Wooden Camera 15mm LWS Baseplate for RED KOMODO

I don't understand all the negative reviews on this item. Our Komodo has been out on dozens of shoots, including multiple tv shows, music videos, commercials and feature films, and we've never had a problem with the baseplate. It feels very solid and works well. Yes, there isn't a safety pin to holds the dovetail in, but I generally find them to be irritating anyway. Just make sure to tighten it up properly and it's extremely solid.

What can you say? It's wooden camera and it's top notch as usual. Mind that the baseplate is missing the pin. I think it's pretty obvious that you will be tight in up once having slid the plate in the baseplate. However, since the pin is missing, if you DO NOT tight it, chances are that the camera will slide out. Weird, but I have it and use it and I find it an amazing tool.. with a catch!

If you need something rock solid, this ain't it. There's a very slight flex between the camera and baseplate. Most noticeable when using a large lens and a top handle. This can actually cause lens decentering with big lenses and 15mm matteboxes. Wooden Camera has gone downhill since the company was sold to a massive conglomerate.

I own two sets of these and they've been fantastic. PROS: Solid metal, ratcheting lock screws, arri rosettes, arca swiss camera plate, Arri Standard Dovetail. Standard solid craftsmanship from Wooden Camera as expected. CONS: Arca Swiss doesn't have a safety pin, so if you're careless, you can slide the camera out of the LWS system. There's a lot of hate on this rig and I suspect it comes from people who've recently jumped from Mirrorless to RED and never had a proper Arri Standard set up before. You have to be completely careless to push the arca swiss plate out or forget to tighten your lock screw. You have to be pretty careless to not know which direction the bottom plate goes on. That being said, this is literally the same design basis on every rig I've ever used for the past decade. If you're a professional and aren't careless, this rig will do you fine.

The camera plate is barely held on with a little bit of friction from a thumb screw. Even at it's absolute tightest you can push it right out. There is also NO safety pin to keep it from falling out. All of the thumb screws are jammed in together. It feels incredibly cheap and is one of the more poorly executed items I've seen.