L-brackets used to be ridiculously expensive, and if you want, you can still pay well over £100/$100 for one. However, 3 Legged Thing has shaken up the market by making L-brackets more affordable and more accessible.
Creating an L-bracket for the Canon EOS R5 and R6 meant that as well as having to ensure that all the ports are accessible, 3 Legged Thing had to consider how to deal with the vari-angle screen, and the designers have tackled it brilliantly. It’s impressive how much range of movement is still afforded to the screen.
The 3 Legged Thing Roxie is compact yet robust and it fits quickly and easily onto the camera.
For
Locking pin keeps the camera steady, even with a heavy lens
You can change the camera battery with the bracket on
The vari-angle screen still functions with the bracket on
Against
Some limitations to the screen movement
Extra care required when using the vertical aspect on a tripod head
What is the 3 Legged Thing Roxie?
The 3 Legged Thing Roxie is an L-bracket that is specifically designed for the Canon EOS R5 and Canon EOS R6.
For those unfamiliar with L-brackets, they are designed to be fixed on a camera like a tripod’s quick release plate, but as well as having a plate along the base, they have a vertical plate that goes up one side of the camera. As both of the Roxie’s plates are Arca Swiss compatible, the camera can be flipped between horizontal and vertical shooting on a compatible tripod without changing the angle of the tripod head, shifting the focal plane or adjusting composition beyond switching the orientation.
Specification
Product type: L-bracket
Camera compatibility: Canon EOS R6 and R5
Base length: 101mm / 4inches
Base width: 38mm / 1.5inches
Vertical aspect height: 88mm / 3.49inches
Vertical aspect width: 38mm / 1.5inches
Weight: 88g /3.1oz
Mount: Arca Swiss
Material: Magnesium alloy
Features
3 Legged Thing engineers the Roxie from magnesium alloy and it’s shaped to fit the contours of the Canon R5 and R6 perfectly.
As well as the 1/4-2o bolt for attaching the Roxie to the camera, there’s a small locator pin in the base. This aligns with an indent in the camera’s body to keep the Roxie correctly orientated on the camera. If necessary, the pin can be loosened using a flat-dead screwdriver and repositioned.
While both arms of the Roxie are compatible with Arca Swiss type tripod heads, the base section has a 1/4-20 thread to mount a different type of quick release plate if that should be necessary. Alternatively, this thread can be used for attaching a single-point strap such as a Blackrapid Sport Breathe or similar, or some other accessory. Whatever you attach, you’ll have to remove it before the Roxie can be mounted in landscape orientation in a tripod head.
There are also two 1/4-20 threads in the vertical arm which are handy for attaching accessories such as a microphone, light or monitor.
In addition, the base and vertical arms both have two small security screws that might come in useful with accessories that keep cables in place.
3 Legged Thing supplies a smart draw-string bag to store the Roxie when it’s not in use. However, this is more likely to be used to hold the dual-ended mini tool with hex keys for tightening or adjusting the bolts. There’s also a funny little flat-head screwdriver tool that could come in handy if you need to move the locator pin.
Performance
I tested the 3 Legged Thing Roxie on the Canon EOS R5 and it fitted perfectly straight from the box with no need to move the locator pin. With the 1/4-20 bolt tightened using the supplied double-ended hex key, the Roxie felt very secure and no amount of wiggling shifted it.
One concern that photographers sometimes have about L-brackets is that access to the camera’s battery compartment or memory card bay may be compromised. As the image above shows, there are no such issues with the Roxie as the horizontal aspect that fits along the camera’s base, doesn’t actually extend as far as the battery compartment door. Also, as the R5 and R6 memory card bays are integrated into the camera’s grip, they are unaffected by the Roxie.
Similarly, videographers may worry that the cable connections are compromised, but the Roxie fits around them so they can be accessed pretty much as normal.
By careful alignment of a gap in the rear section of the vertical arm, 3 Legged Thing has also enabled the Canon R5’s and R6’s vari-angle screen to be flipped out for use and by tilting it before it’s fully flipped back it’s even possible to angle the screen up or down when it’s at the side of the camera. Or it can be rotated to face forwards.
Depending upon the type of tripod head you use, and which side of the camera you position the plate lock, the angle of the screen may also be restricted when the camera is in the vertical orientation. To have easier access to the lock, I positioned it at the back of the camera and I used the camera’s electronic levels to ensure the camera is level. Using the tripod head facing the other way might give the screen a little more movement than in the image below, but the bubble level still gets in the way. Nevertheless, it’s still very useful works well for below or above head-height photography.
If you want to twist the screen, the camera needs to be removed from the head, the screen flipped, and then the camera re-mounted.
The gap in the vertical plate means that you need to take a little extra care with the alignment of the Roxie in a tripod head when you’re shooting in portrait orientation. To maintain the focal plane and keep the weight of the camera centred over the tripod, you need to centre the L-bracket, but this especially important when there’s a gap.
I tried mounting the Roxie off-centre so that one side of the tripod head didn’t grip on the plate and although it held, the grip wasn’t as secure and it was fairly easy to wiggle the L-bracket in the head clamp. It’s not a major issue as (as I mentioned) the camera should be centrally aligned anyway, but it’s something to be aware of.
As the camera’s strap lugs are accessible, it’s still possible to use a standard camera strap when the Roxie is mounted on a Canon R5 or R6. However, if you like the idea of your camera hanging from your shoulder with the grip uppermost, there’s a strap loop at the end of the base plate which can be used in combination with the camera’s lug on top of the grip.
