thanks Niko, as for battery grips - I am very familiar with them, as I always get one with my cameras, and almost never take them off

Yes. The plate mounts to the bottom of the grip and because of this it moves a bit due to Nikon's grip design. Even with a tightened screw the battery grip will have a small bit of movement. With large lenses I think the movement is more noticeable. Without the battery grip an L bracket mounts solidly to the bottom of the camera and you can always leave it on without problems.

You can also leave it on with the grip but like I said because of the battery grip design there will be some give. For me it's not that bad but it is there. If your familiar with the battery grip and how much it moves you can decide for yourself. The D300 battery grip fits more securely than the D200.

I know that wimberlay is great, but JD has the ability to remove the swing part and convert itself to sth like Wimberlays sidekick, but my first question was about the L brackets, will they work good once You mount them on a dslr with battery grip?

You can't go wrong with the Wimberley.

They both look excellent. When I looked into these recently, I preferred the Wimberley since it's just bit lighter 3.1 lbs (1.4kg) vs 3.5 lbs (1.6kg), and shorter - 9.3 inches vs 11.4.

Also at B&H the Wemberley has received a lot of 5 star reviews and only 5 star reviews.

The price is about the same.

gimbals - I thought that every gimbal is based on a ball head, but I was thinking about gimbals, to be more precisely either BWG-Pro Black Widow from JD or Wimberlay II

I've never used the Jobu but the Wimberley is great. The bad thing about the RSS L bracket is that you need separate plates like I mentioned in the previous post, but I guess it's not a big deal if you always shoot with the battery grip.

shutterdancer, I meant while the camera is on the tripod. There's slight movement between the camera mount and the tripod mount. It's very noticeable for me but I guess that's because I've used gear with no give whatsoever.

Do you mean ball heads or gimbals from Jobu or Wimberley? They are known for their gimbals which I hear are perfect for extremely long lenses (sa 200-400). For ball heads I'd look at Really Right Stuff heads or the Arca Swiss Z1. The elliptical ball on the Arca increases the friction as the head moves from its current position. You never get the sensation that the camera could fall when you make adjustments.

Niko - indeed I was thinking about getting the L bracket, as I almost always use grip (my hands are to big to hold the camera steady, when I use anything longer than 70mm); and as I'm in a process of changing my ball head I'm very eager to hear any suggestions. I'll be using the plate with either Jobu Design or Wimberlay ball head - haven't decided yet)

NikoDoby...I've never had a problem with twist with a plate mounted on a body...but I did have a problem once with a plate mounted on a tripod collar...just used extra elbow grease ;)

I opted away from the L plates, since I almost never shoot vertical. If you frequently switch between horizontal and vertical the L plates would be efficient. The Really Right Stuff website is very instructive and their parts are perfect. It's all mil-spec - meticulously designed and manufactured.

I expect this stuff to last as long as the Gitzo tripod.

Are we talking about RRS "L" plates? You need a separate L plates for use with and without battery packs.

I've got some Manfrotto quick release plates too. They're OK. My only complaint is that they tend to have a little give in them. They twist a bit.

Those on a budget might want to look at the Manfrotto lever style plates as well.I have the 234RC swivel/tilt head mounted on my monopod and the 322RC2 grip action ballhead mounted on my tripod.They are very well made.

so maybe someone else was using the RRS plates on cameras with battery packs?

RRS plates are great.

Just installed the QR on Arca Swiss Z1, needs 11mm 1/4 drive socket to remove old 1/4 screw. RRS are nice people, but could do better with their instructions.

No Adamz, no extra battery pack. Plate works fine, QR's work well. Would recommend. Getting Wimberly plate for 200/4 macro (ordered along with B+W filter from B&H), then this project is complete!

ted, do You have a battery pack on Your d90? if so does the plate works with it without any problems?

Received the plates from RRS today, mounted the camera plate on D90, perfect. Mounted a QR on my monopod, a bit of time required, but pretty easy. Works perfectly.

Trying to get the 1/4 stud out in order to replace the top on an Arca Swiss Z1 is - impossible. Almost feels like it was torqued down hydraulically. Will have to find a repair shop to attempt this. Very disappointing.

I'm a bit disappointed in RSS since they included essentially no installation instructions.

On the monopod it works well, although hardly the point.

Ive been using RRS equipment for quite a while, and ive never had any issues with them, i know a few people who uses them aswell.
hope you'll be satisfied with it, either way its very good quality build.

Ordered the Really Right Stuff (RRS) QR lever models for both the Arca-Swiss Z1 and the monopod, along with the D90 plate. Will let you know whether this is a successful venture or not.

Choice made because RRS stuff is used by friend, it's less expensive than Arca, I like the idea of the single lever for the ease of use and identification of open vs closed and it's made locally (SLO, CA).

Ordered today on internet directly from RRS, got a reply my order shipped within 2 hours - so far so good.

I have an Arca-Swiss Z1 (it's flawless) with a 1/4 thread. I plan on getting some type of quick release and have narrowed it down to three types: 1: Arca Swiss Flip Lock QR, 2: Really Right Stuff leaver release or 3: Kirk Enterprises Quick Release (with nob).

The Arca-Swiss looks elegant, but is considered finicky to use and potentially vulnerable to damage.

The RRS looks excellent, but their comment not to use with Monopods (I'd like to use the same mechanism on my monopod too) makes me wonder about it altogether.

The Kirk enterprises seems the simplest, but the half rotation to drop in might be precarious in some circumstances.

I plan on retrofitting an older Gitzo tripod, a Gitzo monopod and the A-S Z1 on a Gitzo 2541ex (also perfect), so this will represent a significant investment in money, not to mention the camera plates, etc.

I now have a love-hate relationship with tripods that I'm trying to shift further towards love by simplifying set-up.