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Does something like this exist?

enter image description here

I am looking for a piece that I can attach to the bottom of my Panasonic LX100, which has a tripod hole that is very close to the door of the battery compartment. I am looking for something that I can attach to the bottom of my camera and will effectively "shift" the tripod hold a couple of inches to the side. enter image description here

I undertand this will be a relatively thick piece and will add bulk to the camera, but I don't mind.

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4 Answers 4

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The gadget you're looking for is called an offset plate, but there's the legendary bad news and good news.

The bad news is that I've never seen one small enough that it wouldn't interfere with the battery door on your camera. Most of them are designed for SLRs and other cameras with lots of room on the bottom.

The good news is that the cost of material and labor for a metal shop to fabricate one to fit your camera wouldn't be much. It would just be a small piece of bar aluminum with two threaded holes tapped in it, pretty much what's in your drawing. One hole is as close to the edge of the plate as possible and passes a short screw into the camera; the other is as far off as you want and receives the tripod screw.

The thread size for the holes and screw is 1/4"-20; the shop will know what to do with it. The screw you'd need should be available at any hardware store and should have threads long enough to pass through the plate plus an additional 1/4" to catch the threads in your camera.

Edit: I looked for some additional pictures of the bottom of your camera, and a few seem to imply that the door has to swing further than perpendicular to the base to get the battery out. If that's the case, the proximity of the tripod socket to the hinge may make it impossible to build something that will work because the plate will need to be at least 1/4" thick.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ for what it's worth, I know a company designing plates for mirrorless specifically because of this problem, but it hasn't been decided if/when they'll go into production, so I won't mention the name. It's a problem with most mirrorless. The off-center tripod hole to the focal plane center also makes panoramas a real pain. \$\endgroup\$
    – chuqui
    Feb 10, 2015 at 8:33
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This question actually inspired me to create an account, because I just recently went to the trouble to fabricate the exact thing you describe for my old Olympus XZ-1, which has a very similar situation on its underside. I made mine out of 0.25" ABS, which is available on eBay in sheets as small as 5x7", and is very easy to work with if you don't have a machine shop handy. I used a nylon flat head screw (couldn't find aluminum in 1/4-20, but these are widely available at hardware stores in the U.S.) to to attach to the camera along with some industrial double-sided tape (light weight is a priority in my case). In order to allow battery access, the ABS block is trimmed right up to the edge of the screw head - it's tight, but it works. Countersunk nylon screw, grooved on all sides, for clamping in qr or coldshoe. The thing that you may find most interesting about my prototype, however, is that it's sized and grooved on the sides in such a way that it actually functions as the quick-release plate by itself, completely eliminating the need to mess with one at all for such a compact camera. Your camera's a little bigger, but probably still small enough to get away with this, if the idea appeals to you...

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  • \$\begingroup\$ sorry to bother you but I like your solution, where can you buy that ABS (and what does the acronym stand for?) Also where can I purchase those nylon screws? Forgive me my ignorence, but I am from Holland ... \$\endgroup\$
    – user39182
    Apr 16, 2015 at 16:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ @art2work4 Added some additional info to the answer. ABS is what most most precision hard "plastic" items are made from. \$\endgroup\$
    – junkyardsparkle
    Apr 24, 2015 at 19:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ @junkyardsparkle this is an amazing solution, thank you so much for sharing. has it been holding up? would you make any changes to the design based on your experience so far? \$\endgroup\$
    – lara michaels
    Jul 21, 2015 at 20:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ @laramichaels Well, the XZ-1 pictured was replaced with an XZ-2, which would allow for a slightly less extreme, more robust screw placement, but this one works well enough that I haven't bothered to upgrade it yet. I would still prefer an aluminum screw if I could find one. \$\endgroup\$
    – junkyardsparkle
    Jul 21, 2015 at 23:24
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I gave up looking for a plate, but I found a monitor bracket that works with a little modification.

Smallrig® Cool Cheese Bar with 1/4" & 3/8" Screw Holes for Lilliput - $11 Amazon. I sawed off the end, about 3/8" and ground flat. Drilled out the closest 1/4" hole to edge and bought steel bolt @ Lowe's. $13 total.

Also snagged a L Bracket Holder Mount 2 Hot Shoe for DSLR Camcorder Mic Microphone Video Light off Ebay for $8. Can mount recorder and boom mic for lightweight rig. Plus put a grip handle underneath too, had a cheap one from somewhere.

Pretty good and don't have to worry about hitting focus ring.

See pics: enter image description here

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Instead of looking for a plate with an offset hole, it may be easier to find a suitable tripod quick release plate. These use a clamp which screws onto the top of your tripod, and a plate screwed to to the bottom of the camera. Then the plate just slides into the clamp, and locks in place.

The most popular system is 'Arca Swiss' style, it is used by a number of different brands, which are generally compatible with each other. A few options for small Arca Swiss plates, you would have to check the dimensions to see if they would fit your camera:

Or an even smaller quick release system is the FLM Power Release. It uses its own style of clamps, with a tiny plate that screws onto the camera. See FLM PRP-45 QR plate.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Similarly, I wonder if RRS's new Snap QR system could help with this: reallyrightstuff.com/Shop/Strobe-Cord-Accessory-Adapters/… \$\endgroup\$
    – Dan Wolfgang
    Feb 9, 2015 at 15:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ These very short plates or the SnapQR would not address the problem since they would still have the mounting point very close to the battery door and likely the clamp would block it. However, using a longer Arca Swiss plate and attaching the tripod at the far end could work. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lee Saxon
    Feb 19, 2016 at 1:51

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