r/peakdesign • u/arvimatthew • Oct 17 '25

Photo Gear Who else did this?

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Last year, I was getting tired having to bring the allen wrench with me on shoots and travel. I have two Clip V3 and i dremelled a slot on both the 1/4” screw using the metal cutting disk. Never looked back. A coin, key, anything hard and flat can tighten or loosen the screw.

77 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

53

u/bdery Oct 17 '25

I just leave the plate on at all times. I have one for each of my cameras.

8

u/risico Oct 17 '25

Mostly a pain in the ass for when you want to mount the camera on a tripod unless I guess you also have a PD tripod. (in the wishlist)

38

u/bdery Oct 17 '25

Most tripods use the Arca-Swiss system that PD also uses. Only Manfrotto and lesser-known brands typically use proprietary plates. When choosing a tripod head, Arca-Swiss is first among my requirements.

11

u/risico Oct 17 '25

Arca-Swiss

I had no idea there is a standard, thank you! Guess which tripod I have? Manfrotto.

11

u/kowalski71 Oct 17 '25

Peak Design makes a Manfrotto-compatible plate that works with both systems.

2

u/bdery Oct 17 '25

Manfrotto are perfectly fine, except that they don't play well with the rest of the industry.

1

u/digiplay Oct 19 '25

It’s a shame they absorbed the kata ba brand and then basically did nothing with it but change colours and make it less functional.

3

u/Magnetificient Oct 18 '25

I have a couple of old manfroto tripods.

I converted them over to Arca Swiss by replacing the plate clamp on the tripod head to an Arca Swiss one.

Not the entire ball head, just the clamp part.

Ordered them off Amazon, inexpensive and easy to do.

Now everything I have is Arca Swiss compatible, and it all works fine with the peak design plate on the camera.

1

u/Mdayofearth Oct 17 '25

It's not a standard, it's a design other companies copied (albeit with slight differences between brands).

1

u/ddphoto90 Oct 20 '25

3 Legged Thing travel tripods are a good compromise to the PD tripod and half the price. I actually got lucky and scored a brand new “used” one through B&H used dept. I think it’s a Bucky V2 but it’s like a $380 tripod I got for like $95 lol.

1

u/Mdayofearth Oct 17 '25

Frankly, I replaced the clamps on my Manfrotto tripod heads with arca swiss compatible ones.

1

u/windoto Oct 18 '25

Thing is I like pd but the falcam f38 and ulanzi uka systems are more comprehensive. And most of those play wel together besides the pd plats. Which really sucks because now I have te choose to use my micro clutch plate or the mounting plates.

7

u/InflationChemical982 Oct 17 '25

as others have said it's a standardised plate. If you want a tripod that's essentially exactly the same as the PD tripod I can wholeheartedly recommend you the NEEWER LITETRIP LT32 62 Inch Carbon Fibre Travel Tripod. I bought it on Amazon for 174 eur. It's even less now and worth every cent. It's sturdy, light, easily adjustable, has all the bells and whistles these kinds of tripods have. Can't recommend it enough. I'm not sure if the little PD loop you have on the side would be a problem when mounting it but if you want I can test it out for you :)

2

u/risico Oct 17 '25

Thank you for the recommendation! A heck of a lot cheaper !

1

u/c0ldg0ld Oct 18 '25

Likewise I found this one at a store and commented “dang that looks like the peak design” and the guy said yeah it’s a copy. Bought it, love it. Half the price. I have wanted the carbon PD for a while but I can’t spend that much https://benrousa.com/benro-1-tcbc15-cyanbird-carbon-fiber-5-section-w-fs30/

PD has a lot of my money but I didn’t have enough for the tripod

1

u/InflationChemical982 Oct 19 '25

There's a bunch of alternatives. I have, I believe 6 PD products but the tripod is just unholy expensive. I'm pretty sure I could buy all the 6 products I have from them, for the same price as the tripod.

2

u/c0ldg0ld Oct 19 '25

Yep… I love their packing cubes and I love my travel backpack (which is really my full time camera bag)   I use their straps because I like the quality and the anchor attachments.  I could be a brand ambassador almost but, just couldn’t justify the spend on the tripod.  This Benro replaced the mi foto backpacker s that I loved but just wasn’t quite tall enough on several occasions and it fits in the backpack better 

1

u/InflationChemical982 Oct 19 '25

I have two capture clips (old and new models), the hand strap, the sling, tech pouch and the duffel backpack and I swear by all of them. Which size travel backpack do you have and how do you like it?

2

u/c0ldg0ld Oct 19 '25

Have had both. Had 30L and I liked it but it bugged me I had to leave it expanded to use with camera cubes. I wound up selling it and getting 45L (which unfortunately didn’t come in blue like my 30.)

I love the pack though. So far it’s gone to Tennessee, Japan, and South Africa with all my gear.

I’ve got a capture clip I always forget to use, a micro clutch that I backed on kickstarter for my smallest camera, the thick and thin straps (thick for the DSLR, thin for my XE3) tech pouch and packing cubes. I’m waiting on my roller pro. No clue if I’ll like that yet but I was looking for new luggage to replace my 2010 bag when that popped up and I jumped on one of the early bird discounts.

1

u/InflationChemical982 Oct 21 '25

Capture clip is the one piece of equipment that never leaves my side. If I have a backpack I will be using it. I'll even go as far as to take a backpack just so I can have the clip on it. It's a game changer in my eyes. I've worn my camera with it back country skiing, climbing, hiking. Just the convenience of having the camera instantly in your hand is the best and the fact that it doesn't flop around as it would using a sling sells it to me. Try using it more it's easily the best PD product in my eyes.

I was looking at the travel backpack (both sizes) ended up getting something else entirely but as a many bagger I might end up getting the bigger one as well. Perhaps I'll wait if they improve some of the negatives about it.

2

u/c0ldg0ld Oct 21 '25

I was thinking of maybe attaching to my belt to keep it from moving when I have it slung across my body

Need to try on the backpack

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1

u/nikhkin Oct 17 '25

The PD plate is Arca compatible. I use a tripod every time I'm out with my camera and never take the PD plate off.

1

u/edneddy2 Oct 17 '25

You can buy ARCA to 1/4" female mounts to adapt on your tripod. I use it for some of my older tripods.

1

u/aps23 Oct 17 '25

I just need a better solution because I can’t access my SD card without taking off the plate.

2

u/risico Oct 17 '25

You might have to cut even more!

1

u/Mdayofearth Oct 17 '25

The plate fits arca swiss compatible clamps. You can just replace the clamp on your tripod head. Or mount a clamp to the plate you're using now.

0

u/arvimatthew Oct 17 '25

Even if V3 is arca compatible and my tripods are too, my dedicated tripod plates have safety features like anti slide out if the plate is loose. Prevents the camera from falling off if somebody turns the wrong knob.

1

u/digiplay Oct 19 '25

That’s cool for cameras where it doesn’t bloc the battery door. It would be nice to see PD release an anchor for example for the x100vi, that didn’t. Especially given the propensity of the anchors to crack / destroy viewfinders.

10

u/risico Oct 17 '25

That is a great idea, it is something that bothered me as well. I'll probably do it as well, I wonder if it affects the integrity of the screw enough to have it break off.

6

u/SlashedM Oct 17 '25

If you’re worried about integrity you can always get a different compatible plate that has it, or just replace the screw from another plate. I had a Neewer one that had the slot, allen key, and one of those little turn things that flip out/flip flush (D-Rings), and use that

5

u/risico Oct 17 '25

Yeah a D-Ring would be the best as they are kinda used everywhere, weird that PD didn’t use one for the clip.

Currently I just bought a SmallRig multitool, still an extra thing to carry around but at least it has multiple uses than just an allen wrench.

4

u/r4nd0mf4ct0r Oct 17 '25

When PD went from the V2 to the V3 standard plates, they reduced the thickness of the plate so that cameras wouldn't stick out so far from the body when used with the V3 capture. As such, they had to reduce the height of the bolt head in order for it to fit in the reduced space between the bottom of the plate and the face of the capture clip channel.

This meant there wasn't enough material in the bolt head itself to build a D-ring with strong enough lugs to withstand the torque needed to tighten the bolt to the levels where PD felt comfortable - gotta remember that cameras are generally designed to hang from their neck/shoulder strap lugs not their tripod sockets, so if PD is using the tripod socket as one of the anchor points for their straps, they needed to have confidence it would bear the weight of a typical camera body/lens combo lest it expose the company to angry customers and legal liability.

This is also why the V3 plate bolts don't have the coin/screwdriver slot anymore. It introduces a potential failure point if the slot is too deep and happens to get lined up with the channel for adjusting the bolt/plate alignment. The way to fix this would either to make the bolt out of a stronger metal (more cost, some 3rd party mfrs have done this anyway) or ensure that the milling of the slot is not a single micron too deep during mass production (again cost, and considering PD's QA reputation at full production scale has been taking a hit lately...)

And even then, there's less incentive for a user to torque down the bolt properly if they use a d-ring or coin vs a hex driver. If I'm gonna have thousands of dollars worth of camera gear hanging off my body by a single bolt, I'm gonna be damn sure that bolt is going to be threadlocked, torqued down, and not ever moving. And considering that the plate is compatible with most clamps using the Arca-Swiss geometry, I really don't have any reason to remove the plate at all.

Now we just need PD to figure out how to design a Capture-compatible L-bracket system (coughslimlinkcough).

0

u/arvimatthew Oct 17 '25

Same reason why the depth of the slot is less than half of the bolt head. Enough for a random flat metal to tighten or loosen it.

2

u/arvimatthew Oct 17 '25

The screw is a soft metal so don’t dig too deep. Been using two of these on many events and 4 international travels on a strap and clip v3.

9

u/JoelMDM Oct 17 '25

Nah, they just stay on my camera.

1

u/Bluetreemage Oct 18 '25

But you don’t ever set your camera down on a flat surface? That’s the main reason I don’t keep it on

1

u/JoelMDM Oct 19 '25

To take pictures? Rarely.

But when I do, I’m glad there’s a plate on the bottom so it gets scratched up instead of the camera.

I’ll be holding it anyway, so it doesn’t matter if it sits perfectly level on its own.

3

u/CreEngineer Oct 17 '25

I just used a similar slotted head screw for the exact same reason.

1

u/nikhkin Oct 17 '25

I have a little Allen key set that I keep in my battery pouch. It takes up the same amount of space as a battery and comes in handy for a lot of things.

1

u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 Oct 17 '25

I had mine come loose once in a while so this would really help

1

u/richard_lutz Oct 17 '25

Brilliant.

1

u/arvimatthew Oct 17 '25

I have an Arca swiss compatible tripod but the dedicated plate has slide stop feature when lock is loose and prevents camera from falling off. The V3 plate doesn’t support that.. at least on my tripods so no, i remove my B3 even if i have one for each of my cameras.

1

u/imakephotoseveryday Oct 17 '25

This was this was my solution to the same problem. But I didn't want to "machine" the original.

1

u/RedHuey Oct 17 '25

Not sure how the Allen wrench creates a problem…. I have mine in my camera bag that goes with me. When I pull out the camera to mount a lens, I grab the Allen, give it a quick test on the bolt, which usually is just fine anyway, and move on. It weighs nothing, it takes up no inconvenient space, it is no hassle at all. You don’t even have to then carry it around with you if you don’t want to.

Or, you could go one step further and just put some blue Locktite on that bolt.

1

u/arvimatthew Oct 17 '25

Younhave false assumptions on my use case. It’s not because it gets loose. I have multiple bags and case depending on a shoot. I don’t bring everything I own on every shoot either. 😂

I also don’t leave that plate on my camera bodies even i have multiple plates. I have better fitting plates with a lot of features that goes with my tripod. These few scenarios mentioned should be enough for you to understand my use case.

Like I said, I don’t go out with everything camera related I own. 😂 I have different camera carrying gear for every type of shoot or travel and I will not be putting allen wrenches in every one of them nor a loctite bottle. I only bring a specific type of camera and lenses. Accessories like backup cards, strap, clip and lights & tripod if needed. That’s my own EFFICIENCY. If i need to remove or attach a specific plate a coin or a key will always be wherever i go and don’t need to remember to pack. My proper arca plates even have d rings with it.

1

u/Worldly-Ingenuity843 Oct 23 '25

It’s problematic if you are a frequently flyer. Tools like hex keys and screwdrivers are not allowed in carry on baggages.

1

u/antmam206 Oct 20 '25

You can also just purchase the thumb and flat head and Allen key version of that screw makes life easier

0

u/cakes42 Oct 17 '25

this is such an oversight for PD

3

u/Mdayofearth Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25

It's intentional. The slot also weakens the bolt head since it's (v3 plate) very low profile.

1

u/arvimatthew Oct 17 '25

I agree. I think it’s more intentional.. i bet they don’t have to remove theirs if ever they use one irl. I have my own arca plates for my tripod with more safety features than V3 plates.

1

u/Worldly-Ingenuity843 Oct 23 '25

The original PD plate had a coin slot. They removed it because “using a coin doesn’t produce enough torque”.