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Author Topic: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or SmallRig or Gitzo?  (Read 3041 times)

datro

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L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or SmallRig or Gitzo?
« on: December 29, 2018, 06:23:18 pm »

Any recommendations on which bracket is best?

I have a new a7rIII and 24-70 GM lens and I'm looking for the best bracket to use for mounting on my RRS BH-55 ball head with arca swiss style quick mount.

I have used RRS brackets in the past, but I note that the RRS bracket for the Sony requires that the battery door be removed and mounted into the bracket itself (which also has a rubber seal for the battery compartment).  Just wondering if this setup works reliably.  The Kirk bracket seems more straightforward and is one solid piece vs. the two-piece RRS (the L-part bolts on).

Also, the 24-70 GM lens is pretty heavy.  Can anyone recommend a 3rd-party tripod collar for this lens?

Dave
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 10:31:45 am by datro »
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charles.woodrich

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2018, 07:04:16 pm »

I have the RRS bracket for my a7R3 and it works well.  Removing and replacing the battery door is not difficult and it fits very well.  Haven't tried the Kirk bracket.
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hogloff

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2018, 01:19:50 pm »

I have the RRS bracket and find the need to remove and attach the battery door a pain in the ass. Don't understand what RRS was going after with this design...I've used plenty of other RRS brackets and they worked very nicely...this one, not so much.

I also don't believe the battery doors on the cameras are designed or manufactured to be removed and attached all that much...point of breakage after prolonged use.

I actually just leave the batter door attached now when using the bracket...but the pain now is when replacing the battery I have to remove the bracket as well.

Not a good design overall.
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E.J. Peiker

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2018, 01:24:39 pm »

The battery compartment is not obstructed in any way with the Kirk bracket.
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DP

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2018, 07:02:09 pm »

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datro

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2018, 10:30:48 am »

Didn't know about SmallRig... looks interesting.  I've also discovered that B&H carries a bracket made by Gitzo for this camera.  It looks really well made, although a bit on the expensive side.  So it seems we have RRS, Kirk, SmallRig, and Gitzo as options.

@DP:  Do you actually use the SmallRig bracket?  I've seen some comments that it doesn't fit snug enough to the camera.  Any comments on that?

Thanks all for the comments so far.  For now I've eliminated RRS, so any further comments on Kirk, SmallRig, or Gitzo are welcome.
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DP

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2018, 12:00:48 pm »

@DP:  Do you actually use the SmallRig bracket?  I've seen some comments that it doesn't fit snug enough to the camera.  Any comments on that?

I'd concur w/ JKasson's review

https://blog.kasson.com/a7riii/sony-a7iii-a9-a7riii-smallrig-camera-plate/


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DP

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2018, 12:08:36 pm »

For now I've eliminated RRS, so any further comments on Kirk, SmallRig, or Gitzo are welcome.

SmallRig and RRS are making your grip better with small Sony bodies... Kirk and Gitzo do not make your grip better... so if you eliminated RRS, neither Kirk nor Gitzo are actually worth their money...
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hogloff

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2018, 02:51:15 pm »

SmallRig and RRS are making your grip better with small Sony bodies... Kirk and Gitzo do not make your grip better... so if you eliminated RRS, neither Kirk nor Gitzo are actually worth their money...

Except for those of us that uh... Use the bracket to attach with a ball head. Personally I'd never add weight and bulk to my A7R2 by using a bracket while hand holding. One of the big reasons I went mirrorless was for the weight and bulk reduction...adding more of each just seems dumb to me.

Want big and bulky...use a DSLR.
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E.J. Peiker

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2018, 03:15:04 pm »

Except for those of us that uh... Use the bracket to attach with a ball head. Personally I'd never add weight and bulk to my A7R2 by using a bracket while hand holding. One of the big reasons I went mirrorless was for the weight and bulk reduction...adding more of each just seems dumb to me.

Want big and bulky...use a DSLR.
+1
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DP

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2018, 04:19:52 pm »

Want big and bulky...use a DSLR.

dear, I want dSLM - if you are not getting the simple point that dSLM is not about the smaller size but about "M" vs "R" then I am sorry...
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charles.woodrich

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2018, 06:15:35 pm »

I have the RRS bracket and find the need to remove and attach the battery door a pain in the ass. Don't understand what RRS was going after with this design...I've used plenty of other RRS brackets and they worked very nicely...this one, not so much.

I also don't believe the battery doors on the cameras are designed or manufactured to be removed and attached all that much...point of breakage after prolonged use.

I actually just leave the batter door attached now when using the bracket...but the pain now is when replacing the battery I have to remove the bracket as well.

Not a good design overall.

If you leave your bracket on you only have to do it once.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 08:13:26 pm by charles.woodrich »
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hogloff

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #12 on: December 31, 2018, 08:44:08 pm »

dear, I want dSLM - if you are not getting the simple point that dSLM is not about the smaller size but about "M" vs "R" then I am sorry...

Maybe for you smaller size / weight means nothing...but it is what dragged me from my Canon DSLR based system to a Sony kit where I saved at least 40% in weight and bulk. If you like adding excess weight and bulk to your camera...go for it...but don't imply I don't know exactly why I moved to a mirrorless system.
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hogloff

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #13 on: December 31, 2018, 08:46:50 pm »

If you leave your bracket on you only have to do it once.

Why would I want to do that...adding weight and bulk, making placing the camera onto a table unstable. I never left my l-plate on my medium format cameras, my DSLR cameras...why the hell should I have to leave it on my Sony camera?
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charles.woodrich

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or RRS?
« Reply #14 on: December 31, 2018, 09:22:46 pm »

Why would I want to do that...adding weight and bulk, making placing the camera onto a table unstable. I never left my l-plate on my medium format cameras, my DSLR cameras...why the hell should I have to leave it on my Sony camera?

Down boy!  I wasn't proposing one way of doing things over another.  I was just offering an observation.
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datro

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Re: L-Bracket for Sony a7RIII - Kirk or SmallRig or Gitzo?
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2019, 05:32:26 pm »

Closing the loop on this thread:  I decided to go with the Kirk bracket, and I replaced the Lever-Release clamp on my RRS BH-55 ballhead with the RRS B2-Pro II Screw-Knob clamp.  Everything works perfectly.  I now have the benefit of being able to use practically any arca-swiss plate from any manufacturer, and the screw-knob clamp is 15% lighter and can actually clamp more tightly than the lever-release clamp (according to RRS).
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