RRS L-Plate & Body Plate

I am looking at the RRS site for a L-bracket for 20D without battery grip.

The L-pate (B20D-L) is $140.

Do I need to buy the body plate (B20D), which is $55, as well?

 

No, the B20D-L is independent of any other plates. Each plate is designed
to be used on its own.
By the way I use their L-Plates on both my F5 and D2 and they are an
exceptionally useful addition.
Bob

 

No, it's either-or.

I have their body plate; I thought the L-plate would be annoying. But now
I'm wondering if I should have gone for the L-plate instead. The body plate
is so sleek it might as well be part of the camera; a thing of pure beauty.
If the L-plate is anywhere near as good, my fears of it bothering me were
probably completely unfounded.

 

By all means, go for the L-plate. You will find it useful beyond
description. I don't find it at all intrusive and I have it on both the F5
and D2. I have their body plates on my F4 and F100, but much prefer the
L-plates for their versatility.
I have no connection with RRS but am an admitted booster mostly because of
their build quality and designed-for-purpose approach. I am disappointed,
however, with their foot dragging over the release of their updated focusing
stage (over 1 yr waiting), so I broke down & bought a Kirk unit. So far, so
good with the Kirk -- we'll see how the long term goes.
Bob

 

I intend to buy the L-plate for mounting the camera vertically but from
the photos at the RRS site, I can't see how the camera can be mounted to
the tripod without a screw hole in the side of the camera. Frankly, I
don't know what is the body plate is used for...

 

Ah. I take it you've never used a quick-release system? The idea is to
eliminate the inconvenience of needing the screw hole to mount the camera
to the tripod. You mount the plate to the camera using the screw hole,
and then the plate mates to the tripod head with no screwing necessary.

The L-plate simply makes it possible to do the same thing in a vertical
orientation.

Note that, for the whole thing to work, you need to have a tripod head
with a quick-release bracket. It can be any head with an "Arca-type"
release, including heads from RRS, Arca-Swiss, Kirk, etc., but notably
not Bogen/Manfrotto unless you replace their bracket.

 

Alright, it's now getting expensive, so I'll have to forgo it. Thanks.

 

The use of these mounting plates (both L-plate & normal) assumes you have an
Arca-Swiss type connection on your tripod head. This then allows the quick
removal and attachment of the camera (or collard lens, as there are plates
for them also) to the tripod. If your tripod (or head) doesn't use the
Arca-Swiss attachment method, RRS, Kirk, or others will sell you a clamp for
your head which will enable the use of these mounting plates.
First attach the plate to the camera using the tripod mounting hole in the
bottom of the camera, then slip the plate into the Arca-Swiss clamp, tighten
the clamp and your camera is solidly mounted to the tripod & also readily
detachable. The L-plate allows you to mount the camera vertically as well,
without "flopping" the ball head which leaves the whole camera + tripod
somewhat unstable and requires you to re-align the camera for the vertical
shot. Very handy.
Bob