[FilmORbitz]

Good news for K-3 and K-3II owners who have been wanting a quality custom-fit Arca-type L-plate for tripod/monopod use for cameras WITH a battery grip.
Mestos, a Korean manufacturer of these devices, is alive and well, and is happy to sell you one (just purchased one direct March 2017, their part number PD-K3HL). Once thought to be out of this market, they in fact have several US and Korean resources where you can see what they're offering (see below). I have ZERO formal relationship with them...I am just a very happy customer.

The quality of this battery-grip-compatible part is fantastic, fully the equal of the well-know US premium mfgs (RRS, Kirk, etc) who are not seriously supporting Pentax. AFAIK, this is the ONLY battery-grip-compatible custom L-plate in the world for K-3. I've paired mine with US-made ProMediaGear Arca-type 60mm clamps (model C60) which are likewise excellent, at a great price. These two fit like a glove on my K-3II!

Delivery was under one week via tracable EMS. We should support companies who support Pentax!

Email them to start order process: eunyeoul choi <mestos99@gmail.com>

English-language Google Plus page (shows K-3 battery-grip plate and K-7 / K-5 body-only and battery grip plates):
eunyeoul choi (mestos) - Google+

Main Korean page (only a subset of plates shown here):
L-PLATE ???? ???? ???

The Korean pages for PD-K3HL:
mestos: Pentax K3 L-Plate for Grip only
L-PLATE ???? ???? ???

---

Last edited by FilmORbitz; 04-24-2017 at 07:44 AM. Reason: Addl info

[geomez]

awesome!

[Mapleleaf-Mick]

Please provide more info and prices. Very very interesting.

[geomez]

Anybody know if this would work on the K-1 with a battery grip?

I have a K-3 w/ grip and a K-1 w/o grip so I can't compare grip dimensions.

[gosman]

this is completely useless information. I don't read Korean!

[FilmORbitz]

this is completely useless information. I don't read Korean!

Check the 1st site (Google Plus). I assumed most people couldn't read Korean, but wanted you to see examples (pictures) of the offerings.
Also, they respond quickly to email and their English is good enough for me to make a purchase.

[jeffw]

this is completely useless information. I don't read Korean!

Use Google Chrome as a browser and it will ask if you want to translate.

[adjutant]

How did you make the purchase? By email?

[FilmORbitz]

How did you make the purchase? By email?

Entirely by email. Just follow instructions in my original post. It was all quite easy. They send you a Paypal invoice, which you authorize. Next thing you get is a tracking number for EMS. My bracket went Seoul to NYC overnight, with the USPS getting it the rest of the way. They warned me about a big snow storm in South Korea possibly slowing delivery, but I still got it in under a week. My bracket was in stock at time of order. Before I made my original post here I asked about stock status for the K-3/K-3II battery-grip version and they said they had a production run scheduled for 5-10-17, so you want to get your order in now.

[FilmORbitz]

Anybody know if this would work on the K-1 with a battery grip?

I have a K-3 w/ grip and a K-1 w/o grip so I can't compare grip dimensions.

The K-3/K-3II plates are custom fit to those bodies, allowing access to all battery grip compartments and body doors.

They DO NOT fit other bodies. They have a K-1 design but have yet to see demand sufficient to put it into production. A grass-roots effort here could change that.
Details on current Pentax offerings are posted here, including K-1 info:

UPDATE: Mestos L-plates for MANY Pentax models - PentaxForums.com

They also make plates for all the other major brands. You know, the crummy ones