Really Right Stuff MTX Multi-Tool Driver is a Photographer’s Companion

You’ve probably never heard of Really Right Stuff, and that’s okay. Really Right Stuff is a USA-based company that manufactures photo and video support equipment, such as tripods, camera brackets, adapters, macro rails, panorama gear, and things like that.

If you’re familiar with the company, then you’ve probably drooled over their products while cringing at their prices.

Shown here is their MTX multi-tool driver, prices at $50. If you’re wondering why it’s so expensive, here’s why:

The MTX is a multi-bit screwdriver, but its stainless steel bit holder shaft is also threaded to 3/8″-16. The red anodized aluminum butt-cap (yes, that’s what they call it) is also threaded with a 3/8″-16 female socket. This means that the MTX multi-tool can also be used as an extension for RRS’s mini tabletop tripod to give the ball head extra height over the legs.

Since the RRS MTX has industry-standard threads, it can probably also be used as an emergency or impromptu extension for other lightweight photo or video accessories or fixtures. It is also designed to stow away inside of RRS’s Versa series 3/2 tripod center columns.

As a screwdriver, the MTX features a magnetic bit holder, and comes with two bit cartridges that are populated with a total of 22 bits, a 3/16″ hex key, and a storage tube. In case you can’t tell from the image, the threaded handle cap has an o-ring that creates a waterproof seal.

Bit selection includes hex, Torx, JIS/cross, and flat screwdriver bits. If you choose to use your own bits, keep in mind that the driver accepts standard 3/16″ bits.

The bits that come with the tool are made in Taiwan, and replacements cost $1 each. All of the other components are made in the USA.

As an aside, does anyone know a good place to buy 3/16″ screwdriver bits – or 3/16″ bit drivers? Seems like a non-standard or hard to find size to me.

This is a pricey screwdriver, but you get all of the fasteners you might need to adjust fasteners on RRS or other industry-standard photo equipment.

I think that, as just a bit driver, the RRS MTX is too pricey for many photographers’ budgets, even those who invested heavily in RRS equipment. But if you could use it as a tabletop tripod extension or similar, then its greater utility helps to better justify the cost.

I saved up and bought a couple of RRS accessories this past year, and have found their quality to be uncompromisingly superb. I have no doubt that they put the same bulletproof and flawless quality into their MTX multi-tool screwdriver, although at $50 it’s well outside my usefulness:price ratio.

One of the features I find quite appealing is how the end cap isn’t just an end cap – it’s part of a longer assembly that the bit cartridge wraps around, and it attaches to the MTX driver via internal threads as opposed to at the very end. This should create a great waterproof seal, and should also help prolong the life of those threads. Many inexpensive bit drivers with hollow handles have end caps that can be too easily cross-threaded, creating irreversible damage.

If this was sold with a 1/4″ bit holder, without any bits, and at half the price, I would have bought one ages ago.

Buy Now(via RRS)

If you want a similarly sized compact screwdriver, consider the PB Swiss Insider, which I reviewed years ago, and still love using. It’s currently available for ~$40 via Amazon.