Arca-Swiss Foot..

[simplynature]

Apparently there are no universal standards for the dovetail on the ARCA-Swiss plate. I have several plates as well as one on my Olympus 100-400mm's foot, each manufacturer's dovetail is slightly different. Although that's not a problem with knob-tightening mounts, it's a bit of a problem when you have a lever release.

You're correct, there doesn't seem to be a standard size for the Arca-Swiss plate. I use the RRS BH-55 head with lever release (which doesn't allow any adjustments). I have used Kirk plates with it, but they're slightly wider, but still work. I purchased a Sigma 70-200 which comes with an Arca-Swiss foot, but it was way too small to use with my head. I could literally slide the lens from the head with the lever closed down! NOT GOOD! If I remember correctly, RRS plates are 31mm wide, so are Leofoto, so they work perfectly with RRS (and are much less expensive). If you use a knob closure, all is cool regardless of the plate width, but be careful if you use a lever release.

 

[fcotterill]

Apparently there are no universal standards for the dovetail on the ARCA-Swiss plate. I have several plates as well as one on my Olympus 100-400mm's foot, each manufacturer's dovetail is slightly different. Although that's not a problem with knob-tightening mounts, it's a bit of a problem when you have a lever release.

There's an archived blog post by Jobu warning that ArcaSwiss is not a standard, although Jobu stated they follow a loosely associated N American consortium who maintain the specifications of the RRS A-S plate dimensions.

My relatively affordable solution pairs an adjustable Leofoto LR-70 lever-release clamp with a long Sirui lens plate

Lever-Release Clamps - Leofoto

Lever-Release Clamps - Leofoto was founded at the beginning of 2014. It is located in Zhongshan, beautiful Pearl River Delta area in China. Leofoto team has been designing and manufacturing series of camera support systems by comparing and studying the high-end photographic accessories made in...

www.leofoto.com

Why Arca Swiss?

I currently have one manfrotto "heavy" and a carbon travel tripod along with a monopod that I purchased some time ago. I rarely use the heavy tripod and each of them have a single column in the middle. I keep a Manfrotto style plate on the camera but don't keep them on my lenses. I am...

bcgforums.com

 

[fcotterill]

Here's a screenshot of the "lost" article

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[Chuck09]

Not sure if I should post it here or a new thread, but recently "treated" myself to a new foot for my 800mm f/6.3 to save some weight since this lens is close to my limit for handheld shots. I bought the Zenelli foot, the only carbon fiber lens foot I believe. So much lighter than my Hejnar foot and supposed to absorb vibrations better than the original Nikon foot. It is very well made and fit my RRS clamp on my ball head perfectly. Not sure it is worth $329 (yikes!) but so far am really enjoying it.

I also bought CARBON LFZ, incredible workmanship! I would also like to buy one of their tripods! It seems they made a new site zenelli.com

 

[Len Shepherd]

I’m another that’s happy to spend $20-$60 on a good 5-6 inch Arca plate to attach to my lens foot.

If Nikon included an Arca dovetail on the foot, then I’d want them to make it 6” long to better serve as a handle and for balance adjustment.

+1 for a 6 inch long version.

On the bigger and heavier lenses Nikon use 4 bolts (not screws) to fit the foot to the collar.

If Nikon makes an accessory Arca-Swiss foot 6 inches long for the bolt type collars such as the 800 PF and (I understand) the 400 and 600 TCs I would buy one - even if north of £/$60.