Custom SLR Uses Shrink Ray on the M-Plate, Out Pops the M-Plate Mini

Rumors of a soon-to-arrive iPad Mini are heating up, but one photo gear company has beaten Apple to the “mini” game: Custom SLR announced its new M-Plate Mini today. It’s the smaller sibling of the company’s M-Plate Pro, which takes up more space because it includes a couple of extra connection points for attaching accessories (e.g. the company’s strap and hand-grap strap mount).

The new Mini plate eschews these sockets in favor of a smaller and friendlier form factor. It’s still compatible with most Manfrotto RC2 and Arca-Swiss tripod heads, and still offers a number of tripod sockets for attaching accessories — you’ll just need to remove those accessories now when mounting your camera to a tripod — or mounting to other tripod plates.

Here’s a quick demo of the M-Plate Pro, which debuted at the beginning of the year at CES 2012:

In terms of build quality, the company took steps to ensure that it’s highly durable: the accessory is fashioned out of aerospace-grade aluminum and has a hard anodized black finish, which resists corrosion and wear.

You’ll be able to purchase an M-Plate Mini from the Custom SLR website and from retailers around the world starting in November 2012 for $50, $25 less than the price of its larger counterpart.

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