Ladislav said:
I'm considering replacing my Manfrotto tripod legs and ball head with RC2 compatible release plates for Gitzo legs (Systematic Series 3, 4 sections, long) and Arca Swiss Z1 SP Ball head but I'm confused with different quicksets available with the head:
Does anyone know what is the difference between them and why should I prefer one over another?
- MonoballFix - their latest clamp type, fastest to mount a camera/lens because all you do is press the lever a short distance to spread the clamp; if you plan to use plates/L-brackets from anyone but Arca-Swiss, you do not want this clamp (more below)
- Fliplock - More like a traditional lever clamp, but with an additional step to fully open it. You flip the lever to 90° (where the plate can slide but not be lifted out), then slide a pin inside the lever using your thumbnail to open the clamp fully. RRS clamps have the 90° half-open feature, but not the secondary lock. Arguably the Arca fliplock is more secure, but I've never had an issue with my multiple RRS lever clamps, and to me that thumbnail thing looks like a PITA
- Classic - standard screw-knob clamp
You can see what I'm talking about here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOO5gPYgtI
Ladislav said:
I'm also bit concern about this part of description in Fliplock and Classic:
Please note: the safety-stop feature of the Wimberley plates do not work with the new "double decker" Arca Swiss quick release clamps on the Z1 head. The Wimberley plates can still be used, but users must ensure that the clamp itself is sufficiently tight as the safety pins in the end of the Wimberley plate will not prevent it from slipping out.
I though that when I buy Arca swiss head, it will be compatible with with all Arca style plates. I would like to have something compatible with Wimberley plates, Kirk L-brackets, etc. One reason I want to replace RC2 plate is to have much broader selection of accessories available.
I'd be concerned, too. Backing up a bit, there's no such warning on the MonoballFix because that clamp is
only compatible with Arca-Swiss MonoballFix plates, which despite being made by AS do not conform to the AS plate standard. The dovetails of the MonoballFix plates are closer together than the standard AS plates. That's why the new FlipLock and Classic heads have the 'double-decker' design – there's a wider top set of grooves for the standard AS plates, and a narrower bottom set for the MonoballFix plates. The MonoballFix clamp only has the bottom deck.
Plates from Wimberley, Kirk, RRS, etc. (along with older from Arca-Swiss themselves), will still work in the FlipLock and Classic AS clamps, by locking into the top set of grooves on the 'double deck'. What they mean by the safety stop feature being incompatible is that with the plate in the top set of grooves, there's nothing to catch the safety stop screws on a plate. Here's how those work:
The safety stop screws are the two hex screwheads sticking up on either side of the plate (graphic is from Wimbeley, but RRS and Kirk have the same setup). It's worth noting that while lens plates generally have the safety stop screws, not all camera plates or L-brackets have them (and some, like the RRS plate for my 1D X, have only one). When a screw-knob clamp is opened slightly, or a lever clamp is opened to the 90° half-way position, the plate can slide back and forth in the clamp, but the safety stop screws will prevent the plate from sliding all the way out of the clamp...thus, to get the camera/lens off the head, you must open the clamp wider (more unscrewing the knob or flipping the lever to 180°). With the Arca-Swiss double decker clamps, if you unscrew the Classic knob a little bit or flip the FlipLock half open, a Wimberley/RRS/Kirk plate could slide out (as would the older Arca-Swiss-made plates, but they never had the safety stop feature at all). For their new MonoballFix plates, they have built safety stops into the deck of all three clamps (those are the pins you see sticking up).
IMO, the Arca-Swiss heads are quite nice, but their clamps, to be blunt, aren't. If you're using plates other than the AS MonoballFix, you've got extra depth to the clamp you don't need. But the other problem is that Arca-Swiss' own plates aren't very good. Unlike RRS and Kirk, they don't make camera-specific plates or L-brackets. That means no anti-twist lips on the base plates, and potientially problems with changing batteries or attaching cables with the upright portions of the L-brackets. Similarly, their lens plates don't have anti-twist nubs (you can see those sticking up from the back of the Wimberley plate in the clamp above), so unless you have a lens large enough to have a 2-screw tripod foot (e.g. 400/2.8, 600/4), you may find your lens twisting on the plate.
To make matters worse, Arca-Swiss decided to attach these newer versions of their clamps to the heads using both a bolt and epoxy, meaning they're
non-removable and you can't just swap on a better clamp (e.g. RRS/Kirk). You can get it done by sending it to an Arca-Swiss authorized service center (but for example, there's only one of those in the whole USA, Precision Camera Works in Chicago, where you can send your AS head and someone else's clamp and they'll swap them for $30, actually a pretty reasonable cost but annoying that you can't just DIY).
So, if you really want the Arca-Swiss Z1 head, I'd recommend getting the
verison without a clamp, then getting a clamp from RRS (if you want a lever release), Kirk, or Wimberley for it.
Maybe more info than you wanted, but hope it helps...
