Manfrotto 500PLONG Video Camera Plate

This is exactly what I was looking for. I recently bought a used Manfrotto Tripod with the 501 HDV head. It didn't come with the plate, so I bought this. It's a perfect fit and works great with my camera.The only thing that caught my attention is the VHS pin (that small shaft that sits in-front of the mounting screw to keep the camera mounted in the right direction). On older Manfrotto plates the pin is a spring loaded metal piece that will adjust to the size of any VHS hole. The pin on this mounting plate is a hard plastic that is not spring loaded. It created a small gap between the plate and my camera (JVC GY-HD110U).This won't affect the use of this product, but it caught my attention that the plate does not mount flush to the bottom of my camera. The pin is removable, so if it becomes a problem I will pop it out.Solid plate! Works with 501 HDV head!

Great durable base plate for use with my Manfrotto Photo-Video head. My only complaint is in regards to the rubber material chosen for cushioning my attached SLR camera. If you photograph outside on a hot sunny day unprotected by direct midday sunlight, within 45 min to an hour the rubberized pads in-between the metal shoe mount and your camera will heat up and expand. This expansion is significant enough to cause the ends of the rubber to buckle, compromising the adhesive that holds the rubber pad to the metal shoe. By removing the shoe from my camera and by placing the shoe on my after the photo shoot, I had lost one of the rubber pads accidentally by the time I returned home. I purchased another shoe mount, always place the shoe mount in a plastic bag inside my camera bag after each photo shoot, and have not encountered any further problems since doing so.

Bought as a replacement since the tripod I found didn’t have one. This fit just fine and works well.

This is an excellent spare tripod component. It ships slightly different than the tripod original part. The original camera plate for the Manfrotto 502 head ships with 2 screws and a rubber plate to accommodate different size cameras. This one still does the job, but only has one screw and a screw on sleeve that screws onto the included screw making the thread larger to accommodate larger cameras. This it is particularly nice because it is a much smoother fit with the 502 tripod head so that once connected to the camera, it slides in and out of the tripod head groove much more smoothly than the original. That is interesting.

We were stuck in a blizzard last winter and the Manfrotto 501PL Rapid Connect Sliding Plate with 1/4-Inch - 20 Screws and 3/8-Inch Fixed Screws kept my family from certain death.I was commissioned by a well know magazine to shoot video footage in the little known high mountains of Oklahoma of the exotic purple fox and her cubs. The dang fox took forever to put on her makeup and that made the shoot go long, leaving our car buried under a suffocating three and a half inches of snow.After all hope was lost, my dear wife in near hypothermic state reached into my camera bag and pulled out the Manfrotto 501PL Rapid Connect Sliding Plate and we used it to scrape the death blanket of snow from our windshield. The plate did scratch the glass beyond repair, but we were able to get that replaced and use the money we saved by shopping online to buy an ice scraper and some hot chocolate with real marshmallows.Thank you Manfrotto. You mean more to us than you'll ever know. We've decided to name our first child after you - Manfrotto Amazon Herriott.

The 504PLong plate that arrived is a genuine Manfrotto in Manfrotto packaging. It came with a newly designed plate that does not have the brass anti-rotation pin as before. This is fine by me. The permanently installed brass pin was mostly in the way. I like this new design.What you get with the plate is a little ziplock bag with two 1/4-20 screws, two 3/8-16 screws, a rubber plug that stops the screws from falling out of the plate after they're installed and two black plastic anti-rotation pins. See the pictures. If you want to use them, press them into a newly-designed hole where they snap in and hold securely.None of my cameras except perhaps my Canon camcorder even have the anti-rotation socket, so I prefer not to have them permanently installed like the original plate. They just get in the way. Now, if I want them, I can install them, which I won't.I give the plate four stars because Manfrotto cannot standardize on a single plate design. They drive me crazy. This 504PLong plate works on my 504HD head and my Manfrotto 502 Video Head MVH502AH, but is just different enough that it doesn't fit the Manfrotto 3433PL 577 Rapid Connect Adapter with Sliding Mounting Plate and Manfrotto does not make a QR adapter that does take the 504PLong plate. What gives, Manfrotto? Why do you have so many different plates for very similar applications?Secondly, there is no part number on any of their plates, so if you have several from different Manfrotto devices, you better label them or you will get them all mixed up.Otherwise, it's a good plate.

Fits my Manfrotto MVH500AH Fluid head and my MVH502AH also (but it's shorter that the original plate for the 502), this is Manfrotto(Bogen) OEM gear. However, it is not as nice as the QR plates that come originally with the head. No rubber stopper (instead the 1/4" has to be screwed into place, won't fall out without unscrewing), and the 3/8" screw is just a shell that screws onto the 1/4" once it's in place.If you need a longer plate to balance your camera (I use it for telescopes and binos which need balancing), try the Manfrotto 504PLONG ... it is the same size plate as the 502 head, and fits in the 500 head for additional balance if needed. I use both the 500PLONG and 504PLONG in both heads (500 and 502).