Manfrotto MS050M4-Q2 L Bracket for Camera

You buy Manfrotto, you buy once as this stuff is indestructible and just works. This bracket is a solid yet light single piece of metal, no loose screws holding the whole contraption together and threatening to throw your gear on the floor (like some other products). The camera fit is remarkably secure and the little stabiliser knob at the end can be moved to the opposite side if that suits your camera better. Everything that needs to be adjustable is adjustable... I reckon next time I buy an L bracket is when I need to use more than one camera at a time ;-) If I were to complain it would be: necessity to use the hex key to tighen/loosen camera screw (Manfrotto has own plates that use handles that don't need any tools to operate; there is a socket for the key so it's not a big issue); second is that there is only one spirit level (two would be better). With this kind of complaints I feel confident to give this bracket five stars.

Arrived next day, well packaged. Easy to set up and fit. A solidly made bit of kit that flips the camera from landscape to portrait, solidly docked in the same plain in a few seconds. More useful than it first appears. A bit pricey but a very good buy. Only downside it adds even more weight to an already weighty camera setup, but worth it for the secure level platform it provides.

Very light & strong. A bit fiddly to get the plates adjusted on my Mamiya 645AFDII but does the job. The finish is excellent but the little allen key holder is poor, relying on a sprig of sprung metal to grip the key in its holding slot. Other manufacturers use a small magnet. I expect to lose the key after a few trips outside so will keep a spare in my bag. This item is cast magnesium as opposed to machined aluminium so the surface is much rougher due to limitations of the casting process but this makes no difference to its functionality. Finally, since its a generic bracket, its relies on a quaint looking right angle rod to stop the body rotating. Better than nothing but may interfere with certain buttons on certain bodies. My depth of field preview button is just about useable with this rod in situ. But my camera digital back is too deep to allow it to be relocated to the rear slot. There's also a unique pressure plate that can be screwed up to the side of the camera body. I found this very reassuring on my clunky & heavy medium format body but does make getting on the electronic shutter release cable a tight squeeze. Others might not be so fortunate. So when all the screws and plates are adjusted and tightened, this makes for a very solid bracket indeed and provides a useful left hand grip too. I would recommend this bracket but advise that it may not ideally fit everyone's camera body because no single bracket can accommodate all the variances between camera manufacturers.

Handy alternative to the camera-specific systems as it can quickly be adapted to whichever SLR you happen to have to hand and can continue to be used if/when you upgrade. Provided you're already wedded to one of the Manfrotto quick fit tripod head systems, once the bracket is properly set up for your camera it offers near instantaneous swapover from landscape to portrait shooting while maintaining the lens centre position. Set-up is quick and easy (provided you follow the instructions) and a neat measuring jig is provided as well as a hex key wrench that stores in the bracket. The only shortcoming of the assembly process is that if you have to swap to the longer of two large grub screws used for positioning the camera body you need two of the hex wrenches and Manfrotto only supply one. I had an extra one to hand but not everyone will and it would be A GOOD THING if Manfrotto supplied a second one and added 0.05p to the price of the kit. That minor grumble aside, if you regularly have need to spend time faffing around adjusting your tripod position and set-up on a pan and tilt or ballhead to move from landscape to portrait and vice versa this is probably the affordable answer to your prayers. The bracket is made from magnesium so doesn't add much weight to the kit bag and doesn't inhibit hand-held use of the camera with the bracket fitted - the bracket can even act as a temporary additional hand hold though it isn't really designed so to do. In use for its intended purpose its not quite as convenient as the rotating film back on some now obsolescent medium format film cameras (oh happy days!)but its about as close as you're going to get with a DSLR. Although it doesn't offer the access to battery doors and sockets provided by more expensive customised systems, positioning of the camera on the bracket is highly repeatable once set so partial disassembly (aka unscrewing the camera) for battery changing is easy enough. Plugging in microphones and other cabled devices might be a bit more of a challenge depending on what and where they are. And using it to support a camera fitted with long heavy lenses probably isn't a good idea which is why most of these lenses have their own tripod foot but you knew that already - didn't you? All-in-all it's a very useful piece of kit and well worth the cash.

This is not suitable for use with the Canon R6. It's very sturdily built and on a camera it fits properly I'm sure it's very good. On the R6, you cannot make it fit to avoid having to readjusting the tripod when moving from landscape to portrait. The bracket also impedes the use of the articulating screen, you can open it but not swivel it. It also blocks access to the battery compartment and all of the ports on the left side of the camera, including the remote release socket.

Excellent piece of kit but expensive, works very well with both my Manfrotto tripods/heads. Please don't rush into purchasing this L bracket the price is very variable, I paid £119 but I have seen same item and presumably same seller up to £190 in a week.

This works well and is an excellent alternative to a Kirk plate or similar. There is one downside which is that it is necessary to set it up every time you change the batteries which can take 5-10 minutes each time as minute adjustments can make a big difference to making it consistent. So if you shoot a lot and charge the batteries on your camera regularly (I get away with once every couple of months, so can live with it), then you will get fed up of this really quickly and you would be better off with a Kirk. However unlike the previous reviewer I had no issues changing over the grub screw with the single hex key provided, that was all straightforward.

As always, Manfrotto delivers a sturdy product. It's a bit fiddly to set up but you have to remember it's a general fit product for many types of camera, not a dedicated Kirk or Three Legged Thing bracket. However once set up it does what it's meant to do. You can easily change orientation of your camera from landscape to portrait and vice versa. Would recommend.

Excelente calidad, de magnesio 100%, un poco elaborado el montaje, pero permite un ajuste preciso para que la base del lente se alinee con el eje de rotación del cabezal sin importar la posición horizontal o vertical de la cámara. Es pesado, pero rígido y soporta sin problema mi 6D con un lente zoom 17-40. Resultó perfecto para fotografía panorámica. El único pero que le veo es que bloquea el acceso para el intervalometro, pero deja paso para las demás entradas (micrófono, etc). Solo acepta la placa RC2.

L'un des meilleurs L bracket sur le marché depuis plusieurs années maintenant ce bracket permet un parfaite alignement d'un point focal en vertical comme en horizontal en un seul "click" sans avoir à refaire le point sur vos sujet, pratique pour les photographes de studio comme les photographes de terrain comme mariage événementiel et cetera. Je recommande 100 %.

The Q2 L bracket doesn’t fit firmly on MHXPRO-2W which is using default 200PL -14 plate. Please help or provide solution. Thanks

Solido e ben cosruito, anche se un po' pesante. Adatto anche quando alla fotocamera si applica l' impugnatura portapile. Indispensabile per le foto macro, perché permette di adattare immediatamente l'inquadratura. Peccato che la Manfratto non abbia ancora prodotto una slitta micrometrica compatta a quattro vie, costringendo a ricorrere ad altre marche. Graziano

this is a great L bracket. nice design. works well with eos r body and grip. follow the setup instructions and it works well. well built. rigid and light.