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Hi, I'm thinking of investing in a RRS B87-B Portrait Perfect Package (Paul has one for sale). I evidently need a plate to attach it to my cameras. I just checked the RRS web site, and the RRS BMBD200-L for the D200 with battery pack is $183US and the RRS BD70-L for the D70 is $140US.

Is this the going price for L plates or are there cheaper (but still good) alternatives from other manufacturers? Seems like a lot of money for a couple hunks of metal!!! Mind you I pay a lot more for lenses which are a couple hunks of metal and a few bits of glass.


Cheers
John

They ARE quite pricey for what you get, but in the end you do end up with a quality product. Very nicely engineered, lightweight and strong.

I have L-plates for my D70s and D200/MBD200 - no-brainer if you have arca-swiss gear, imo

John,
You dont have to buy a L plate, you can get around it by using a BpnS universal plate from RRS
http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/universal/index.html
There $55 plus P+P, only thing is you cant lock you camera into the vertical position which is why a lot of users use the L plate.
Have a look at Kirk as well as there prices are usually cheaper, but not by much.

I thought you got 'L' plates before you got your 'P' plates.

I thought you got 'L' plates before you got your 'P' plates.

You dont need 'L' or 'P' plate to operate a D200...

John,

johnd wrote:Is this the going price for L plates or are there cheaper (but still good) alternatives from other manufacturers? Seems like a lot of money for a couple hunks of metal!!! Mind you I pay a lot more for lenses which are a couple hunks of metal and a few bits of glass.

Have a look also at the Kirk plates. From all accounts that I have seen, they are pretty well equivalent to the RRS plates, just a bit cheaper. Still expensive but since I have bought mine, I would be without one.

http://www.kirkphoto.com/lbracketsn.html

D70 bracket is $130 and D200 with BG is $170

You won't go wrong with either one of these.

As a side note, if you do order something from RRS or Kirk, you should be able to reduce the cost of your shipping by doing an order with a few other members (while keeping the $1K GST limit), someone did this a while ago and there were plenty of takers.

cheers,

André

Thanks guys. I'll save my pennies, work out which L plates to get and see if there are any takers to share postage costs.
Cheers
John