Quick release plate
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A quick- release plate (also known as a camera plate) is a special accessory for tripod heads in photo and video technology .
Most film cameras and cameras have a tripod connection in the form of a screw thread, particularly large and heavy lenses often have a special clamp with a tripod thread. Frequent screwing and unscrewing of the cameras from the tripod (for example when using different cameras) is often quite time-consuming. Especially with long focal length lenses that can weigh several kilograms, putting on and unscrewing is also very cumbersome. This problem can be avoided by using quick release plates. These plates are screwed to the camera housing or lens clamps and then connected to a receptacle on the tripod or the tripod head via an easier-to-use locking mechanism.
Quick-change systems are often integrated in the tripod heads, but there are also separate attachments for use on any heads and tripods. Quick-change systems are mostly made of light metal alloys, but can also consist of plastic.
Some quick-change systems have spread across manufacturers, the best known is the " Arca-Swiss " interchangeable plate system with dovetail plates for insertion in tripod holders. When combining different manufacturers, the fit still has to be checked. In 2012, to improve the fit of Arca-Swiss-compatible components, a number of manufacturers joined forces to form the “UniQ / C” initiative, which in 2014 had twelve members. Some suppliers of tripods and tripod heads offer their own systems and Arca-Swiss-compatible solutions in parallel.
Advantages:
- Faster and easier handling, the quick-change systems can usually also be operated with gloves.
- When taking pictures of the same motif with different camera housings (different types of film or sensor formats) or different lenses with tripod clamps, a stable tripod usually does not require time-consuming realignment.
- When using several cameras and lenses (with tripod clamp) at the same time, a separate removable plate can be attached.
Disadvantage:
- Cameras and lenses are bulky with the quick-release plate attached, as the plates always protrude in one place. This can be a problem with particularly small photo bags.
- Depending on the camera model, the plate sometimes covers some flaps and must first be unscrewed from the camera when changing tape, film, memory card or battery. However, these flaps would also be covered on a tripod (head) and would have to be removed from the tripod when changing.
- With simpler quick-change systems, the plates are sometimes not available individually.
There are quick-change systems, the plates of which are each adapted for special camera models. These have a higher stability, but require new, specially adapted quick-release plates for new cameras with a different shape. Due to the many special quick-release plates, these systems are significantly more expensive than those with universally applicable plates.
Not all quick-change systems are designed to be torsion-proof, which can be problematic in particular when taking pictures in portrait format with heavy equipment. A twist-proof removable disk, especially common in the video and film sector, has a "video pin", a pin protruding from the disk with a diameter of approx. 5 mm, which is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the optical axis in front of the camera thread on the disk. When the plate is screwed onto the video camera, this pin engages in a corresponding hole on the bottom of the camera. The normal distance between the video pin and the center of the screw is approx. 13 mm, but there are also other distances. This is why the fastening screws of some quick-release plates are guided in a slot in order to be able to compensate for different distances between the video pin and screw (e.g. from 10 to 18 mm). A common alternative for photo cameras is a plate that has a bead or stop on the rear edge against which the rear of the camera is pushed firmly before the camera screw is tightened on the plate. Less reliable fuses use rubber or cork pads on the removable disk.
In the field of professional videography / cinematography, there is essentially a dovetail rail system developed by Arri , in which, in contrast to Arca-Swiss, the dovetail rail is attached to the tripod and the bracket holder is attached to the camera, whereby the rail allows an optical axis shift ; and a quick mount originally developed by Sony, in which the tripod part in a basic plate shape in the direction of the optical axis has a wedge-shaped, recessed mount with a locking mechanism at the front and a mushroom-shaped pin at the rear, while a corresponding wedge is provided on the front of the camera and a kind of groove is provided at the rear, which fit in or around the mounts on the tripod side. This quick recording is carried under various names, such as “VCT-U14” (original Sony name), “HD Baseplate” or “Quick lock plate” or “V plate”.