i can tell you aren't read my reply. i am talking only about clamps. the RRS clamps with AS in the name have AS flanges. the original Arca ball head stalk is flanged too, as are RRS heads. they mate and can't turn until the screw almost falls off. the clamps without AS in the name are flat on the bottom and are ones i upgraded from when i got RRS ball heads. regardless of style of connection, the clamps are glued to my heads, other supports, or the impending monopod with the appropriate strength glue. i can tell you guys have never held one. otherwise, you wouldn't be arguing with me. i have a whole series of them with and without flanges, probably one of every model RRS has ever made.
your right they do now have generalized anti twist flanges that are in no way contoured or sized to fit a specific product. thats why i never handled one and for that reason too.
on the RRS plates please post the model # of the camera plate w/o flanges as i do have their catalogs going back to about 1985 as many used the other Geyer made products as body plates for cameras that he had not deemed to make. he had a real attitude about it too.
again, as i said, you can't read. i spoke specifically of clamps with flanges, not plates, from the beginning. some of the RRS lever clamps have flanges, some of them don't. you've ignored two specific posts stating that i am talking about clamps, specifically matching flanges between a ball head's stem flange and the bottom of the clamp. i don't know what your problem is.
This shows both sides of a RRS lever clamp that attaches to an Arca-Swiss or RSS ballhead. On the image to the right note the slot that goes through the central hole for the mounting bolt. That accepts a "protrusion" on the shaft portion of the ball of an AS or some RRS ballheads. It stops any rotation between the clamp and ballhead. Kirk, Acratech (& Markins??) do not have this and use a different model lever clamp. I am using the word protrusion rather than flange as I think that is confusing people. Unless you have retrofitted a lever clamp or removed one for some reason, you would not have likely noticed this feature or lack thereof.
Don't get testy Herb. ;-) When you said "A-S style clamps" I thought you meant "A-S compatible clamps," not "clamps that fit on an A-S head with flange mating points." That's mildly esoteric (at least in the last year or three since we all started buying RRS heads instead of A-S heads), you must admit.
And in defense of sjms, most of us do think plates rather than clamps when the word "flange" crops up. That's why your original post on the subject confused me.
One issue that is adressed by the RRS clamp/ballhead stem anti-rotation design:
I had a friend with an Acratech and eventually a Kirk on his tripod. When he mounted his Wimberley Sidekick and 500 f4 and moved it about chasing birds the Sidekick acted like a lever arm and unscrewed the clamp from the ballhead. Remember the clamp was set vertically in the slot to mount the Sidekick. What was really unerving is that as the Sidekick rotated forward (downward) the clamp unscrewed more and more, threatening to flop his camera and lens forward.
He got a RRS BH 55 and this solved the unnerving tendency of the Sidekick to unscrew his clamp from the ballhead stem. As shown in the image above the RRS clamp has a linear protrusion on the ballhead stem to prevent clamp rotation.
Also I thing the lever clamp is thre greatest device, with an L bracket it makes changing landscape/portrait orientation so rapid.
Mike K
Initially I had the same concerns. After 1 year with RRS lever clamps on both my tripod and monopod I am convinced that it is the best way to go. Never had an incident of snagging or catching the lever. The lever is designed in such a way that once closed, it is very secure. The old fashioned screw knob now seems much to slow and cumbersome for field use.
