Arca Swiss L-Bracket (Plate) Options for the Nikon D600…
by Rodney Campbell on Nov.11, 2012, under Life, Photography
As a follow up to my post regarding Arca Swiss L-Bracket (Plate) options for my D7000 – I’ve updated with options for the Nikon D600 🙂
First up to set some expectations:
– I have a Nikon D600, D7000 (and a D90 which I don’t use much :))
– I often shoot landscapes/seascapes (& macro) and do shoot quite a few verticals so the L-Plates prime ability to switch orientations without having to flop over the ballhead is attractive
– I often use a wired remote release (even my wireless one still plugs a dongle into the wired side port) so I *need* to still be able to open and access the small lower side door of the camera (don’t really care about the large upper doors). I’m presuming that even with the door open and the cable in I can still mount the camera vertically more towards the edge of the arca clamp with the cable going past the clamp edge
– Note when I say I want to be able to open the side door with the plate on I don’t mean open the door first and then put the plate on (which all can do) but rather leave the plate on and open and close the side flaps whenever I want
– The intent would be to use the L Plate as per expected and leave it on the camera almost permanently (unless I mount the Battery Grip which is like maybe twice a year)
I’m aware of at least the following L-Brackets which should fit the D600 (in decreasing order of price):
ReallyRightStuff BD600-L $US140 + Delivery
– their site says: “not compatible with Nikon’s LCD screen protector”
Kirk BL-D600 US$135 + Delivery($32 international from B&H)
– their site says: “allows use of the Nikon LCD screen cover” 🙂
ProMediaGear PLND600 US$130 + Delivery($19 international)
– a two piece design which also allows use of the Nikon LCD screen cover
Hejnar Photo D600 L Bracket US$95 + Delivery($20 international)
or his Universal L Bracket for around the same price
– their site says: “left side door cannot be accessed with this bracket mounted against camera”
Sunwayfoto Universal L Plate Wide Base DPL-04 (or DPL-03) US$89+33
The upside for most of the D600 model specific plates are they fit like a glove on the D600, the downside is that they basically can’t be reused on other camera bodies and there appear to be issues with some models where you can’t (or it’s extremely difficult to) open the side doors in the field (and if so could be a deal breaker for me)
An upside with the two part plates is you can use the lower plate by itself (like a standard arca plate)
The upside for the universal plate (and even some model specific two part plates) is you can often use it on other bodies and most also allow you to slightly offset the side plate further from the body allowing you to open the side door – however you don’t get a snug fit and having the side plate offset quite a way (one or two cm) from the side of the camera is likely to be crap in practical every day terms
November 22nd, 2012 on 1:00 pm
There is another option here:
http://store.promediagear.com/Nikon-D600-Body-L-Bracket-_p_124.html
November 22nd, 2012 on 2:58 pm
Thanks for that Glenn – I was wondering whether they would bring out an option
July 3rd, 2013 on 5:03 am
Sunwayfoto will soon release a D600-specific L-bracket, PNL-D600.
http://www.sunwayfoto.com/e_goodsDetail.aspx?gId=1202
Thanks for the round-up!