Arca Swiss B2 monoball - plate advice?
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PAUL O
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Arca Swiss B2 monoball - plate advice?
Hi. just wondering if anyone is using an Arca-Swiss B2 monoball? If so, any recommendations as to a suitable plate for use with an Ebony? This model is the version with the lever-lock. TIA Paul
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Dave Tolcher
Re: Arca Swiss B2 monoball - plate advice?
I have a B1 and use a long (6inch)chinese plate from ebay which screws in to both holes of the SV45TE. When I had a 45S with one hole I used one of the Foba plates from Speedgraphic. Has a nice wide base, good screw with a slot so a 2p piece tightens it and cheap !PAUL O wrote:Hi. just wondering if anyone is using an Arca-Swiss B2 monoball? If so, any recommendations as to a suitable plate for use with an Ebony? This model is the version with the lever-lock. TIA Paul
http://www.speedgraphic.co.uk/prod.asp? ... e+3%2F8%22
or its 1/4in version.
Dave
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George Hart
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Paul, the B2 is the biggie, right?! I guess it has the same "ARCA universal" plate that's found on the smaller units, in which case there are plates available from the usual sources eg RRS, Kirk. I have a RRS B22 plate which fits the Ebony 45S and SV57 (back thread) just fine. If I remember correctly you have the 45SU and ?RSW45, and I should think that this plate would fit both. I can give you dimensions if you wish, just send me an email.
Best wishes,
George
Best wishes,
George
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Emmanuel Bigler
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A/S B2, this model is the version with the Flip-Lock®
This model is the version with the lever-lock.
Hello from France !
Congratulations, Paul for you B2 ! If you have any questions I think I should be able to answer; I do not have a B2 but I know a professional Alsatian architecture photographer who only swears by the B2, and if this connection would prove inefficient, I live 5 minutes drive from the A/S European headquarters
Paul, you probably mean the Arca Swiss (A/S) Flip-Lock® device.
If so, my recommendation would be to standardise your dovetail plates to one manufacturer only.
The reason is simple: in order to work properly, the flip-lock clamp requires a tiny tolerance on the dovetail width. Different manufacturers, although if they claim to be A/S-compatible, may not use exactly the same width.
The question is irrelevant with traditional clamps where you tighten with a big knurled knob, there is no need for any fine-tuning of the system.
For the Flip-Lock, when you release the lever, the lever stops at an angle of 90° where the dovetail plate is allowed to slide back and forth but cannot be lifted up. In order to free the dovetail totally, you have to catch the knurled stem (??) inside the lever with your thumbnail.
The double-action principle requires a proper setting of the jaws. In order to accommodate for different plate manufacturers, A/S has built-in a fine-tuning screw. You should check that you have this fine-tuning screw and eventually fine-tune it to the actual dovetail plate you'll use. But since you do not want to change the setting of the fine-tuning screw all the time, the best is to select all your dovetail plates of exactly of the same width; hence, probably, all from the same manufacturer.
Personally I use both the older "manual" A/S clamp and the newer A/S Flip-Lock device, but since I only use A/S plates (a kind of belt-plus-suspenders approach ), so far the problem evoked above is, for me, purely an academic problem of mechanical engineering
Hello from France !
Congratulations, Paul for you B2 ! If you have any questions I think I should be able to answer; I do not have a B2 but I know a professional Alsatian architecture photographer who only swears by the B2, and if this connection would prove inefficient, I live 5 minutes drive from the A/S European headquarters
Paul, you probably mean the Arca Swiss (A/S) Flip-Lock® device.
If so, my recommendation would be to standardise your dovetail plates to one manufacturer only.
The reason is simple: in order to work properly, the flip-lock clamp requires a tiny tolerance on the dovetail width. Different manufacturers, although if they claim to be A/S-compatible, may not use exactly the same width.
The question is irrelevant with traditional clamps where you tighten with a big knurled knob, there is no need for any fine-tuning of the system.
For the Flip-Lock, when you release the lever, the lever stops at an angle of 90° where the dovetail plate is allowed to slide back and forth but cannot be lifted up. In order to free the dovetail totally, you have to catch the knurled stem (??) inside the lever with your thumbnail.
The double-action principle requires a proper setting of the jaws. In order to accommodate for different plate manufacturers, A/S has built-in a fine-tuning screw. You should check that you have this fine-tuning screw and eventually fine-tune it to the actual dovetail plate you'll use. But since you do not want to change the setting of the fine-tuning screw all the time, the best is to select all your dovetail plates of exactly of the same width; hence, probably, all from the same manufacturer.
Personally I use both the older "manual" A/S clamp and the newer A/S Flip-Lock device, but since I only use A/S plates (a kind of belt-plus-suspenders approach
), so far the problem evoked above is, for me, purely an academic problem of mechanical engineering