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L-bracket
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Jan 15, 2022 05:27:55   #
John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK
 
Am I missing something here? My ballhead (Giotto) has a cutout to move it through 90° anyway - or any position between if I choose to lock it at that.

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Jan 15, 2022 07:09:48   #
uhaas2009
 
I used to have tripod plate on my camera and some lenses. Those plates don’t stay in place if you leave them all time on your camera or lens. I gave it a shoot when I fund a not overpriced used one and it stayed on the camera since then. I even changed some of my long lenses tripod collar where is a arc Swiss plate built in.

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Jan 15, 2022 08:20:23   #
Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket
 
All of my bodies have Really Right Stuff L brackets. They provide instant ability to mount my camera on my ball-head in both horizontal and vertical positions, as well as protection for the camera. Until a new body has an L bracket, the camera feels naked, like a meal without silverware. Like a camera without a lens, like a car without a steering wheel.

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Jan 15, 2022 08:35:30   #
tcthome Loc: NJ
 
cactuspic wrote:
L brackets are useful if your lens lacks a tripod ring and you want to shoot a vertical composition. The bracket allows you to keep your camera centered on the tripod rather than using the slot and hanging the camera to the side. In short, it is faster to use the bracket and more stable.


And besides the above info, it is a better way for doing panos. Once you use one, you'll understand.

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Jan 15, 2022 08:48:51   #
pgiraudin3
 
I may be dating myself, but I always thought of an "L" bracket as a simple way to keep the flash away from directly over the lens. My early L brackets did not allow the camera to move from horizontal to vertical while keeping the axis the same since the "L" was fixed. My next acquisition was the Stroboframe. This device DID allow the flash to be centered above the camera, and the camera could be easily moved from horizontal to vertical while maintaining the axis point. I even used the Stroboframe when I was shooting with my Hasselblad as it allowed me to keep the flash head about a foot above the camera which helped move shadows lower behind the subjects. The Stroboframe was easily attached to a tripod if necessary, and my Stroboframes even came with a hand grip which made holding it quite comfortable.

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Jan 15, 2022 09:57:15   #
KenProspero
 
cmc4214 wrote:
To further facilitate keeping the center of gravity in line with the pivot point, I recommend hooking your L bracket to one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/393331050194?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l9372 which allows an adjustment range for larger camera/lenses.
.


This also enables one to mount the camera to a gimbal head when there is no tripod collar. Not the ideal set-up, but sometimes better (lighter) than carrying two heads[/quote]

Also good to have if you're taking a panorama landscape shot!!

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Jan 15, 2022 10:12:01   #
Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL
 
Longshadow wrote:
It's a solution for people who do not like taking the time to adjust the tripod.


Assuming that you are referring to using the notch in the ballhead to flop the camera to verticals - that’s actually NOT the primary purpose for an L bracket. If you drop the camera to the side using the notch, you are cantilevering your camera and lens off of the tripod’s main support axis and this, depending on the weight of the camera and the quality of the ballhead, can seriously affect camera shake. Using the L bracket keeps the weight of the rig centered above the legs.

And to answer another comment earlier, the L bracket is different from a flash bracket. L bracket does nothing for getting flash “above” the lens.

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Jan 15, 2022 10:30:04   #
pgiraudin3
 
Guess we'll have to agree to disagree. And that is why I said I'm probably dating myself. If you Google the line below, you'll see that moving the flash off of the camera is exactly the purpose of the original "L" Bracket.


Kaiser Folding Metal "L" Flash Bracket with Hand Strap

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Jan 15, 2022 10:35:30   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
pgiraudin3 wrote:
Guess we'll have to agree to disagree. And that is why I said I'm probably dating myself. If you Google the line below, you'll see that moving the flash off of the camera is exactly the purpose of the original "L" Bracket.


Kaiser Folding Metal "L" Flash Bracket with Hand Strap


Any "L" shaped bracket, can of course, be called an "L-bracket" ...

But, if that "L" only surrounds the side and bottom of the camera, it really had nothing to do with the positioning of a flash. When I google "flash L bracket", I see more "U" or maybe "J" shapes than "L" shapes ....

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Jan 15, 2022 10:46:45   #
wapiti Loc: round rock, texas
 
Robertl594 wrote:
All of my bodies have Really Right Stuff L brackets. They provide instant ability to mount my camera on my ball-head in both horizontal and vertical positions, as well as protection for the camera. Until a new body has an L bracket, the camera feels naked, like a meal without silverware. Like a camera without a lens, like a car without a steering wheel.



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Jan 15, 2022 10:52:55   #
Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore
 
I bought a cheaper light weight L bracket from Best Buy to use t
With my Olympus TG 6 on my tripod.

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Jan 15, 2022 11:01:39   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Ruthlessrider wrote:
I’ve search the archive, but have not found what I’m looking for, so I’m going to venture a question to the group. I shoot with my latest acquisition, an R5. I have a Monfrotto ball head on my tripod. I have read a number of articles about L-brackets, but the information really has not satisfied my curiosity about their use or why I would need one. I would appreciate responses that helped me understand how my photography would benefit from its use.


L-brackets traditionally were used to mount "potato masher" style flash units (Graflex, Metz, Heiland or Honeywell Strobonar, etc.) onto various cameras from Speed Graphics to TLRs, to 35mm rangefinders and SLRs.

More recently, some companies made L-brackets that would allow the camera to rotate while the flash remained stationary. These fell out of favor with all of us using shoe mount flashes with rectangular flash heads, as they were meant SOLELY for use with flash heads that have round reflectors. (The horizontally rectangular beam of the flash does not cover the full frame of most camera/lens combinations when the camera is vertical!) The 'Z' bracket (Stroboframe and its knock-offs) was a much better idea, as it would keep the flash reflector parallel with the film or sensor orientation in both horizontal and vertical positions, AND would center the flash over the lens in both orientations, to avoid shadows on the sides of subjects.

Still other L-brackets are meant for tripod use (no flash arm, just a 90° camera rotation adjustment). We used hundreds of those in the mid-2000s at the school portrait company I worked for. They had a rail system that also held a bellows lens shade with drop-in filter attachment for soft focus effect filters.

There are other designs, too, meant to speed up the attachment onto, and release of a camera from a tripod.

Frankly, if you walk into B&H, Adorama, or any large metropolitan area camera store, you're likely to see a dizzying array of gizmos that make certain photographic efforts easier. Many of them have the same generic terms applied to them...

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Jan 15, 2022 11:20:32   #
jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska
 
It's one those very useful tools that will make you wonder why you didn't purchase one years ago.

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Jan 15, 2022 11:56:25   #
BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh
 
All of the basics are covered by prior posts. I'd add a couple of detailed observations just to make you aware of them; these apply to the really right stuff (RRS) products which I use. They are a little more expensive than most but include the following:
1. Quick detatch points for QD hardware (straps or tethers) on all models.
2. Use of the camera body eyelet to better secure the bracket on some models. The downside to this on those models that have it is interference with standard strap attachment hardware. This is not a problem if you plan on leaving the bracket on but this can be irritating if you plan to frequently mount and dismount the bracket.

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Jan 15, 2022 12:23:24   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
Most tripod heads have a means of turning the camera from horizontal to vertical orientation. However, due to the designs of many tripod heads, doing so often makes for a somewhat unbalanced rig with the weight of the camera and lens flopped over to one side. It depends upon the specific head and tripod... some are better in the vertical orientation. But a lot aren't.

An L-bracket can solve this by allowing means of mounting the camera either horizontally or vertically. One "catch" is that you typically would want to be using a tripod head with an Arca-Swiss compatible quick release platform, as the vast majority of L-brackets are designed to be work with that. None I'm aware of are designed to accommodate any other type of QR system. But most L-brackets also provide standardized 1/4" threaded sockets to mount on tripod heads that don't have any QR.

There are "universal" L-brackets, but they can be a problem blocking some features of your camera, such as memory card and battery doors, various sockets for cables, or controls.

Better are L-brackets designed for a specific camera, which have cutouts that allow access to all the controls. In your case search for "Canon R5 L-bracket". If you have a battery grip (BG-R10) on your camera, it requires a different L-bracket than the camera without a grip. These fitted types of L-brackets may cost more but also typically have much better anti-twist features to prevent the camera from rotating and loosening from the L-bracket.

Personally I'm not a big fan of L-brackets and don't use them on most of my cameras. The good L-brackets usually ain't cheap and they add bulk to the camera, which is particularly noticeable with my larger DSLRs that have a battery grip installed. I have Arca-compatible camera plates on them and other means of mounting the camera vertically, if needed (specifically, a side-mount gimbal adapter... Wimberley Sidekick... though I primarily use that for it's original purpose).

However, I do use an L-bracket on a small mirrorless camera. Partially I do this because I plan to use the camera on a smaller, lighter weight travel tripod where the bracket is more important. Also, being accustomed to much larger DSLRs with battery grips I found that tiny mirrorless camera rather uncomfortable and actually appreciate the L-bracket "bulking it up" a little. Finally, I found a great deal on an L-bracket... Initially I was looking for an Arca-style camera plate for the camera. There are only a couple manufacturers making them and the prices were rather high. Then I found the Chinese-made L-bracket on a certain auction website at 1/3 the cost ($16 incl. shipping) and decided to give it a try. When it arrived after about a week I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality and fit of this bracket. It's even modular! I can remove two screws and convert it to a camera plate if I wish. And that tiny camera now feels more comfortable to me... and will be more stable when set to vertical orientation on a lightweight "travel" tripod.

I partially disagree with another response: There's little direct relationship between flash mounting brackets and L-brackets. There may be some "combos", but in most cases they are two different types of brackets that serve two different purposes. There ARE modular flash brackets designed to work with Arca-Swiss camera plates, lens plates and L-brackets. For example, I use several of Wimberley's flash bracket modules. I also have a several flash brackets I've customized to attach to Arca camera plates or L-brackets. And, yes, there are some flash brackets that allow reorientation of the camera and flash. Or in some cases even can facilitate vertical mounting of the camera on a tripod head. However, generally speaking L-brackets and flash brackets serve different purposes and have existed side by side for many decades.

Various types of brackets have been common in photography for just about as long as there has been photography. In addition to flash brackets and L-brackets, today we have "cages" that some videographers like to use, to allow various accessories to be attached to a camera (mikes, external viewfinders, grips, etc.). Back in the day there were "grips" that could be attached to many medium format cameras. Personally I have those for several vintage cameras in my collection... most do not help with reorienting the camera, but in some cases provide a mounting point for a flash and/or a shutter release. There also have been flash brackets with left-hand grips for 35mm SLRs offered for many years.

"...if you walk into B&H, Adorama, or any large metropolitan area camera store, you're likely to see a dizzying array of gizmos that make certain photographic efforts easier..."

That's certainly true!

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