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Disclosure
How to step up your landscape photography equipment for a few bucks
Today, I would like to talk about an L-Bracket, this thing. Until quite recently, I had no idea about who or what they were.
So if you feel like the unenlightened me, this short post is for you. Bear with me for a moment.
I’m not going to bore you with a loooong Wikipedia-like description of what it is.
I would never use a sentence like: “L-Plate (also called L-Bracket) is an L-shaped piece of metal specifically designed for photography that replaces the quick release plate for your tripod and can be turned 90 degrees up the side of the camera so you can attach the side or bottom of the camera to the tripod”.
I mean, no, I would never write such lengthy balderdash. Ever.
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I would rather say something like: “If you’re a photographer (and use a tripod), go out and get an L-Bracket! NOW!”.
But seriously, an L-Bracket is one of the best investments you can do. And compared to other photography equipment, it is ridiculously cheap. So cheap you can give it to someone as a gift.
Unless you go for the very finest from the stable called Three Legged Thing.
The prices often start at what you pay for one coffee session at Starbucks. And trust me – it is highly likely that you won’t need anything more expensive than that.
Here are my 5 reasons why to get an L-Plate:
1. It is so damn fast to fit an L-Bracket to your tripod
No more of that annoying screwing-to-the-tiny-plate-and-fitting-it-to-the-ball-head nonsense. Leave the old quick-release plate home!
L-Brackets are made to literally replace the old-fashioned Arca Swiss plate. Any standard tripod / ball head has something called Arca Swiss clamp – that means you can attach almost any L-Shape Bracket to almost any tripod.
As long as it has that clamp!
2. Shooting vertically like a maestro
My personal reason for buying this thing. If you have a heavy camera and a long lens, try shooting vertically without an L-Plate.
What necessarily happens is that your camera WILL slowly sink until it kind of unscrews and ruins either the picture or itself.
No matter how hard you fasten your camera to the Arca Swiss plate. The L-Bracket solution to this problem is sublimely elegant.
3. A better balance of your camera set-up
Because you can slide your camera on the ball head a bit, L-Brackets will give you a wider range of fitting positions on your tripod.
As a result, you can achieve a more stable tripod set-up. Especially important, if you use a small light travel tripod like this one.
4. Camera protection
If you’re still laughing about the L-shaped piece of metal, think about this: Your camera worth thousands-of-dollar augmented by an L-shaped piece of metal.
Like Robocop. Let the thought sink.
5. You can use your L-Bracket as a self-defence tool (= boomerang)
Hey, still laughing? Then you’re lost, buddy. Eat this:
Very interesting article however the L bracket is not always the most inexpensive accessory for some cameras. I have Nikon D780 and most supplier do not stock or carry for my camera. I discovered that the Nikon D750 L bracket will work, however the L bracket will not you access to the left side of the camera location with access to the microphone, HMDI or the port for shutter release.
One manufacturer offers a special L bracket for the Nikon D 780 for $149.00. This not cheap for aluminum bracket. Any ideas?
Hello Rich, your’re right. And that’s a juicy price tag for sure! I use one of the cheap “universal” brackets which also blocks some of the ports. Nevertheless, if I leave some space on the side (so the L-Bracket doesn’t touch the side of the camera), I still get some decent stability and at the same time, it is possible to get at least to the microphone/remote. However, If I used the ports more often, I’d probably pay the hefty price for the extra comfort at some point. š