've figured out how to fix the design flaw in the RRS clamps, I can use the better/faster/cheaper alternatives.  ...Show more →
Their lever release clamps are also impeccable, IMO. Arca Swiss isn't a standard per se, more a set of design specs that some follow more closely than others, hence no company claiming compatibility with any plates other than their own. RRS's specs are posted on their website and any company who wishes to design compatible products can follow them. I've got RRS products going back a decade and there have never been compatibility issues, they're always machined to within a very narrow variance. That, I think, is not the problem you've been facing, though.
The issue is, do other manufacturers follow RRS's specs to guarantee compatibility? No. Indeed, it looks like American manufacturers like RRS, Acra-tech, Kirk, etc. follow one spec, Eastern manufacturers another. My over-engineered (but oh so nifty) FLM clamping system prefers a thinner plate and doesn't work with my RRS or Kirk plates. I contacted them and they told me, like others have, that their clamping system is 'Arca-like' and they can't guarantee compatibility with any plate but their own. I also found only marginal fit with my Sunwayfoto plates in my FLM.
As for RRS and cost, yes, they're pricey. But, as I mentioned, I've had great luck getting my L-plates and grips used. Where in Canada are you located? Vancouver has a very active photo community on Craigslist and I've gotten all my stuff there or on eBay. I paid $100 for the L-plate for my D810 on CL; just picked one up for my A7RII for $120 on eBay, LN- condition and free shipping from a Canadian seller. I have found, over the years, that pricey accessories are bought and sold frequently and usually at a substantial discount. My RX1 plate and grip, I got for $90. My EM5, $110; EM1, a screaming deal at $80. All RRS, all heavy duty, flawlessly machined. I went through a cheap alternative for my EM5, EM1 and RX1 and all of them were lighter, fit worse on the camera and sometimes didn't fit at all with my clamps. I couldn't resell them, so I gave them away when I sold the cameras. If you're some place where those things are inaccessible, lemme know, I'm always happy to look here and hook up a fellow Canadian photo enthusiast.
I'm a teacher so let's say I'm far from a rich guy...we could compare T4's to see who is the poorest haha...but I have figured out over the years that I should buy quality and buy once. If you buy quality and it's used, you can generally sell it for what you paid if it doesn't work out. I have tried hard to not learn that lesson, believe me  But I think have finally internalized it. I have spent a lot of money on gear that works for me and I spend hundreds and hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars every year to get myself into position to take meaningful photos. As someone who routinely shoots long exposure landscapes, my camera goes on and off my tripod all the time, almost every time I go shooting, so it really doesn't seem worth it for me to choose to save money on what is possibly the weakest - and therefore most important - link in my image capturing chain.
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