Macro Photography - The Manfrotto 454 Micropositioning Plate Review

If you are serious with your macro photography then you might want to consider some form of tripod fixture which allows you to focus the camera by "racking" the focus which is the preferred method rather than using the lens to focus when using high magnification. This is a review of the Manfrotto implementation of such a device, the 454 micropositioning plate. To facilitate quick mounting onto the tripod and camera to plate I recommend you employ quick release plates. The design is adequate for the purpose however the lack of thought in the engineering of this product means there is considerable side to side and up and down movement in the slide assembly which means positioning at high magnification is difficult. At over £60 in the UK this product is IMHO overpriced compared to other manufacturers products which have more features as well.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• macro photography
• manfrotto 454
• micropositioning plate
• eos
• 60D
• manfrotto
• macro

[craig2phillips]

I noticed your quick release plate is quite small - if you had used a abigger release plate would that have reduced the play - for example, I use a cullinane head and release plate and there is little play at all.

[ghough12]

@craig2phillips The "play" is between the cast slide and carriage assemblies. To reduce the amount of side play I have to really tighten the brass lock screw which then means fine focus is a problem. Using a different release plate won't change the relationship of slide to carriage. Just a little more thought at design would have overcome this weakness as witnessed by several 3rd party copies of this unit fron China.

[keebler69]

thanks for the video. have you ever tried to mount 2 together? the website says you can add 2 at 90 degrees, but do you need any other adapter? thanks.

[ghough12]

@keebler69 no you just use the one plate on the tripod and the other plate is fastened at 90 degrees on that one using the tripod mount screw. That way you have 2 axis of movement.

[BinaryCody]

Nice review. I was considering buying one of these, but seeing how much play there was I've now changed my mind. I'll look for a sturdier solution.

[ghough12]

@BinaryCody Yes this was my biggest disappointment with this plate, with a bit more thought they caould have made it perfect - it just looks like another example of them trading on their name.

[rmfhermans]

Thanks for the review, I was hoping that it would have been a better product, so the search goes on.