3 Legged Thing Lever Clamp

Seems well made and functional. The issue I have is that the lever tension needs to be adjusted when ever you change attachments. So I have a ball head with 3LT base plate, Wimberly camera plates and RRS Lens foot plates. If this is supposed to be quick release lever base but the lever tension needs to be manually adjust when changing equipment attached- Very Very Annoying! and certianly not quck to change. Have gone back to Knob controlled base; easier, safer and faster to change out equipment. Had to hold equipment in one hand while using an allen wrench to adjust the tension so equipment was safely secure.

I have an Acratech locking lever clamp on an Acratech GSS ball head. That thing is AWESOME except that the clamping lever seems to have lost it's ability to bite on my quick release plates.On a recent trip I couldn't get the important bits to hold snug. Fortunately I had brought another Acratech head with a "turn to lock" clamp.Why is all the above important? Because I assumed the solution to my locking clamp problem would be to replace it with this unit from 3-legged thing. They have some clever engineering in their tripods, and I assumed that this clamp would meet that standard.It doesn't.You can read some other reviews for confirmation about what I'm complaining about here, but:A> Came in a box with an inventory sticker/barcode. Nothing else - not even a instruction or a card to "visit our website" for information.Included wereB> A zip lock plastic bagC> A 1/2" long, 1/4" threaded bolt.D> An allen wrenchE> The clamp.Oddly no instructions, and the allen wrench doesn't fit the threaded bolt - it's too small.My Acratech head requires a 3/8" bolt, not a 1/4 bolt, so I figured I'd use a 3/8 to 1/4 reducing bushing to do the deed... But wait, the bolt won't thread fully into any of the 3 reducing bushings I have. But all 6 of my 1/4 clamp screws would thread onto any of the reducing bushings. Interestingly, the 3/8 reducing bushings DO thread into the bottom of the 3-legged clamp, so I can use this clamp on a rail, but not on my ball head. Moreover the 3/8" bolt currently holding my acratech lever clamp on my ball head won't work because it sits too high in the 3-legged clamp.CONCLUSION: The supplied 1/4 bolt must really be a 6mm metric thread - or it's just bad quality.The next problem is that *without instructions* - and none were supplied - I'd have had NO clue that the purpose of the allen wrench is to adjust the travel distance on the 3-legged clamp. I only figured that out after reading some other reviews!Now on to the next problem:Not all "Arca Swiss compatible" plates are compatible. This isn't 3-legged's fault of course. Some are marginally thinner or wider. For example one of the cheap plates I own is apparently too narrow to lock at all and will slide right through the clamp. Whereas my Sunway Foto 210mm rail is apparently a skosh wider and the clamp MIGHT close on it if I were to apply excessive force - perhaps why some reviewers complained they broke their clamps after only a few uses. One consequence of this is that the allen wrench is required to adjust the clamp unless all your plates/rails are identical - and failure to make an adjustment may result in no clamping or a broken clamp. I honestly never noticed such a problem with the Acratech locking level clamp I was trying to replace - until it became too wimpy - but the Acratech has a big advantage... it has an finger screw tightness adjustment on it so you don't need tools. That's likely why it costs $140 by itself.Next problem, that the locking lever is short. The area that you can use to "pinch" the spring to release the level is a scant 1/8 of an inch deep and the spring is pretty strong. Arthritic (or sore or gloved fingers) will have great difficulty pinching the clamp to release it. Ladies and well manicured gentlemen will break nails fighting in that little bit of space against a rather aggressively strong spring.Another consequence of the short lever and the only 35 mm of clamping area is space. If you have any substantial camera, or mount it on a large base diameter head, you may not be able to get to the lever arm at all. And that bubble level is really teeny.Conclusion...Perhaps with all the variations in plates, a difficult to adjust, small clamp is not warranted unless you use only one kind of plate, or have small/light gear.For example, it will work fine for me if I use it only to clamp down my cell phone holder.

I really like how this clamp has a safety catch so you know it’s locked. You’d have to be a complete idiot to not be able to tell if you’ve secured your camera or not with this style of clamp. It’s easily adjustable if you need to find tune the tightness. A little advice (especially for some of the geniuses who wrote bad reviews) if you don’t have the same brand of base plates/L brackets on all your gear, you probably want to pass on getting ANY kind of lever quick release clamp. If your using different base plates on everything, then they will usually have different tolerances and you’ll end up needing to adjust every time you switch out gear in the clamp. If you’re using a bunch of direct base plates, stick with the regular screw in type of clamp. It’ll save you a whole lot of headaches and possibly your gear.

First of all, I think all levered quick release clamps are absurdly overpriced. This is the cheapest one I found; half the price of RRS clamps. But for almost $70, you would expect this thing to at least bring the mounting screw. It doesn't. Doesn't bring the plate either.Poor value aside, it's not even usable. The way they designed it, they make the clamping edges taper down to only 27mm! That's ridiculous. Why on earth make a clamp that has a 48mm wide base, but make the part that actually clamps down on the plate be only half that width?!? Like many other photographers, I use an L-bracket. And like many L-brackets, mine has a gap (approx. 28mm wide) to allow for the articulating screen on my camera. That means I can't use my camera in the vertical position because the gap in the L-bracket is wider than the clamping surface on the clamp!Why would they design it like this? To save on weight? How much can 25mm more of edge material possibly weigh? Maybe they thought it looked cool? Who knows?!? What I do know is that The engineer that designed this gilded turd should be taken out back behind the factory and put out of his/her misery. This type of shotty design really chaps my a$$.In summary, you should pass on this clamp. Either shell out the extra $50 and get a RRS clamp, or just learn to live with the one you've got.

I like the way it is made and how it is adjusted. These two items makes this a very useable quick release for the Acura Swiss camera shoe.

After fiddling with the screw type of QR, that weren't really a QR I found this base. This one is truly a QR clamp. The quality is very good and it allows you to remove your camera quick and easy, no screwing around.

We have two of these mounts: The first one ordered Nov 2019 has a thumbscrew to tighten and lock the camera in place. When ordering what I thought was the same product for an additional camera in January 2021, this one came with a lever that also locks in place to secure the camera. This one has been used 4 times and the lever broke. This is clearly a bad design vs. the earlier version.

No matter how tight it was, the Matterport camera would slide right out when moving it to the next scan. I caught it before it hit the ground, and am super disappointed in the quality.