Wimberley set out to design a simple Arca-Swiss style universal plate that provides the same quality of construction, solid connection, and anti-twist characteristics of custom plates.
The result is the P-5 Universal Camera Body Plate.
The P-5 features a thin layer of dense, textured rubber on its top surface. This coating grips the bottom of your camera, but is so dense and thin that it maintains the solid feel of a metal-to-camera connection.
Beneath the rubber, the top surface of the plate is machined to ensure that the frictional force is concentrated on the outer portions of the plate. This provides the maximum mechanical advantage to resist twisting.
P-5 Features
Universal Design
-No need to buy a new plate when you buy a new camera.
-Use the P-5 on your camera with or without the vertical grip attached
-Use the P-5 for backup camera bodies, medium format cameras, even collared lenses.
Dual Safety Stops
The P-5 features the same unique dual safety stops found on our lens plates.
Ergonomics
The P-5's thin profile and generously rounded corners make it easy on the hands; it blends beautifully with the contours of your camera.
Compatibility
The P-5 will work on nearly any camera body. It is best suited for high-end cameras that have metal skeletons and metal threads. It will also perform well on less expensive, plastic-bodied cameras, but it is important to use caution and not over-tighten the plate on these cameras (see "Warnings" section below).
The universal design of the P-5 allows you to use it for many other applications as well (camcorders, collared lenses, point-and-shoot cameras, etc.). If you own the Canon D-60, please read the "Warnings" section below.
Canon Digital Rebel XT Compatibility problem: The P-5 will work on the original Digital Rebel, but it covers part of the battery cover on the new Digital Rebel XT.
Warnings:
Universal camera body plates such as the P-5 require that you tighten the plate snugly to your camera body to ensure that they do not twist. The design of the P-5 resists twisting with minimal clamping force; however, caution must be exercised when using any plate on camera bodies that do not have a metal skeleton, and especially for those with plastic threads.
Camera Body Flex & the Canon D-60:
The P-5 and many other universal plates have a shallow cut-out on the top surface of the plate that focuses the clamping force on the outer ends of the plate where the mechanical advantage is greatest. Plastic camera bodies will slightly flex into this cut-out when the plate is tightened. We have heard of rare occasions, with older first-generation plastic-bodied cameras, where this flex has caused problems. Generally, this does not occur with newer cameras; however, we learned of a customer who experienced a temporary malfunction of his Canon D-60 which may have been caused by camera body flex. We own a D-60 and have not been able to replicate this problem (even after over-tightening the P-5 plate). Thus, the incident may have been unique to the customer's particular camera; however, if you own a D-60, please be aware of this issue.
