The Quick & The Release (Part 4)

Tilta BS-T03 Baseplate Review

 This is the best VCT solution I have seen.  I'm sure something better could be made, since we've sent man to the moon, but I have yet to see any proof that it exists (yet).

The reason I love this is that it is a 15mm rod camera baseplate; shoulder mount; & a VCT adapter all in one.

Essentially it can make nearly any handheld camera (or DSLR, or GoPro, or whatever) into an ENG style shoulder mount style camera.  Granted you need a crap load of accessories (EVF, battery plate, etc.) to make that fully happen, but this baseplate is the foundation to make it all possible.

So lets start with the tour of the Tilta Baseplate & my favorite part: the VCT connectivity...

On the underside you have the VCT style wedge, shoulder pad & rear locater pin dock.  If you loosen two silver screws, you can shift the shoulder pad forward or aft about 20mm.

In case you haven't drank the VCT-14 kool-aid, there are 1/4" 20 & 3/8" 16 threaded holes on the wedge to attach standard tripod adapter plates.

On the top you have a quick release plate with about 80mm of sliding range.  The giant knob is easy to loosen / tighten, & surprisingly doesn't jab you in the neck.  The plate can slide off the back when you hit the blue button, but I find it easier just to loosen it enough to pull it up & off at a slight angle.

If you wanted to remove the entire quick release assembly to mount a different quick release plate or the camera directly to the baseplate, you're probably going to have to drill some new holes.  The two screws that are used to mount the quick release assembly are smaller than 1/4" 20 screws.  So any DIY customization is going to be destructive.

The quick release "T plate" comes with a 1/4" 20 & 3/8" 16 screws along with two more extremely tiny screws.  The 1/4" can go in the "single hole" or in the "trench," the 3/8" screw can only go in the "trench."

There are four holes (two for each of the two tiny screws) that can be used as an anti-twist guide for DSLRs.  (This works on my Canon 7D, but I don't know what other cameras this would or wouldn't work with).

The "T plate" has two patches of rubber for gripping the camera, but it could really use more.  You can swap the "T plate" out & replace with a Manfrotto 357PLV, but when I tested this out, I didn't feel like you could slide the Manfrotto plate well.  It locked in place nicely, but it didn't have that forward / aft motion.

The baseplate comes with a pair of 15mm rods.  On the front & rear you have standard 15mm rod mounts.  Each has about a 30mm range of vertical movement.  You will have to flip the front over to get the full range.  On the rear there are three positions the screws can be set.

The tightening knobs can ratchet (they have a small spring inside) so they won't jam up against something & can be positioned them at your desired angle.


There are only two real negatives I have with the Tilta basepalte.  The first (as mentioned above) is the lack of ability to mount a camera directly to the baseplate w/o the quick release assembly.

The second is availability.  Tilta is a young, growing Chinese based company.  There are a few online retailers around the globe selling Tilta products & some people have ordered direct from the company.  Based in the US, ordering from these international retailers is pricey.

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8/15/2013 Edit: Team Tilta is no more.  The site was here one day & gone the next.  No one responded to e-mails.  No one responded to tweets.  I do not know what happened to them.  I have heard no reports of any of buyers being short changed or of orders being un-fulfilled.  I have read some statements reportedly coming from Tilta on online forums, but I don't believe that they tell the entire story because it doesn't add up with the things that I know.

The good news is ikan is now the exclusive North American Tilta dealer according to ikan's blog and you can purchase some Tilta products directly from ikan or from some of the many official ikan resellers, or at least just B&H Photo.

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In the US, the official dealer is Team Tilta, where I purchased my baseplate.  To be able to browse & order from TeamTilta.com you need an invite from a Team Tilta member to create an account.  This is the reasoning on posted on their site:

"Currently, availability would not be able to support demand if we went with a reseller distribution channel.  It’s been decided we would first offer the product through a direct sale site in hopes of later offering the product line to a broader audience."

If you want an invite to TeamTilta.com send me an e-mail at blog/at/1080z.com & I'll hook you up.

While there are a few products that Tilta makes that not currently on the Team Tilta site, I highly recommend checking them out.  Everyone I've interacted with has been extremely pleasant, they offer free UPS shipping & have very good prices.  I paid only $280 for this baseplate.

Full disclosure: I do not work for Tilta, Team Tilta or any of their associates.  I was not asked, nor compensated to write this review.  However, I did participate in a promotion, open to all Team Tilta members, where I produced a 60 second video review of this baseplate for Team Tilta (where can be found on their site or on my YouTube channel) to receive a 50% off coupon.