http://www.markinsamerica.com/MA5/LN700.php


http://www.markinsamerica.com/MA5/M20.php?req=M20LK


not sure I love their lever design, but that L-bracket looks just as nice as RRS whose always had better looking brackets over kirk. It's at least nice to have some cometition there. That plate is the same price as the kirk:
http://www.kirkphoto.com/L-bracket_for_Nikon_D700.html
and $10 less than the RSS:
http://reallyrightstuff.com/rrs/Item...D700-L&eq=&Tp=
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That L-bracket looks nice! I have been looking at the RRS one for my D700. Will definitely look into this one as well.

I know you have mentioned it before, and you love it so much, but is the L bracket really that great? I understand it lets you keep the composition to a point, but I just feel when I switch from landscape to portrait, the comp changes and I need to move the tripod anyways.

Is it because it puts the camera higher up and the legs out of view when using a UWA? Just easier than tilting the tripod head sideways?

it's just much easier/faster -vs- flopping a head over. Plus, to flop a head, there's generally a notch for the post that holds the clamp. That has to be rotated in the direction you want to angle the camera... So it's just fussy w/o the bracket really.

Once you've used an L-bracket, going back SUCKS. I've had to do it, on a paid shoot no less, because I'd taken my plate off and forgot it. Using the old method works, but it's just a massive PITA once you've done it this way.

http://reallyrightstuff.com/QR/05.html

Too bad they don't have an L for a 5DMKII w/ grip.. I'm sure it'll come, but why not have them at the same time?

yeah, I only use my brackets on my ungripped body anyway. Have you seen the added cost on a gripped L-bracket ?

but yeah, then I'm shooting on a tripod I'm much more concerned about size/weight thant a second release. So for me it's 2 different setups which can be a PITA, but that's how it works for me.

If I had two 5Ds I'd just got for that.. but unfortunately that's not the case lol

or, right, the 5Dii grip has the stalk, so taking it off is a PITA right?

and I shoot verticals more than half the time....

Centering the load makes it completely sensible to me now.

Not 130 dollars sensible, but it makes sense.

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

or, right, the 5Dii grip has the stalk, so taking it off is a PITA right?

Yea.. and you take the battery door off when you're using the grip, and gotta put it back on when you're not.. basically.. I wouldn't want to switching back and forth. Of course I could just plan it out.. but I'd rather be able to just slap that puppy on a tripod if necessary.. aka I'd leave the l-plate on my body at all times.

Originally Posted by jjswee

Centering the load makes it completely sensible to me now.

Not 130 dollars sensible, but it makes sense.

don't forget the clamp in that #.

Originally Posted by Blazin

Yea.. and you take the battery door off when you're using the grip, and gotta put it back on when you're not.. basically.. I wouldn't want to switching back and forth. Of course I could just plan it out.. but I'd rather be able to just slap that puppy on a tripod if necessary.. aka I'd leave the l-plate on my body at all times.

yeah, I hate extra crap on my body, that's where the nikon grip is so nice. You just have to store the rubber cover on the grip and it spins on/off the body w/o doing anything to the battery/door. I generally leave my plate on, but on the weekends I've been doing FPS shooting with the grip, so I've left the camera with nothing on it during the week which I really like...

Originally Posted by Kilonad

but.... grips rock. why would you take it off, unless you really really needed to save weight? vertical shutter release is worth the added bulk for me.

+1, but don't forget Ben uses his for FPS upgrade.. so that's his need.

yeah, I just prefer the smaller size w/o the grip for some reason. You only get 3 benefits from a grip the way I see it. The added button which I never remember to use. The added FPS which is the only reason I use one. And the added battery life which isn't a universal plus... If you're using 2 of the same batteries and just adding a second, that's no better battery life -vs- having the same two in your pocket, it just means you don't have to switch them yourself. If you're using a D3 or AA stalk in a D700 grip, THEN you actually get more shots and ONE normal D700 battery, PLUS you get the other in the body, so you actually extend your range to ~3k shots instead of ~2k with 2 batteries. But if you're just using 2 normal batteries that's no different than having one in your pocket IMHO.

but yeah, it's all about the reduced bulk for me. With a x0D body or rebel I might want one more, but the 5Dii and D700 sized bodies are great w/o their grips. Or at least not enough better to want to deal with the size. My bags are always slim bags though which gripped or pro bodies don't play nicely with. The UD30 can just take a gripped body, but it's not super easy.

Yea, I didn't think I needed a grip til I shot 6 hours without one in portrait mode with a 70-200 2.8 on the front.. can you say tired? lol Now with that combo and a grip.. much more comfortable, less fatigue, more thought goes into the shots, more keepers... wins all around.

what they hell are you shooting for 6 hours straight with a 70-200 only?
at that point I'd consider primes and a comfy bag for them...

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

what they hell are you shooting for 6 hours straight with a 70-200 only?
at that point I'd consider primes and a comfy bag for them...

70-200 only? Neg, but primarily.. It was a wedding.. very odd in fact.. The bride and groom wanted me there but didn't want to be photographed.. but paid me to photograph them. I know that makes no effing sense, but they would turn if they caught me shooting them and I don't mean close I mean with an 85mm.. so not like in your face wide prime close.

So I resorted to indoor paparazzi guerrilla type techniques that I think turned out reasonably well, but in the end I was sitting there with the 70-200 mounted 85% of the time to get candids and the shots they wanted but didn't want to be a part of..

yeah i dunno, any time i shoot a vertical, if i even loose my MIND and try to shoot with my hand in the air i get an immediate tingle in my fingers.
I have ALWAYS loved VG's. My hands fit the camera better, feel more stable (more mass), Vertical release, more batteries...Except on my EOS-10s, that had a funky ass, nonflat, non-batteried grip :P
and since i Always use the grip, i LOVE the markins plates because i dont notice them under my grip when i shoot, even if i leave the plate on!
RRS and Kirk both make their much more "square" and the edges make it VERY uncomfortable.
This is the reason I have, as of yet, not bought a L bracket (that and the price)
I am VERY interested in the Markins plate, and new level thing.
might be making a purchase!

^ the A2e grip was kinda similar to that. It was flatish on the bottom but tapered on the far edge.

see, even after owning a 1 series for ~2 years, I never adjusted to the second button. I'd shoot over half my verts using the normal shutter anyway. I guess my brains just stubborn.

lets put it this was, shooting with just the normal shutter, even vertically is much less awkward to me than NOT having the L-bracket. I fight with my head so much when I forget my bracket.