What is the spring-loaded peg on a tripod quick-release plate for?
Asked 10/2/2017
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Many tripod quick-release plates have a small spring-loaded metal or plastic peg next to the mounting screw. What is it for, and is it safe to remove or ignore it if my camera or phone adapter doesn’t have a matching hole on the bottom?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
59
It’s called an anti-rotation pin. This pin interfaces with most cine (motion picture) cameras. Cinematographic camera applications often involve panning the camera. Such activities can result in the camera slipping on its mount. An anti-rotation pin locks the camera and prevents unwanted gyrations. Additionally, on a film cine camera, to reload a fresh roll of film, the camera may need to be dismounted from the tripod. There this pin does double duty: it serves as a locater pin that helps restore the camera’s position when remounted to the tripod.
Originally by user44949. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user44949
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
That peg is an anti-rotation pin (also called a locating pin). It’s meant to fit into a matching hole on the bottom of some video/cine cameras and accessories.
Its job is to stop the camera from twisting on the quick-release plate, especially during panning or other motion. On some cine setups it also helps reposition the camera consistently when remounting.
If your camera or phone adapter has no matching hole, the pin serves no purpose for that device. In that case, you can usually leave it unused, press it down, or remove it if the plate is designed to allow that. Just be aware that if you ever mount equipment that does use the pin, removing it means losing that anti-rotation function.
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