Tripod to dove tail

[Robert Knoll]

Good Morning,
How are you seniors switching quickly between your dove tail and tripod? I have the Sachtler touch and go plate attached to the cheese plate and the cheese plate bolted to the bottom plate. But now to go to the dove tail I have to unbolt the hole thing to slide the dove tail in. Is there an easier way? I must be missing something here.....

Thanks again!

 

[Robert Knoll]

Are you bolting the touch and go directly to the bottom of the dove tail and not using the cheese plate? That seems like it would work but that is a lot of weight on two screws and not much surface area!

 

[ericyoung]

I bolt the touch and go plate direct to the shoulder dovetail, and use the two holes furthest apart if your model of plate allows that. Failing that, use the two possible holes closest to the middle of the dovetail to minimise stress on the dovetail. Don't let the touch and go plate protrude over the padded bit, so you can still use it as a handheld shoulder pad). Two 3/8" screws is all that normally holds cameras onto the tripods and it's fine.

Quite a lot of people say that the shoulder dovetail is insufficiently rigid, which is where the RED cheeseplate comes in, but I've never had a problem mounting it from the shoulder dovetail, but I tend to only have light to medium weight RED rigs on it.

The RED cheeseplate is rigid and stronger and you might want to use that for heavyweight rigs or when hanging it over a height! But as you found it's hardly fast or convenient. Most people eventually trade up to an Element Technica (ET) bottom plate and ET dovetail, or get the Allstar dovetail to fit the RED bottom plate instead.

I eventually got the ET stuff, but sanded off the top edges of the shoulder dovetail so it fits the ET bottom plate too - it's a handy cheap shoulder pad for handheld, and can save you buying the ET dovetail if you never use very heavy camera rigs.

 

[Robert Knoll]

Thanks Eric! I will check out your suggestions.
Have a good one!

 

[ericyoung]

Note, it's also possible to lock the shoulder dovetail further forward or backward to help with forward/backward balancing on the tripod head if the tripod sliding plate runs out of range (line up the dovetail locking disc with the holes in the RED bottom plate or you may have to use a hammer to get it off again).

It also has no mechanism to stop the camera sliding off the ends completely - so have a good grip on the camera handle when adjusting the dovetail with the camera mounted. I try not to lock the dovetail too near the ends of the RED bottom plate to avoid it falling off too easily when releasing it!

 

[Robert Knoll]

A hammer is right! Must be a way to make it more friendly! My girlfriends would be jealous!

 

[ericyoung]

Also, you can mount the shoulder dovetail "facing" forward or backwards, which can also help with tripod balancing, or shoulder mount balancing.

 

[Robert Knoll]

One important point I did not research is the total weight of the rig. OMG!