A inexpensive and VERY cool product I just found

I don't know about you, but I always worry about my camera equipment, whether it is leaving something behind or worse yet, having something stolen. In the past, I have wondered if there was a way to embed an Apple Airtag into a camera without it being seen, but I knew that this was not possible. I do have an Airtag in every camera bag, but not on my cameras or lenses. Not until now.

I happened to be searching one of the photography web sites and came across a new product that totally caught my attention. It was an Arca-Swiss mounting plate (the most common type) with a hidden slot for an Airtag. How cool is that?! And the product sells for only $20 on Amazon (without the Airtag). It comes from a company called JJC. I think they are a Chinese company, but not positive.

Without much hesitation I ordered 4 of these and saw that the delivery time would be about a week. Following my order, I ordered a 4 pack of the Airtags and had them ready for when I received my new plates.

I am not the most mechanical person in the world, so it did take me a couple of minutes to figure out how to pop off the top plate to insert the Airtag. But once I figured that out, it was a simple process. The Airtag is screwed under the top plate with a small allen wrench, and pretty well hidden from site, although there is a little bit of the white (from the Airtag) that can be seen from the outside. In the near future, I may take them apart and use a black Sharpie to hide the white completely.  

Once I had all the Airtags inside the JJC Quick Release Plates, it was time to figure out which cameras and lenses these would go on. I decided to put these on my Canon R3, Canon R5, Canon R6II and my Canon 200-400mm lens. 

The plate is not perfect, as is it a bit small for the large 200-400mm lens, but I still prefer to have it attached and locatable.

The plates cost me $25 each and each Airtag cost me about $20 a piece, so that total cost was $45 per device, but I love that this gives me a little more peace of mind knowing that I can track them if need be. Heck, I can even track the cameras when I send them to CPS for cleaning and repairs.

You can find the plates on Amazon HERE and the AirTags HERE.

When researching other options for this blog post, I also found this Sirui plate which also takes an Airtag, but I don't like that it sticks out and implies that there might be something hidden there.

I am happy to say that I have not misplaced, lost or had any gear stolen, but I know plenty of people who have been in this situation. Even my son and his wife, who are photographers / videographers had gear stolen while on a corporate shoot at a convention center. This offers me some additional comfort.

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