Arca Swiss style plates and clamp cross reference (last updated 2015-11-21)

All claim to be Arca Swiss compatible, but looking at them in detail, one can see that this is not always true.

The dovetail plates have slight width, height and slant variations that can lead to incompatible combinations.

In addition, some vendors have lever clamps that work only over a smaller width/height range then their knob based clamps.
This table covers only knob based clamps unless otherwise noted.

General dovetail shapes are used by other vendors as well, but with measures pronouncedly more different
so that I do not want to put them in the table as they are not even meant to be Arca compatible.

If you have any first hand experience as to which clamps work with which plates, please e-mail me at afx@afximages.com so that I can update the table.

And if you are an AfterShot user, you might want to check my latest project, The AfterShot Survival Guide at http://aftershotsurvivalguide.com/.




Clamps:

Acratech

Arca Swiss

Benro/Induro

Burzynski/
Graf

Feisol

FLM

Foba

Giottos

Graf

Hama
(Pro Plate)

Kirk

Markins

Novoflex

PhotoClam

Pro Media Gear

RRS

Sunway

Wimberley

Plates:

Safety catch

Pin


Lever pin

Lever

Lever pin

Lever


Pin




Pin

Pin






Acratech

Pin groove

works

works




too small

works




works





works (only in screw clamps, not in lever)


works

Arca Swiss


works

works



works


works


works

works









Benro/Induro

Pin groove



works


works (safety pin not effective)




works



Works (pin does not catch)

QR-1 works in Q-Mount

Induro PHQ1 might not work with Castel L


works

works



Burzynski



works


works





works

works

works

works mostly (one reports of a plate which is too small)

works



works


works

Feisol

Ping groove


works

works (safety pin not effective)


works








works in Castel-Q






FLM

locking groove for FLM/Graf




FLM plates work in Graf clamp. Safety catch works, but plate is off center.


works


plate too narrow



plate too narrow

plate too narrow

works in Q-Mount, not Q-base


plate too narrow

plate too narrow



Foba








works





works







Giottos









Works sliding in




works

Not in Castel-Q





works

Graf

locking groove for FLM/Graf


Too narrow


works


plate too narrow



works










Kirk

Stopper screws

works

works

works (after removal of safety pin for some heads, some can keep it)


works (safety pin not effective)

plate too high


works sliding in, but not in all Giotto clamps (sample variance)


works

works

works

L-Bracket not in older Castel-Q

Q-Mount, Q-Base work

LRP-1- QPL-2 works


works

works

works

works

Markins

Pin groove



works after removal of safety pin


works

too small

works

works



works

works

works also in Q-Base and Castel-Q


works

works


Some plates slip through
(too narrow / thin)

Novoflex



works

mostly works after removal of safety pin

Qplate might not work in B00

Induro PHQ1 does not work with Castel L

works


works


works sliding in

works

works

works

works

works



works mostly (screw only) QPL3 does not fit in B2pro

QP-2 slides through DDC-1G

works

PhotoClam




too thick








works



works





Pro Media Gear

Stopper screws

works


works








works

works



works

works


works

RRS

Stopper screws

works

works




plate too high

works

works after removal of safety pin


works

works

works

Works, Not in older Castel-Q



works


works

Sunway

















too wide for lever clamp



Wimberley

Stopper screws

works

works






works sliding in


works


works

works



works


works



If a clamp works with various of the more well known plates and vice versa, the chances are,
it will work in other combinations that have a high “works” ratio in the table above.

The measures below can be used as an indication whether a plate might fit into a clamp.
What is not shown there is the height of the lower edge and the angle (usually 45°).

The measures have been taken by helpful readers. Although provided at one decimal place after the point,
they might not be as accurate as this indicates, not everybody is a guru with a sliding ruler, least of all me ;-)
(the measures I received on one and the same clamp vary by 0.5mm) and the clamps are not easy to measure accurately when open.
Still, it should give you good indication.



Vendor

Web site

Plate
Styles

Plate Width
lower / upper edge height
(mm)

Clamp opening
top
bottom
height (mm)

Comments

Acratech

http://acratech.net/

CC, P, PR, GAT



The stopper pin of the plates might be annoying in non Acratech clamps that do not have a hollow bottom.

Arca Swiss

http://www.arca-shop.de


P


33.4 – 37.6 / 34.1 – 38.6
39.2 – 43.4 / 39.5 – 44.0
4.5

The classic. Clamp measures are from the 60mm and 84mm versions. Measurement shows sample variation.

Benro/

http://www.photopal.co.uk/

P

38.0 / 32.8

5.0

33.9 – 35.8
39.1 – 41.8
4.5

Stopper pin in clamp might need to be removed for other plates to work.

I do have reports about Benro L plates not working with the DJ90.

Burzynski

No Internet contact, address:

Rainer Burzynski
Naturfotografie Spezial-Zubehör
Am Hufeisenstich 1
D-16792 Zehdenick
Telefon: +49-330 80/4 05 70
Telefax: +49-330 80/4 07 70

L, P, LRF, LCR

39.5 / 32.6


30.4 – 34.5

37.4 – 41.5

N/A

Custom mounting systems (he will custom produce lens support systems etc...). Request the catalog by phone or fax. Some products are also available via Isarphoto: http://www.isarfoto.com/

Delkin Devices

http://delkin.com/

PR


33.6 – 38.6

37.2 – 43.2

N/A

The company offers various vehicle mounts.

Feisol

http://www.feisol.com/

PR

38.1 / N/A

5.0

N/A- – 34.4
N/A- – 41.0
4


FLM

http://www.flm-gmbh.de/

P

38.8 / 28.0

4.9

31.5 – 34.0
37.0 – 41.0
4.3

The plates are about 1mm too narrow/thin for most other clamps apart from Graf/Novoflex. If you must absolutely put an FLM plate in one of the other clamps. putting an old credit card underneath it helps. (Ok, I would not trust it with a 600/4, but for small stuff...) Thanks Olli for that tip, I tried it, works nicely.

It might be that newer FLM gear works better, see the dpreview.

Foba

http://www.sinarbron.com/

P

38.7 / 32.3

5

MF:

38.75 / 32.3

5.15

N/A – 33.2

N/A – 38

3.85


Giottos

http://www.giottos.com/

PR, GAT

39.0 / 34.2

4.9

34.6 – 36.6 / 36.8 (sample variance)

39.3 – 41.4

3.9

Saftey pin on clamp needs to be removed for many plates from other vendors.

Gitzo

http://www.gitzo.com/

P



Gitzo also offers a clamp which is Arca compatible, the G1387 series 2. Their type C plates might be Arca compatible, but the catalog really does not say.

Graf

No Website



30.7 – 35.0
N/A
4.5

Modified Graf clamps are available via Burzynski/Isarphoto.

Hama

http://www.hama.co.uk/




As far as I know only a clamp is available.

Kirk

http://www.kirkphoto.com/

CL, CC, C, GAT, LRF, LCR

38.1 / 32.8
5.2

33.7 – 39.6
39.0 – 45.2
4.3

The stopper screws at the end of the plates might need to be removed to fit into some clamps when sliding in sideways.

Markins

http://www.markins.com/

C, CC, CAT, GAT

38.1 / 33.5

36.9 / 32.2

33.5 – 39.2
N/A
3.9

The stopper pin of the plates might be annoying in non Markins plates that have a hollow bottom. Markins seems to have two different widths...

Novoflex

http://www.novoflex.com/

P, L, GAT


Q-M: 31,72 – 37,72

I had conflicting reports on the Castel-Q macro system. For some it takes RRS plates, for some it does not, especially the L brackets seem to be problematic. Q-Mount and Q-base seem to be more compatible.

The latest info I received seems to indicate that Novoflex modified Castel-Q some time in 2012 for better compatibility.

PhotoClam

http://www.PhotoClam.com

P, PR




Pro Media Gear

http://ProMediaGear.com/

L, CL, CC, C, PR

37.8 / 32.8
5.5

generic L plate side
37.6 / 32.2
5.5

30.09 – 37.9 /
33.85 – 44.5
4.9

Knob clamps, Back-to-Back clamps, flash brackets.

The stopper screws at the end of the plates might need to be removed to fit into some clamps when sliding in sideways.

RRS

http://reallyrightstuff.com/

CL, CC, C, GAT, LRF, LCR

38.0 / 32.8
5.0

33.53 – 38-94

The stopper screw at the end of the plates might need to be removed to fit into some clamps when sliding in sideways.

Triopo

No web site as far as I could see, only resellers




Might be a low cost alternative, but I don't have much data on them yet.

Velbon

http://www.velbon.co.uk/




I have had reports of specific Velbon plates (QB-F51) and heads (QB-F51) being compatible with specific Arca style plates, but in general Velbon is not into Arca plates...

Sunway

http://www.sunwayfoto.com/

P, PR, L, CL, C, CC, CAT, GAT, LRF



They offer a wide range of plates and clamps, no personal experience.

Wimberley

http://www.tripodhead.com/

GAT, CAT, LRF


33.2 – 39.2

N/A

4.5

The stopper screws at the end of the plates might need to be removed to fit into some clamps when sliding in sideways.



Plate Style Reference

Key

Explanation

P

Plain plate, metal top. Will twist when used sideways. But can be custom machined to fit for the mechanically gifted. FLM, Burzynski, Novoflex, ...

PR

Plain plates with rubber or cork top. Potentially wobbly connections, prone to twist under heavy load.

L

Generic L bracket for cameras. Makes it easy to mount the camera in portrait mode (Burzynski, Novoflex, ProMediaGear) They tend to block access to the connectors on the left side of DSLR, but can last through a few camera generations.

CL

Camera specific custom L plates that allow access to connectors even when L plate is attached.

CC

Custom camera plates that fit specific bodies and do not twist.

C

Custom lens plates that fit specific lenses and do not twist

GAT

Generic anti twist plates that fit various lenses and do not twist.

CAT

Generic anti twist plates that fit various cameras and do not twist.

LRF

Lens replacement foot. Replaces standard collar feet on some lenses for lower center of gravity and better stability

LCR

Lens collar replacement. Replacement collars for lenses (or collars for lenses shipped without any)



A few more tidbits:

There is a new compatibility initiative out there, UniQ/C (Universal and Quick Coupling). UniQ/C plates are basically Arca style plates where the manufacturers claim compatibility.
Unfortunately, to my knowledge, only a few manufacturers are in on that at the moment:. The initial support comes from Berlebach, CULLMANN, FLM, Linhof and Novoflex
There are no defined specs to adhere to, compatibility is checked manually.

Although Manfrotto (sold by Bogen in the US) offers at least three incompatible plate systems, none of them is Arca compatible.

Photos of many plates and clamps can be seen at http://stativfreak.de.
The site is in German, use http://www.stativfreak.de/Wechselsystem.htm
to get to the links of the plates/clamps.



I've had reports about plates from Kiwifotos.com being a bit too thin to work (specifically the LP-86 in Kirk heads).



Thanks for providing all the measures and feedback!

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