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I have a cheap tripod that have a 50mm wide arca-style mount.

Is this a standard or some random thing?

From what I can tell all arca mounts' plate are 38mm wide (the distance between the dovetail/rails), but this one is 50mm:

enter image description here

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3 Answers 3

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There's actually no such thing as an Arca-Swiss Standard. Different manufacturers that make "arc-swiss" products make them in slightly different width, height, and slant variations. Some work with each other with varying degrees of compatibility, others do not.

In the case of your tripod release plate, however, it is considerably wider than even the most liberal use of arca-swiss compatible and would be considered a manufacturer's proprietary format.

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  • everyone that says "arca compatible" is 38mm. Manfrotto does a "arca compatible" that is 38mm and the only difference is that it has a ticker plate on top. Tangerine has their own version that is "arca tangerine" which is 42mm etc... usually they are all over the place, you are right, but there is a name for the sizes. I have just never seen 50mm. Oh and this one i like because it is slide back-front. arca are usually lateral.
    – gcb
    Jun 20, 2016 at 2:24
  • @gcb Michael's point was that any manufacturer can claim "Arca compatible", and to the extent their plates & clamps accept/match Arca's clamps & plates, they are compatible. However, there is no standard that is specified, like (by analogy) USB standard, or SD card standards. Perhaps a better analogy is Nikon's F-mount or Canon's EF-S mount. They are a "standard" by the companies' internal specs only. That Sigma can reverse engineer compatibility doesn't change the fact that at times, new cameras or firmware updates will break Sigma compatibility. There wasn't a "spec" to work against.
    – scottbb ♦
    Jun 20, 2016 at 2:29
  • @gcb Because this plate is back-front sliding, and because of large-ish width, it is probably intended as a video plate. What is the tripod's head like? Does it look like a typical video head?
    – scottbb ♦
    Jun 20, 2016 at 2:33
  • @scottbb yep, it is a video pan and tilt head.
    – gcb
    Jun 20, 2016 at 7:43
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Arca Swiss style mount plates have dovetails, this one doesn't. I think this is a manufacturer specific mount.

Please see Michael's answer - even precision made AS style equipment is not guaranteed to be compatible across brands.

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    it does have. this is the plate. the receiver part that is on the tripod have the receiving part
    – gcb
    Jun 20, 2016 at 2:23
  • With Arca-Swiss the camera or lens part has the dovetail. The part you show seems to have the opposite treatment.
    – MirekE
    Jun 20, 2016 at 3:43
  • not really. well, maybe some random model was that way, but see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
    – gcb
    Jun 20, 2016 at 7:40
  • Not some random model. Please see products of Kirk, Markins, Arcatech, Arca-Swiss, RRS, these are brands that use the actual Arca-Swiss mount. They all have the dovetail I mentioned.
    – MirekE
    Jun 20, 2016 at 14:35
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    Most arca-swiss style plates and receivers can be mounted either way - the plate and the receiver can be attached to either the head or the camera/lens. The majority of users tend to put the plate on the camera/lens and the receiver on the head. But it can be done the opposite way. In the case of the plate pictured in the OP, it may well be that the receiver is an integrated part of the head, rather than a detachable piece.
    – Michael C
    Jun 20, 2016 at 15:39
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I was wrong assuming brands followed a pattern just because i saw a lot of 38mm dovetail mounts i thought they where some sort of standard.

well, to close this, the 50mm wide dovetail is a style compatible with the following brands:

  • Giottos BLQ quick release series. source
  • Dji Ronin. source
  • some Manfrotto which model start with "50". source

there are several brands that do generic mounts. e.g. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019LE53JS?psc=1

btw all the generic ones call out "dji mount" so i guess this is the answer, though i had never heard of dji before. Maybe i'm too out of the stabilizer crowd as this is what their website says they do?

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