{"id":2470,"date":"2025-02-28T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/?p=2470"},"modified":"2025-02-27T16:24:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T00:24:29","slug":"a-new-quick-release-for-a-manfrotto-tripod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/28\/a-new-quick-release-for-a-manfrotto-tripod\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Quick Release for a Manfrotto Tripod"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I have been hard at work this week on restoring the Motion Picture Apparatus Company tripod, but in the meantime I wanted to share with you this quick project I completed while waiting for paint and parts to arrive. This Manfrotto 3066 tripod has been sitting in the shop for several years missing its quick release top plate and feeling sad. Manfrotto\u2019s 3066 tripod is a nicely made, lightweight, all aluminum tripod. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-2-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A grid of four images: top left shows part of the machining process of the replacement quick release top plate for the Manfrotto 3066 tripod; top right shows the notches being machined into the side of the plate; bottom left shows the plate part way through the machining process with the notches complete; bottom right shows lightening pockets being machined into the plate.\" class=\"wp-image-2467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Manfrotto folks said they didn\u2019t stock the top plate anymore, and I could only find similarly lacking tripods online, so while I had a bit of time to spare between projects, I decided to make a new quick release top plate for this one. The top plate on this tripod is a large dovetail plate with notches on one side of the dovetail that help you find the balance point for your camera. I was going to make this out of Delrin, but sadly I didn\u2019t have any left, so I used a piece of aluminum plate that was a cut off from an earlier project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-3-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A grid of four images: top left shows pockets being machined into the top plate to hold non-slip cork pads; top right, bottom left, and bottom right show the Manfrotto tripod with the new quick release top plate installed.\" class=\"wp-image-2468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-3-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-3-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-3-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-3.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once I had determined the angle of the dovetail, the machining job here was quite straightforward. I included a \u215c-16 adjustable tie down screw and copied the notches on the dovetail to match the original. I machined in two pockets for some cork non-slip padding, and carved out several lightening holes on the bottom of the new quick release plate. While this isn\u2019t a particularly valuable tripod, it now has a bright new future not in the landfill, but underneath a camera. I haven\u2019t decided whether to pair this with an ARRI ST or an ARRI 2C\/B, but any camera 40lbs. or less should work perfectly on this tripod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-4-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"A view of the completed quick release top plate for the Manfrotto 3066 tripod with non-slip cork pads and \u215c-16 screw installed. You can also see the notches machined along the side.\" class=\"wp-image-2469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-4-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-4-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-4-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-4-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manfrotto-tripod-4.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have been hard at work this week on restoring the Motion Picture Apparatus Company tripod, but in the meantime I wanted to share with you this quick project I completed while waiting for paint and parts to arrive. This Manfrotto 3066 tripod has been sitting in the shop for several years missing its quick [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[251,72],"class_list":["post-2470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessories","category-camera-support","tag-manfrotto","tag-tripod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2470\/revisions\/2471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemagear.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}