AGO

I have a very old (at least 50 years) Cymon aluminum tripod. It is adequate for my needs but due to arthritis in my fingers I'm having difficulty attaching my camera to the tripod's head. I've been looking for a quick release setup that would work with this tripod. The ones I see advertised all seem to be for a specific brand of tripod or ball head. Does anyone know of a generic quick release system that might work?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Arca-Swiss has a standard 1/4-20 threaded hole for mounting to the tripod. They have various camera securing methods such as lever arm or thumb screw. The attachment to the camera is a standard 1/4-20 thread and that block is then captured by the component on the tripod.
--Bob

ashriverguy Loc: Rural Minnesota

I use the Manfrotto quick release system and I am happy with it. It is faster and and can be operated one handed. Some say it’s not heavy duty enough for large lenses and cameras, they might be right.

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

Here is a picture of one made by Really right stuff, a little over a hundred dollars. There are cheaper ones available, but I can't say anything about their quality. You will also need quick-release plate to go with it.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The lever release like the RRS image above is great, it's what I use with the matching dove-tail plates permanently on all my lens collars and L-plates on the camera bodies so everything clamps in quickly, easily, and without any re-mounting. But, make sure you can mount such a QR clamp to your ancient tripod. The standard screw sizes are the likely method, but do some homework on this question first before buying more equipment.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Here's the one I recommended.
--Bob

(Download)

bleirer

I think many of them come with thread inserts to adapt to other than standard tripods, so you should be covered.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Call B&H at 1-866-266-7120 and ask them, they will be very helpful and get you the right part.

pgiraudin3

I have been using the Giottos quick release for many years. It is still available at Amazon for less than $25 for the base and one camera plate. Extra plates are also available from B&H for around $13. It is very heavy duty and mounts with the standard 1/4 X 20 thread. Also has bubble levels for both horizontal and vertical applications.

gmar3180 Loc: Waxahachie, TX

Who makes it?

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I recently picked up an old Bogen tripod and head that I wanted to set up with an Arca-Swiss quick release. There are any number of adapters available for this purpose, but since the tripod & head cost me all of $10 I didn't want to spend very much. So I headed to eBay to see what I could find.

I ended up buying one like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Quick-Release-Clamp-1-4-to-3-8-Adapter-Screw-ARCA-Swiss-Standard/264888974993?hash=item3dac9cfe91:g:GsgAAOSw~5ZffAQh

That arrived in a few days and I was pleasantly surprised how nicely made it was! The existing 1/4" screw simply screws into the bottom of this QR adapter. Note: I will be drilling and tapping a second hole in it and the old platform of the tripod head, to be certain it can't loosen accidentally. I don't trust a single mounting screw. I suppose some red Locktite also could serve similar purpose, for a permanent installation (use blue Locktite instead if you ever anticipate wanting to remove it in the future).

The Arca-Swiss style system is by far the most common and universal type of QR. Many manufacturers make platforms and plates to fit them, as well as a wide variety of other products. While there is some small variation, for the large part they're fully compatible across a large number of brands. You can find adapters costing anywhere from $10 to $100. I wanted something pretty basic and saw no reason to spend very much on it (some years ago I spent a lot more for a more custom type of Arca platform to convert a ballhead).

As you can see, the adapter I got uses a thumbscrew to tighten and clamp onto the plate (which is in turn relatively permanently mounted on the bottom of the camera). Since you're concern is arthritis, you might prefer one with a lever that actuates the clamp mechanism instead. For example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/CL-50LS-QR-Clamp-Mount-Adapter-w-PU50-Plate-for-Arca-Swiss-Tripod-Sony-Canon/293788367069?hash=item446726b8dd:g:s30AAOSws9dfbrB2

There are many others to choose among. Here's an eBay search (which unfortunately can't be done without getting some other Arca-related items mixed in): https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=arca+swiss++adapter&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=arca+swiss+platform+adapter

Most of those adapter platforms come with a "generic" or "universal" plate to use on the camera. Those often rely upon a bit of rubber to keep them from loosening. The generic plates might work, but can loosen under certain circumstances, particularly if you use longer, heavier lenses that put some torque on the mounting point. That can lead to the camera "drooping" when the plate loosens or even be risky if you often carry or move around the tripod with the camera already mounted on it. Depending upon what camera you need it for, there may be a better "custom fitted" Arca plate available for it. This is where you might want to spend more money for something better. They typically cost around $50, but sometimes there are bargains for these, too.

For example, recently I was looking for an custom fitted "anti-twist" Arca plate to use on a Canon M5 mirrorless camera. There aren't a lot of them made and most cost $40 to $50. However, once again I looked on eBay and found one similar to, but cheaper than this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminium-Vertical-Shooting-L-Plate-Bracket-Holder-Grip-For-Canon-EOS-M5-EOS-M5/333744752145?hash=item4db4bcc611:g:djoAAOSwwD1d7Q0Z

The above is a type of Arca camera plate called an "L-bracket". While they are a bit larger than the simple, bottom mounting plates, an L-bracket provides two mounting points: one to orient the camera horizontally, the other vertically. This is particularly handy when using a ballhead, because either mounting positions the camera nicely balanced atop the ballhead, rather than having to "flop" it off to one side where the rig can be unbalanced. The L-bracket that I ended up buying actually cost less ($16) and is a little more streamlined or compact than the one shown at the link above. And it is modular. The end piece can be removed so that only the fitted bottom plate is used on the camera. While this L-bracket was also made in and sold from China, I was once again pleasantly surprised how quickly it arrive, how good fitting and well made it was! (Also, none of the more expensive options was a modular L-bracket. For almost triple the price, they were only bottom plates.)

Of course, unless you are shooting with a Canon M5 too, the above isn't the right bracket for your cameras. But there are similar for being made for many different specific camera models. If you want one search online, on eBay, on Amazon, at the major camera stores (B&H lists over 1500 different types of plates from more than 100 different manufacturers). Over the years, I've used custom-fitted camera and lens plates, as well as various other accessories from Wimberley, Kirk Photo, Hejnar Photo, Really Right Stuff, Dolica, Smith-Victor and several "no name" Chinese manufacturers.

Hope this helps!

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

eBay has the Chinese versions of the Arca-Swiss quick release clamps for under $15. May not be as good as RRS, but they are a lot cheaper.