Standard versus dual
If you have bought a Manfrotto tripod with a ball-head or just a Manfrotto ball-head, you may have come across a plate that is a little wider than the Peak Design standard plate. Have a look a this picture where the Manfrotto plate (left) is a little wider than the Peak Design plate (right):
If you try to mount the Peak Design standard plate on the Manfrotto tripod head, then it will simply not grab on to the plate properly and it is likely your camera falls of if you attempt to mount it anyway.
So why not simply use the Manfrotto plate to the Manfrotto ball-head? If you like me absolutely love the Peak Design anchor links, that enable you to attach the strap to both the side of the camera and to the plate on the bottom of the camera, then you will miss the holes in the Manfrotto version, meaning that you will have to change the plate at the bottom of your camera back and forth between Peak Design and Manfrotto. However, there is a simple solution.
Dual plate
Peak Design makes two sizes of plates, one called standard and another dual plate. The dual plate is the same size as the Manfrotto one. In the picture, the Manfrotto is on top, Peak Design bottom):
In addition, the Peak Design version has the holes to allow the anchor links to be mounted. So when you order your peak design plate, make sure to go for the dual plate model, if you want your Manfrotto ball-head to work with your Peak Design plate.
Here you see the Dual Plate mounted at the bottom of my D750 (viewed upside down):
And here it is mounted on a Manfrotto head, with the Peak Design anchor link sticking out:
And just to illustrate, here is the Peak Design plate in the Manfrotto head but without the camera, so you can see how it fits. You can see the black/red anchor point sticking out to the bottom left. Also notice the plate with the stripes in the center bottom – you have to push that one down in order to move the leaver to the left of it, and hence this is a very effective locking mechanism, that reduces the risk of an accidental release of the plate to and absolute minimum:
Below the Manfrotto plate to the left and the Peak Design to the right. The normal size plat is in the background with a pencil to give proportions. Notice how the rectangular shape of the plate introduces a direction for mounting the lens. You can see the arrows in the right hand side of both plates:
When the plate needs to be mounted with a certain direction, I cannot use my “trick” to turn the entire plate when tightening it. That works for the square standard plate as I can force it into position (it is never more than 89 degrees off). But with the dual plate, there is only one direction that is right, and then you have to put the plate in the right position and tighten the screw with an allen key. As I seldom have an allen key at hand, you may want to get a model where it is possible to tighten the plate without a plate like the model shown here to the left. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a Peak Design dual plate with a tightening ring like that one, so for my Peak Design plates, I have to be disciplined and bring an allen key, if I do want to be able to mount my anchor points. No free lunch, apparently!
Questions and comments
Hope you found this blog useful. Questions and comments are more than welcome.