The Manfrotto 3288 Elbow Bracket makes it possible to rapidly change from a horizontal to a vertical shooting axis without having to reposition the tripod head. It incorporates an adjustable stop which prevents unwanted rotation of the camera upon the bracket, and is great for just about any camera, especially with telephoto lenses which do not have their own tripod collar(such as the popular 70-300mm zooms). Keeping the weight of the camera directly over the center of the tripod achieves two important objectives: a pronounced reduction in sharpness-reducing vibrations & the ability to use a smaller, lighter and less expensive set of tripod legs than would otherwise be necessary to support the camera/lens weight combination off-center from the tripod axis.
Works in conjunction with tripod heads using the Hexagonal Plate (RC0) quick release system, including(amongst many others) the 488RC0, 3047, 3039, 3055, 3038 & 3063 tripod heads.