The Panasonic GH4 has taken the cinema world by storm–it’s a terrific video camera. One of it’s greatest strengths has also caused me some real grief: it’s so small, that lenses often interfere with the tripod mounting plate, and don’t even think about adding filters to the front of the lens!

This camera, and other Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras can be made to fit just about any lens ever made by any manufacturer, and the adapters are cheap. The trouble is, lenses made for DSLR’s are often too tall and hit the mounting plate on the tripod. Video plates are usually much longer than traditional still photography plates, and they are directional, so you really can’t just switch the camera the other way. In this picture, even a lens made for MFT, the Leica Nocticron, can’t fit to a plate.

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See how the camera body is tilted back, and the lens is resting on the plate? I haven’t even tightened the plate all the way.

See how it stands the camera off the plate? I reckon any lens will now fit on my tripod mounting plates without interfering. If you’re shooting video, I highly recommend this little tool to help things run smoothly every time.

The chocolate covered raspberries at the top of the post? Just a little eye candy ;)