Finally I got my Kirk L bracket ordered directly from Kirk Enterprises. It's very well made and fits very nicely. I ordered the one for D200 w/o grip since I don't want to use a tripod with grip on. Price is $ 129.95 with the current FX rate it's about Php 6.5K shipping is done thru my friend at Php 1.2K no tax........ also my right angle viewfinder is here and really very useful for critical focusing and low shots it's so clear I can see all the texture of a fungi.....time for NAS guys get ourselves an Xmas gift ......

Congratulations, Gil! I have the Kirk as well but the one that fits with the grip on. :Grin: What ballhead do you use?

Benro KB-2 Rosalie I have not tried yet but I suppose any Arca Swiss QR will fit it. The bracket just arrived and I have not fitted yet with the ball head. I also have manfortto early pistol grip but I think it will not fit the bracket ......I hope it fits the KB-2 ....

Ah, ok... it should fit your Benro KB-2. Yup, can't use it with the Manfrotto pistol grip. :)

Thanks Rosalie. It fits very well the D200 so I might opt not to take it out anymore because I do use a lot of tripod works.......

Gil, I've never taken mine out since I attached it. :Grin:

@Rosalie
sorry for my ignorance....whats an L Bracket?

I'll prolly do the same Rosalie...thanks

@Rosalie
sorry for my ignorance....whats an L Bracket?

Allan, it's an L shaped bracket that fits snugly with your camera. This is used for easy tripod mounting and very usegul for vertical shots as it has a latch that can slide in the quick release so you don't need to flip the camera and ballhead anymore. It ensures a steadier hold on your camera specially with heavy lenses on it. In short, you can mount you camera on a tripod w/o moving or repositioning your ballhead for vertical shots of course it's also used for horizontal orientation. I hope this helps .....

BTW, Kirk has available brackets for almost all models of Canon and Nikon w/ or w/o grip , not sure if they have the other brands already. If you use tripod a lot this is an invaluable tool for you.

@Gil
thanks so much for the clarification. will definitely look into it. do they have a site where I can check out the item?

Allan, here are pics of w./ bracket on a D80 and w/o on a D200 for a clearer idea of what it looks like

http://i13.tinypic.com/3ygti1j.jpg

http://i12.tinypic.com/4gzj81j.jpg
http://i12/tinypic.com/4gzj81j.jpg

Thanks Gil! Might order soon!

do they have a site where I can check out the item?

Allan, you can get it from here... http://www.kirkphoto.com/ :)

Might order soon!

Allan, just remember you'll need to get a ballhead that has an Arca-style Quick Release Platform. :)

ReallyRightStuff also makes one. Highly recommended.

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/body_plates/nikon/index.html

This one doesn't move the flash when you're shooting vertically? What's the purpose of this bracket? Just asking...

This one doesn't move the flash when you're shooting vertically? What's the purpose of this bracket? Just asking...

Mostly the L bracket is Highly recommended for Landscape, that most of the time you use Tripod, especially if you do A LOT of panoramic shots (by the way additional NAS is PANO BAR).

the L bracket's purpose is to have your camera still sit on the same axis (witihin the tripod's center) whether in portrait or lanscape mode.

@Marco - This has nothing to do with the camera flash.

An "Arca-swiss" type plate/bracket allows you to easily mount your camera to a tripod/monopod (provided you have the matching head/clamp). No need to do any screwing and unscrewing everytime as the dovetailed edges of the bracket can easily be clamped in place on the platform. The "L" bracket(as opposed to the regular plate) also allows you to use your cam vertically without messing around with the tripod head. You would need this type of head to make use of it: http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/ballheads/index.html

Another benefit of using somthing like this is that it protects the underside of you cam from scratches.