L Bracket - Simple Accessory that packs a punch!
Calling all my fellow landscape photographers - do you find yourself getting frustrated when trying to change orientation from landscape to portrait in a hurry only to miss THE shot when the light exploded! The disappointment when your image is blurry and out of focus due to your ball head sagging in the drop notch position as a result of the weight of your camera and lens - I know those feelings only too well BUT little did I know that a simple accessory would fix that in a heartbeat!
Introducing the L Bracket
This simple bracket (orange bracket in photos below) allows you to change from portrait (vertical) to landscape (horizontal) simply by loosening and tightening one screw - done!
Connecting to your camera
The L bracket simply screws into the tripod mount at the bottom of your camera body which in turn attaches to your tripod using an Arca-Swiss compatible ball head (I use the Kirk BH1) - simple as that.
Below illustrates how my Canon 5D Mark IV would attach to my Gitso GT2545T tripod!
3 Pros to make the change
Apart from the obvious time wasting there are other factors to consider:
The most important reason for me is there will be no lowering of sharpness in your images due to the ball head sagging in the drop notch position due to the weight of the camera and lens.
Improved stitching of Panoramas (esp. portrait orientation) - this is due to more precise rotation in the nodal-point axis (ie prevent warping).
Composition will change in portrait orientation in the drop notch position (right image below) as the camera is far lower than in landscape orientation (left image below)
** Photo credit to Nando Harmsen
Cons
I would be remiss if I did not point out that most L Brackets impede the access to the battery door and the ports on the side of your camera (ie cable release) - however these are being addressed in the updated versions being released.
Which one to buy
A few of the popular brands sporting L Brackets - each with their own price range of course:
RRS (Really Right Stuff)
3 Legged Thing (I use the QR11-LC) - LOVE it and I have it in funky orange!
Sirui
Kirk
Have you ordered your L Bracket yet ?
Till next time…