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Appreciate you checking for me. Its that "rubbing" as it comes back to place that has me concerned. I just tested my Z6 SmallRig bottom plate and the fit is pretty good all things considered. I am not sure that the L bracket would fit correctly, but I may use this as I often like to just have the bottom bracket. I know that Sunwayfoto has two versions, a one-piece and a two-piece, but the two-piece does not seem to be available in the US at the moment. Not sure what I want to do at the moment, so I'll probably mull it over for a couple of days.
It has been labeled that way for some time. Not sure why, but I do like their bracket for the original Z6.
FWIW, I asked a US distributor why Sunwayfoto did not offer their two-piece bracket on their website (as it can be obtained on eBay from sellers who ship from China) and was told something to the effect that RRS may have some patents on two-piece L-brackets. Didn't ask for more information, but perhaps this is why SmallRig is also not selling them in the US. I believe there is a site called SmallRig Reseller that may ship them in, but I think that these may also be shipping out of China. I am probably just going to keep the Topcine and just untighten the base when I need to change the batteries so it does not rub or scrape the bottom of my camera. The Z6iii is just tall enough that it does not require the base bracket to be comfortable in my hand. The original Z6, however, was too short and greatly benefits from the bracket so I leave it on all the time.
patents.justia.com
Yes, I suspect that may be the patent he referred to. And I am sure that SmallRig is not the only company one could point a finger at for copying designs. Not defending their actions, but did not want to single them out specifically as this has been happening for a number of years involving a number of companies with a number of products.SmallRig has been ripping off designs left and right and about 3 years ago RRS, which was always an active patent filer stepped up its filing and apparently enforcement.
I think this is the patent that's stopping them from directly selling here and there is a provisional patent too that covers at least Europe.
U.S. Patent Application for ADJUSTABLE L-BRACKET Patent Application (Application #20250085618 issued March 13, 2025) - Justia Patents Search
An adjustable L-bracket.
