What the thread found

• Weight plates designed for small cameras can be stacked with riser plates to achieve proper balance on crane rigs, but this creates space constraints for mounting accessories on the rods.
• Shimming rod mounts upward from the base plate creates clearance needed for attaching and tightening accessories between the rods and weight plate.
• A Berkey System adjustable rod block plate can serve as an alternative to fixed riser plates and provides flexibility for different camera sizes.
• For DSLR cameras on a Zephyr rig, achieving a total platform weight of nine to ten pounds is the practical minimum for stable operation.
• Manfrotto quick-release adapter plates can be used as spacers between weight plates and rod mount plates, though this is not an ideal solution.
• The 6.5 pound weight plate is generally sufficient for DSLR cameras when combined with a riser plate, with the heavier 11 pound plate offering less practical benefit for smaller cameras.
• Longer mounting screws are required when stacking multiple plates to achieve bottom-mounting, which provides more secure attachment than top-mounting.
• Tight spacing between rods and the weight plate makes it difficult to manipulate twist-lock mounts and requires careful planning during assembly.

Depends on

• The advice applies specifically to lightweight cameras like the Panasonic HPX-170 and Canon 5D on Zephyr rigs.
• Some suggested solutions like the Manfrotto adapter plates are acknowledged as workarounds rather than optimal solutions.
• The experience is based on practical field use but not systematic testing across all possible configurations.
• Specific measurements and exact hole spacing of components are not detailed.

Gear in this thread

Zephyrcatalog

Parts

Base Plate

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