Jerry Coupe Loc: Kent, WA

You can check on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace and perhaps find used tripods in you spending range and end up with a very nice quality tripod and head.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I have had two tripods by Zume off of eBay for under $150 with Arca-Swiss ball heads. One aluminum and one carbon fiber. They have both servrd me well. I use the Arca-Swiss style "L" bracket also off eBay for around $15. The "L" bracket lets you switch from horizontal to vertical without changing the tripod or head.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

I bet you DON'T do that. You attach the Manfrotto clamp to the tripod (although in your case it is probably already part of the head since that is what Manfrotto tends to do) and the plate is attached to the camera.
The word half applies to half of something that is all the same, like half an orange, or half of a tin of cat food. And is generally used where each half is the same as the other half.
A quick release set does have 2 halves of the set but one half is called a clamp and the other half is called a plate. I know what you meant but to somebody who doesn't know you would leave a huge amount of doubt in their mind as to which goes where. This lack of clarity is why we have wars.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

Re-read what you wrote ! If you bought an arca-swiss plate how on earth did you convert it to an arca-swiss plate when it is already that ? I see why you think you learn things the hard way. From your description I have no idea what you have done. Anybody who reads your post, and gets it right, has at best only made a lucky guess.
What you should have ended up with is an arca-swiss CLAMP on the top of your tripod (and presumably head) to which you have mated an arca-swiss PLATE which is attached to your camera.
If you want another setup the same ie another tripod that you can use with the same camera AND its plate then you need to look for the following - buy a tripod, or buy a tripod with whatever head you want, buy another arca-swiss CLAMP and fit it to the top of the tripod. Then you can swap the camera AND its plate between the two CLAMPS on the top of the two tripods.
If you have a need to keep costs down then stop using ROLLS ROYCE solutions (RRS) and go generic. If money is not important stay with RRS.
And to help you on your way type "arca-swiss" into google and fossick around a bit.
And I forgot to mention that there can be several issues with how you fasten the clamps to the top of the tripod (or head) but that is a separate issue and you need to get past your lack of understanding of how the system works first.
Bad explanations will only get you bad advice as people try and guess what you are really after.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Seriously????? Did you even bother to read what he wrote? Because you obviously did not comprehend it.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

I have now. I stopped at the first sentence because it was incomprehensible to me. I have enough to read without bothering with rubbish.
The answer to the rest of what he wrote is to buy a tripod/head with an arca-swiss clamp on top.
I do not wish to alienate too many people on here but people really need to do that 1 second more work themselves to answer their own questions. Age is not the problem as I am probably at least as old as most of the people on here. Do your homework then if still stuck ask the question but make sure it is an intelligent question.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

Read the bottom of your plate it will say Qs-60 or something. Then call band h

CO

It's just how the sentence is phrased. The plate is the main subject but he meant that the Vanguard tripod was converted. He had to mount a different head on his tripod. It's alright now. He wants to make sure he purchases Arca-Swiss compatible clamps and plates in the future.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Vinylman53 Loc: Woodward. Ok

To remove the head on a Vanguard tripod you need to remove 3 lock screws on the bottom of the center shaft that lock the head to the shaft. Once they are loose you can easily remove the head. I have th Vanguard Sb 300 ball head and it is arca Swiss compatible. You can find a large variety of plates available at Amazon.

kkayser

Look here and eBay. I sold 2 nice ball heads for about $25 apiece. If you are willing to use older, heavier triopods, there are lots of bargains out there.

petrochemist Loc: UK

I must have over 10 arca compatible plates (from many manufacturers) & at least half a dozen arca compatible clamps.
The plates do differ in size slightly & anti slip features are not cross compatible but I don't think I've come up with any combination of plate/clamp that doesn't grip. There are a couple of combinations that are awkward to fit, but even with just random selection most combinations work just fine.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

The Arca-Swiss quick release system is by far the most universal and widely used, with many different manufacturers making products compatible with it.

A tripod HEAD is fitted with an Arca-Swiss compatible quick release PLATFORM. These come in different sizes and shapes, and choice of a lever style release or a screw knob that's tightened to lock the gear in place. There are "adapters" to convert other types of quick release or standard 1/4" screw tripod mounts to Arca-Swiss platforms.

An Arca-Swiss compatible PLATE is used on the base of your camera. Again, there are a variety of these made by many different manufacturers. The "best" of them have anti-twist features, such as being custom form fitted to the base of a specific camera model. One type of plate is an "L-Bracket", which is just what it sounds like... an L-shaped bracket that has Arca-Swiss dovetail on both the base and the arm, so that a camera fitted with one can be mounted either in the landscape/horizontal orientation or in the portrait/vertical orientation. L-Brackets are popular when using a ballhead, in particular, where the vertical orientation "flops" the camera off to the side and would be unbalanced. By using the L-Bracket instead, the camera can be kept more securely mounted on top of the ballhead in either orientation.

There are also Arca-Swiss compatible PLATES for use on the tripod mounting feet found on larger lenses, as well as on other products such as macro focusing rails and other accessories. These come in different lengths and some have anti-twist features like a second screw or a tab that prevents accidental loosening.

There are also a variety of accessories... flash brackets for example... designed to work with the Arca-Swiss system.

As I said, there are many different manufacturers of Arca-Swiss components. RRS is a premium manufacturer with some unique items, but also tends to be one of the priciest. At the other extreme are a lot of manufacturers in China making both knock-offs and unique, innovative items that can be quite affordable. I just bought an old Bogen tripod for $10 and wanted to convert it to Arca-compatible .... but not spend very much money. I found an adapter platform on eBay from China, $16 including shipping, bought it and had it to install in about a week. You can see it in photo #1 below.

Photo #2 shows a compact mirrorless camera on which I recently installed a fitted L-Bracket plate, mounted on that tripod... This L-Bracket also bought from eBay and China, $19 incl. shipping and arrived in about a week. There aren't many manufacturers making Arca plates for this particular camera and the only others I found are just plain bottom plates, not L-brackets, and sell for around $40. Photo #3 shows another view of that L-Bracket on the camera.

Photo #4 shows one of my DSLRs mounted on the same tripod. This camera has a fitted bottom plate, because an L-Bracket for it is quite large. this plate was made by Kirk Photo and cost around $50.

Photo #5 shows a lens mounted to the same tripod using an Arca lens plate. Lens plates can be found in a wide variety of lengths and from many sources and cost $20 to $35 typically, really large sizes might be a little more. As mentioned previously, I look for an anti-twist feature, in this case a rib that protrudes at the rear to prevent accidental loosening.

Photo #6 shows a larger lens fitted with an Arca plate mounted on a Wimberley Sidekick gimbal adapter. Most gimbals... both adapters like this and full size gimbals... use the Arca system. This is because ideally the gear mounted on the gimbal needs to be adjusted forward or backward a little until it's balanced. That makes for the smooth movement of the camera and lens with a light touch. To allow room for this adjustment, my larger lenses are fitted with slightly extra long lens plates. Wimberley sort of invented using gimbals for photography with big lenses and their lens plates are listed by length (in millimeters) and they have recommendations for most lenses. Certain lenses use a replacement foot or replacement tripod mounting ring, instead of a lens plate. The lens in photo #6 has a replacement foot (bought from Hejnar Photo, about $70).

Some manufacturers are incorporating Arca compatible dovetails right into their products. All the recent Tamron lenses with tripod mounting rings have that. Fujifilm has also built Arca dovetails into some of the camera battery grips. In those cases, no plates are needed... just a platform on top of the tripod head. You can specify a tripod head with an Arca compatible platform when shopping. There are also replacement platforms for some heads, as well as the adapter like I show in the photos below.

Finally, I noticed recently that some precision target shooters have begun using Arca-Swiss plates to mount accessories on their rifles and for tripod mounting, as well as with range scopes.

#1


#2


#3

(Download)

#4


#5

(Download)

#6

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I forgot to mention... "Arca Swiss" is a manufacturer themselves, making tripod heads and other related products. Any search you do using "Arca Swiss" terms will turn up their products, as well as many other brands. The company Arca Swiss invented their quick release system, but has seen it widely adopted by many other manufacturers. For example, I just did a search for tripod & head "kits" at B&H Photo and found they list 324 tripods using heads with an Arca-compatible quick release platform (some of which come with one generic plate, too). Prices range from $60 to $1550!

If you already have a tripod you have a several choices...

1. If the head on it has the standard 1/4" screw to mount cameras, get an Arca adapter like I used and show in photo #1 above. If you go this route, I recommend after fastening the adapter to the head, drill a second hole and tap it to install a set screw to "lock" the adapter in place. (The adapter I bought has two additional, threaded holes already. I just need to find some set screws to fit it.)

2. If the head on it has some other type of quick release, get an adapter that "converts" it to Arca adapter. I'm wary of doing this because it seems like a possible point of failure.

3. If the head on it allows, it may be possible to remove the existing camera mounting platform and replace it with one that's Arca-compatible. I did this with a Manfrotto ballhead some years ago. It had one of their proprietary QR platforms, but that simply unscrewed. Kirk Photo made an Arca quick release compatible platform that simply screwed on to replace it. That wasn't cheap... if I recall correctly, about $75 at the time and probably more than that now. Because I wanted a safe and secure ballhead, I used some red Locktite on the threads to make it a permanent fastening. (Note: red Locktite makes a threaded fastener pretty permanent and largely un-removable... blue Locktite should be used when parts may need to be removed later).

4. Entirely replace the head on your tripod with one that's already set up with an Arca-compatible platform. The vast majority of tripods of any quality at all use a standardized 3/8" threaded bolt to fasten the head to the tripod and simply unscrew. Some (like Manfrotto) also use some sort of set screw(s) to lock the head in place on the tripod. Those have to be loosened before it can be unscrewed. If you decide to replace the head entirely, you'll have choice of a variety of types that come already fitted with the Arca platform: ballheads, pan-tilt, fluid, pistol grip, gimbals and more. They also come in a wide variety of sizes and capacities, plus vary in a number of other ways.

If, instead you want a second complete tripod you can either buy a ready assembled kit of legs and head or buy those (and possibly other) components separately.

Just for example, below link is to a search of complete tripod kits at B&H Photo, all of which appear to have heads with Arca-Swiss compatibility. Shop wherever you like. I'm just referencing B&H because they stock practically everything!

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/Complete-Tripods-with-Heads/ci/2635/N/4075788742?sort=PRICE_LOW_TO_HIGH&filters=fct_quick-release-system_7375%3Aarca

Of course, you'll need to look at a number of other important factors among those tripods. In general, you'll want to consider the materials, height, design features, weight and load capacity of tripods and heads all vary quite a bit. Use the search filters at B&H or elsewhere to narrow it down.

Some will tell you, and they're correct, that "weight rating" tripods and heads is pretty inexact. Weight ratings are just what the manufacturer claims and aren't really the best way to determine the stability and usefulness of a tripod. This is true... But, weight ratings are pretty universally used and pretty much all we have to compare tripods with each other. Just look for a tripod that has "more than enough" weight capacity. Personally, I don't think I'd ever buy a tripod or head rated for less than 20 lb., even though most gear I use on it weighs half or one quarter that much. What I use is rated for at least 30 lb. and some of it up to 50 lb.

The most stable tripod has as few leg sections as possible and doesn't rely upon a center column to bring your camera up to comfortable working height. What is a comfortable height? Measure your eyeline and look for a tripod that will bring your viewfinder eyeport at least that high and maybe a couple inches higher. Obviously you have to compromise since you also need a tripod to fold up reasonably compact. Carbon fiber is arguably the best material for tripods. It's strong, saves weight, make for good rigidity and even absorbs some small vibrations. But it's also more expensive than aluminum.

Other "stuff" can be important. Personally I try to keep to three-section legs when possible, four-section only when I must and never any more than that. And I avoid tripods with columns that rotate to horizontal because that's another possible point of failure and using them with the camera hanging way off to the side is pretty unstable. It's probably not as important, but I also generally would avoid tripods that have one leg removable to be used as a monopod. That's another possible point of failure and may affect stability, but also any tripod can be used "like a monopod", simply by only extending one of it's legs. A lot of tripods with a built in monopod also have extra sections in the center column that have to be extended to bring them to a comfortable height, but really compromise stability.

I'm also picky about leg locks... prefer the "twist" type which are self-adjusting and generally work well. I don't care for the lever type, which are prone to wear and breakage, needing adjustment and repair. Thumb screws are okay, in my opinion, but because they protrude and can catch on branches, sleeves, etc. I leave tripods with that type of leg lock "in studio".

Best tripod advice I can give you: Don't buy "too cheap". If you do, you'll be buying a replacement in a year or two when it fails or just doesn't work well... then again a year or two after that... and another a year or two later, etc. It's false economy. A good, quality tripod may cost more but can last a lifetime. I've got one that I bought new and have used for close to 40 years. That's a big heavy tripod though and I ain't gettin' any younger, so I don't take it in the field anymore. About 20 years ago I bought my current, most-used tripod that still goes with me on almost every shoot. It's carbon fiber and close to half the weight of my older tripod. Both have three-section legs, are more than tall enough for me that I don't need to raise a center column (in fact one doesn't even have a center column), are rock steady with even very large (8 and 10 lb.) lenses and have been used hard all these years without any problems at all. (Some other tripods I have are similar age, but I bought them used more recently. Occasionally I stumble across just too good a deal to pass up, like the $10 Bogen in the photos above.)

Going too cheap on a tripod also often leads to disappointment, which discourages you from taking the tripod with you and using it regularly. A quality tripod that's reliable and comfortable to work with will be more of a pleasure to use and will hold up well... and be less likely to be left at home in a closet.