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Really Right Stuff (RRS) B40D L-Plate Review:
Palo Duro Canyon taken with my L-Plate

When I recently purchased a new camera body, I decided that it was time to complete my tripod setup and purchase an L-Plate to attach to my RRS BH-40 ballhead.

Like most quality ball heads, the BH-40 that I use is compatible with Arca-Swiss type body plates, which have a dovetail profile that slides into the clamp on the ballhead. What makes an L-Plate unique compared to other body plates is that it has two sets of dovetails for connection to the head; one at the bottom for horizontal orientation and another at the left hand side of the camera for vertical compositions

How beneficial is it having an L-Plate compared to flopping your camera in a drop slot? Extremely!! Let's look at what your camera does without an L Plate:
Side Flop

Roll your mouse over the image to see what happens when you "flop" your camera.

"Flopping" your camera over onto it's side creates several problems. First, the center of the lens is moved away from your subject. If your subject is a long way away, then this is not that noticeable. However, with macro or wide-angle shots with close subjects, this displacement can totally screw up your composition. You basically have to start over by raising your tripod, then scooting the whole rig to the right.
Side with L-Bracket

With an L-Plate: Roll your mouse over the image to see a better way to take vertical pictures.

In the Roll-over image above, see how much closer the lens stays centered when you flip the camera into the L-Plate? There is a bit of a shift, but it is very manageable with only a slight movement to correct and get our succulent back in the center.
Front Flop
 Front L-Bracket

Bad: Roll your mouse over the image to see what happens when you "flop" your camera.

Good: Now roll your mouse over the image to see the RRS L-Plate in action.

In the two examples above, you can see another advantage of using an L-Plate. When you have to flop your camera over (roll-over image on the left), the weight is no longer centered over the tripod. With the camera mounted vertically on the L Plate (roll-over image on the right), the weight is aligned right over the center of your head. Also, with the ballhead plate at the top where it is supposed to be, you have a full range of motion for creative framing. This is very helpful when dealing with macro shots and abstract compositions.

The model of L-Plate that I purchased for the Canon 40D is Really Right Stuff's B40D-L. It is designed to work with just the body and not Cannon's optional BG-E2N battery grip. For that application, you would need the RRS BGE2-L40.

The workmanship on RRS products is fantastic. Every edge is smoothed, beveled, and lovingly anodized to allow machine like precision with your clamp. It is evident that RRS manufactures each L-Plate specifically for the camera body intended. When you couple their L-Plate and a lever-release clamp, transitioning from horizontal to veridical takes only seconds. Being able to quickly try out veridical and horizontal images without scooting the tripod up/down, right/left is a huge time saver.

Note that the extreme smooth finish and operation of the L-Plate with a lever-release clamp does bring a hazard. Really Right Stuff's design does not incorporate limit stops. If you fail to fully clamp the plate down, the camera can slide off in either direction. This is true for both sets of dovetails (landscape and vertical). When using the lever-release, I have gotten into the habit of gently pulling up on the camera after the lever is closed to make sure both the front and back dovetails are engaged and everything is secure.

The part of the L-Plate that covers the left side of your camera has a cutout for access to the flash sync and cable release plugs.

L-Plate End		 L-Plate Covers

Access to the left hand terminal cover(s).

The slot cut in the end of the L-Plate allows exit of a remote release cord.

Access to the terminal covers is the only sore spot in the design. To truly gain access to the terminal cover, flip it backwards out of the way, and connect a remote release cord, you have to loosen the L-Plate and slide it away from the end of the camera. This creates the clearance needed to make access functional, but adds bulk to the camera profile. The picture on the left above shows that the oval shape of the cutout formed by the L-Plate is very close to the rubber covers on the body. Even with the plate fully snugged against the body, it is possible to pry the covers up from the bottom and get your remote cord connected; however, you would not be able to then mount the L-Plate for a vertical picture because the sync cord and rubber cover would conflict with the clamp.

I choose to position the L Plate as tight to the camera as possible, even snugging the L-plate against the body before I tighten the allen bolt into the tripod socket. Leaving even the smallest gap between the right edge of the camera and your L-Plate creates a cantilever that could allow vibrations when shooting vertically. This is mostly theoretical and I can't prove it, so don't loose sleep if you want to set the plate away from the camera to use the sockets.

One other thing to consider with this L-Plate is the weight; it comes in at 99 grams. The Canon 40D weight is 822 grams, which means that adding the RRS L-Plate increases your camera body weight by 11%. I do not consider this to be a weakness in the product. Really Right Stuff did an excellent job of removing all the unnecessary material for an elegant design. I simply bring it up because the added mass was more noticeable than I expected.

Overall, I give the B40D L-Plate for the Canon 40D a hearty thumbs up. L Plates are in general a necessity for effective use of a tripod. Really Right Stuff has done a great job on the design of this plate with the only weakness being access to the sync and remote cords and a lack of limit stops. Compared to other manufacturers of plates, I think that Really Right Stuff's build quality puts them at the top. For any new cameras that may be in my future, a matching RRS L-Plate is sure to follow.

RRS L-Plate Bottom

L-Plate Mounted

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