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Really Right Stuff Camera Plate

Jungle Jim

New member
Hi everyone! I have been a long time lurker here at GetDPI and I recently purchased my first digital camera, the X100. I have been shooting film since the early 1970's, mainly Nikon and an old Leica M3.

I had found out that RRS needed an X100 to design a plate for, and since I live 20 minutes away from their factory, I loaned them mine. It was a pleasure watching the design process and they gave me permission to post pictures of the prototype.

I have the prototype in my hands now and full production on the camera plate and L-bracket is now proceeding. The owner of Really Right Stuff (Joe Johnson) wanted to ask the forum members the following:

"Do you want a strap boss built into the separately sold handgrip piece ? It would allow for the attachment of a wrist strap that would thread from the bottom of the grip to the top of the camera strap holder. It would add about $15 to $20 to the cost of the handgrip price due to the complexity of manufacture."

The prototype that I am using has this function and it looks very nice as part of the hand piece. Depending on the feedback, all handgrips will either be sold with the option or without. RRS will not be making 2 different kinds.

Personal Comments:


001 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


002 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


007 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


008 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


The camera baseplate is a one-piece design that runs the full length of the camera with cut-outs for the battery/SD card door and a small cut-out for the speaker. It is fully machined out to lower total weight and is in black anodized 6061-T6 aluminum (Sorry, no other colors.) The camera with baseplate can sit flat on a table without any rocking and is very solid. On the right hand side (as you hold the camera to your face orientation) is an indentation on the bottom with three small holes to allow for attachment of the optional handgrip. On the left side-end of the baseplate is an indentation with one hole for attachment of the optional L-Bracket. For those of you looking for just a small baseplate piece, this isn't it. This baseplate piece looks like it is part of the camera itself.



003 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


004 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


014 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


015 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


The handgrip is 50mm tall at the highest point and nicely curves around to the front of the body. It sticks out 22mm from the body and has been acid treated to give a slightly rough feel. The handle does not feel slippery, even with sweaty hands. To give a visual depth, the handle sticks out as far as the lens with the original Fuji lens cap attached. The handle has two large holes bored out from the bottom to reduce weight. You can't see the holes from the top or side. With the handgrip attached, you will not have access to the side cable ports, because the handle covers the door.



005 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


006 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


009 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


010 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


011 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


The L-Bracket attaches to the left side of the camera baseplate with a large self-retaining hex screw. It sits up 56mm from the bottom of the baseplate and has a large cut-out to allow easy access to the AFC/AFS/MF switch. Plenty of clearance for the left side camera strap attachment.

Finally, everything put together:


012 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


013 by dungeonhack, on Flickr


Some weight data:

Baseplate = 48gms or 1.69 ounces
L-Bracket = 22gms or 0.77 ounces
Grip = 80gms or 2.82 ounces

Overall, I think this is a very elegantly and functionally designed package that Really Right Stuff has put together. You can buy just the baseplate, or the baseplate with the L-bracket attachment, or the baseplate with the grip attachment, or all three pieces.

Hope this helps. Remember, the owner of Really Right Stuff (Joe and Joan Johnson) wants to know if you in the forum want the wrist strap boss as an addition to the grip. The additional cost would add $15 to $20 dollars to the total cost of the grip only, due to the complexity of the design. He will not make two designs. He will either build it in or not. Please let me know as either a reply to this thread or as a PM.

Pre-orders will be available on Monday or Tuesday June 27/28th. They expect the first deliveries will be leaving their factory three to four weeks after pre-ordering starts. I have no idea on prices but the owner said the camera baseplate will be cheaper than the one for the Leica M8/M9 because it was not as complicated to design and manufacture. The handgrip cost will depend on what the overall suggestions are for the strap boss.

Please note that I am NOT affiliated with Really Right Stuff in any way. I simply loaned my camera to them for several weeks so that they could take the measurements and design the plates for the X100. And I apologize to the members here about the poor quality of the photos. I am still very new to the digital camera field and am trying to learn the basics of Lightroom. Terry was kind enough to show me a link to some tutorials. :)

All the Best.
 

Rich M

Member
Hey Jim.....that's a lot of work to put together this informative post.

Thanks a bunch.....I am sure some members will be interested in these RRS plates and L-brackets.

R
 

Jungle Jim

New member
Update for June 29th.

I just returned the prototypes and met with the owner of Really Right Stuff and one of the techs. They were very interested in the comments people made about the X100 Grip attachment and have made the following changes:

1) The wrist strap boss will not be incorporated in the grip design.

2) The height of the grip will be changed to about 2.6 inches overall height. Visually, the grip height will be from about the bottom of the camera plate to the middle of the camera's chrome top-plate, where the little chrome shelf extension is on the front camera handle. The overall shape will be the same, with cut-outs for the free movement of the camera strap and ring.

There are no changes on the L-Bracket and camera plate. Shipments on Pre-orders will be going out in mid-July for those items (about two weeks.)

Joe Johnson said if anyone had pre-ordered the L-Bracket set and wants to order the grip at a later date, they can call customer service at RRS and they can get the grip at a price discount equivalent to what the 3-set package price discount is.

As soon as the new grip prototype is made, I will let you know and have pictures posted.


All the best.
 

Jeffg53

Member
Thanks Jim. I have had an RRS plate on every camera that I have owned for many years but I made the decision that the X100 would never see the top of a tripod.
 

Irenaeus

Member
Thanks for taking the initiative, Jim! RRS makes beautiful gear and this will be a great option.

As far as I'm concerned, I'd definitely prefer the wrist strap boss to be added to the grip. I had just such a wrist strap + base plate for my a900 and it really improved the walk around handling.
 

Jungle Jim

New member
Update for July 13th.

I spoke to Joe Johnson at Really Right Stuff this afternoon. The new redesigned grip for large hands has been finished and is being produced. They production copies will be back from machining and anodizing sometime next week. Cost for the grip alone is $65 and will of course require the baseplate for attachment. The package price for all 3 pieces has not yet been determined as of a few hours ago. You can begin the pre-order for the grip tomorrow (Thursday) at the Really Right Stuff website, or give them a call. I have attached pictures (courtesy of Carla at RRS) here. Please note that this is the prototype grip and has NOT been anodized black yet and the wrist strap attachment is also no longer there.










All the best.

(I am not affiliated with Really Right Stuff in any way. I just loaned them my camera so they could produce the plates.)
 

barjohn

New member
Personally, I like the looks of the first grip better with the hand strap lug. Maybe he should offer both.
 

Jungle Jim

New member
Personally, I like the looks of the first grip better with the hand strap lug. Maybe he should offer both.
I agree with you, the first grip design "looked" nice but was horrible to use. This was what I wrote to Joe at RRS concerning the first grip:

"As a side comment, I used the grip Saturday afternoon/evening for 2 1/2 hours at my neighbor's daughter's graduation barbecue party. Holding the camera rangefinder style, with my left hand cupped under the lens and baseplate, and my right hand on the grip. I found it hard to get used to. On my right hand, pinky and ringfinger curled on the grip, middlefinger resting on the grip ledge, and forefinger on the shutter with my thumb on the back of the camera. It may be because I have small hands and just couldn't quite get the pinky and ringfinger to hold on. Once in shooting position, it did make for a stable platform.

I do agree with some of the posters that the height of the grip is too short, by about 10mm. In the "looking for a shot position", I typically have my arm down parallel with my leg and holding the camera by the grip (camera will be vertical, in line with my leg). My hand naturally wants to hold the grip but there is nothing for the forefinger and middle finger to grab on to. The handle is too short. I was constantly fidgeting trying to find a comfortable way to hold the camera. Ergonomic wise, it may be better to increase the height by the 10mm, which would put the top of the grip just even to where the chrome starts on the camera top-plate. This would then give the photographer more to grab on to, especially those with larger hands."

The designers took my comments along with comments from other forum posters and this lead to the redesign. I don't know how comfortable the new design is because I was not part of the group that got to try it out.

All the best.
 

Jungle Jim

New member
Pictures of the new redesigned grip for large hands are now up on the Really Right Stuff website. Just mouse-over the pictures for a magnified view.

http://reallyrightstuff.com/Product...desc=BX100-Set:-Includes-Base-+-LPlate-+-Grip

The new grip is now 65mm tall and stands out 23mm from the camera body. The groove in the grip makes for a comfortable handhold, even with my small hands. This will be my last post on the RRS plates.

All the best.
 
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