Magic Plate quick-release plate makes it easy to toggle from landscape to portrait

The L-bracket does not change the center of gravity of the system "camera + lens" and keeps the weight centered over the tripod, This Magic plate disturbs the the center of gravity and as the result decrease stability. I would not buy it and I would not recommend it to anyone. DOA product.

the ball head can tilt 90 degrees too... why this?

While I think an L bracket is the best hori/vert solution I like this product for the following reason.
It doubles as an arca swiss compatible camera baseplate and it is also compatible with the Peak Design camera clip which I use. In the past I have to mount the Peak baseplate on my L bracket. Now I can shed some weight and still have a decent way to flip from horizontal to vertical. I don't like flipping the ballhead as that only works when you have the tripod set up for it and not so easy on uneven ground.

Just what I needed .... to remind me to buy an L bracket.

Seems like a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking below here. This may not be the best solution for everyone, I agree, but it is an innovative and compact unit, and it would be nice to have in the bag for those days when it might be handy. Sure, there are other solutions to this problem, but compact and light as this? This is a cool idea IMO. Nothing wrong with more choices in the market for us. I'm glad there are people out there working on new ideas. Keep it up.

LOL. Really???

This would be great if it went all the way to 180 degrees, and was a bit longer so that it would recenter the camera over the tripod with the ball head flopped 90 degrees. I've been in touch with the developer abut this, he seems interested. There are some nice things about the original design- light weight, space saving, and seems like it will be sturdy.

Best? No. Lightest? Maybe. Depends on how sturdy it is. The video did not make me confident it's strong enough to prevent wobble.

To be the best solution, it would have to allow the image axis to remain the same as you turn the camera. This moves it way to the side when you change from one orientation to the other.

For most situation it's probably great. But I'll keep looking for one that preserves the optical axis (at the cost of size and weight of course).

A square format sensor would solve that problem handily.

Ahhh Kickstarter.... pay 90% of what the product will retail for and wait a year for a product you may or may not get. But it’ll come with a collectable sticker.

Wouldn't be convenient to have the "sensor" rotate 90 degrees when you need to switch between portrait/landscape now that mechanism is simplified with mirrorless ?

The lens mount is a perfect circle. EVF and backpanel screen could be designed to accommodate change in aspect ratio....

Sense... this product makes none.

I think the video could've made better point if they showed the ball head 90 degree tilt was bumping into the tripod leg... OR once you turn the ball head you have to re-level... the video doesn't show why someone might want to use it over their ball head...

The top plate on my 1990 Bausch + Lomb tripod does exactly that.
There are countless other plates out there to do this job.
The Chinese version of this will be $5.99 with free shipping!!!

This is more appropriate for Ball heads. Personally I stopped using ball heads years ago ever since I bought a Manfrotto 405, I have been using geared heads. The Arca cube as expensive as it is all about control and precision..combine it with an L bracket, and it is perfection.

I still have the 405.

This makes no sense at all.
You use an L-Bracket so you still have the center above the center.

With this plate it is again offset as if you would tilt the head.
This seems a complete waste of money to me.

Just use an L-bracket! far more stable and won't be off-centre when vertical!

I don't need that nonsense because I use real cameras (LF) where I can rotate the back. Using a rock solid 24 year old heavy tripod, I can even use the gear head to move the LF camera to the left into vertical mode without any stability issues due to the »off center« weight. Just invest into the best gear you can get and you don't have to complain anymore. And no, this sort of gear definitely is NOT mainstream or Canon, Nikon, etc.

Ok...I'm an architectural shooter and often have to position my camera over a balcony using a sidearm and put the camera in odd positions. In those situations I put a ball head on top of my geared head and the camera has a right angle bracket too. Any position can be quickly met and fine tuned with the gears. But that's me.

Maybe the right way to use it is the key, such as what kind of camera and user's requirement , if just focus on what different from L bracket then this small and light stuff will be non attractive even no any concern to keep it on your camera body always also prevent forget your plate at home to a full time street Photographer

Completely misses the point of an l-bracket.

I quickly switch from shooting portraits to landscapes by focusing from people to the natural setting. Nothing to do with the vertical or horizontal orientation of the sensor.

It's simple to attach the camera to the ballhead and rotate the camera down for portrait model. So what's the advantage? The fact that the device flips 90 degrees with no fuss? My ballhead already allows for that. (Acratech, but lots of others have the same feature.)

Apart from the offset issue, it seems to have an inconvenient two-stage clamp (fumble under the body to release the horizontal position, turn the lever to lock vertical). Does that second lock work on friction, giving you a vague clamp at any angle around 90 degrees of you can get your hand in, or just vertical? Either way looks like a flimsy hinge is going to be a critical part of the stability solution, even with some secondary support when horizontal.

I'll stick to a big lump of metal. I know portable is the new hotness, but a reputable camera-specific L bracket doesn't make much of a dent in the weight once you have a decent body and lens attached -and it won't unscrew.

No different from a ball head, it changes the viewpoint of the camera, which is the whole reason for using an L bracket, So a waste of money in my view. I'll stick to my usual L bracket thanks!!

uhm.

Every tripod head can do this. So what's new?

If you use a heavy camera / lens combo, the weight will shift dangerously off center, putting your rig in serious danger of falling over when tipped for portrait mode! Better to invest in an "L" bracket from almost any of the choices from Amazon to RRS. Also it looks like you can't lock it in between the 2 modes. No thanks, it's a step backward!

===
Horizontal.
Vertical.
But nothing in-between.
Pass.

According to the video, this is ideal for people who want to combine the shake of a handheld photo with the inconvenience of a tripod photo.

Fiddly.

Nice, but is it stable?

Erm, why not just use the drop slot in most ballheads? This plate looks like it'd compromise stability (not to mention the nodal point if you're doing precise pano/rotation work) even more than just using the drop slot, and it's not that much more compact or much cheaper than some of the smallest L plates (3 Legged Thing's universal ones come to mind).

I'll keep my RRS L Brackets, thank you.

You could achieve the exact same thing by rolling the tripod head, with guaranteed more stability. But still, I prefer a regular L-bracket. Being able to keep the center of gravity right in the center is much more important for those that are actually shooting with tripods.

Yeah, and your camera is off axis to the ball head.

And what does it better than turning the bullhead for 90°? I mean, "really" better? By the time of unlocking, tilt and lock the fiddly screw, I think I'm also done with a bullhead or an L-plate.

I wish more release plates had a 'dark tone and smooth touch'.

I'll stick with my ten dollar L bracket from Amazon.

An ok idea, but needs to at least look like it'll hold a camera without wobble - or even breaking!

If it was made by Manfrotto, with their rigid and grippy alloy materials, I might be interested,

https://www.manfrotto.com/uk-en/monopod-head-with-quick-release-wide-90-scope-234rc/

...yep that's what I use on my monopod for medium format.