Follow focus jumping teeth? 5D Mark II won't sit straight? Try this.

First of all, let's get the legally-binding blog disclaimer over with: Nobody sent me this doo-dad free (or paid me) to review it.

Too bad.

Bleeding pocketbooks aside, one of the other endless oddities about DSLR filmmaking is that us fellows in the 5D Mark II camp have only one 1/4"-20tpi threaded boss at the bottom of the camera to work with. It doesn't even have a recess to accept the pin supplied on basic tripod plates either.

That's where CoolLCD came in and designed this handy little solution for us 5D Mark II users, called the CoolPlate:

The plate centers itself with a pair of nylon screws, which fit into a pair of recesses in the bottom of the Mark II, along with a 1/4" screw at the center. The CoolPlate is drilled for two 1/4"-20tpi mounting locations and one centering pin, which makes it ideal for most camera plates, and eliminates any shifting that may be an issue on some rigs:

What's more, the Cool Plate adds not much more than 1/4" in height to your rig, so it isn't much of a bother for the convenience:

For Mark III users, a similar product called the CoolProtector - a CoolPlate with an accessory retainer bracket - was available, but is presently out of stock. CoolLCD stated in an email to me that the "...CoolProtector is out of stock because we are designing [a] new version."

In the meantime, us Mark II owners can pick up the earlier Cool Plate for $10 off the eBay price by going through the CoolLCD site. Not a bad deal at all.

-Kurt K. - "Man With the 5D"