Posted by Gary Gulash on April 28, 2008 at 9:10 PM
I hope that someone may be able to offer assistance regarding my Gitzo tripod (Model GT350LSV). I noticed today that the leg has become loose and wobbles where the uppermost Carbon Fibre section inserts into the metal cap section that forms the hinge. The Carbon Fibre part spins and I can tighten it somewhat by hand, but it loosens again, almost seems stripped - assuming there are even threads in there - I rather doubt it. Purchased new here in Canada about a year ago. Is this a common problem? What to do - I need this thing at this time of year with the birds starting to show up.
Posted by Chuck Beatty on April 28, 2008 at 9:36 PM
Hi Gary,
I just had my Gitzo CF 1325 repaired with the same problem. Eventually, it will wear to the point that the leg will fall out of the metal sleeve. (Not good, trust me...) I sent it to Bogen Imaging in New Jersey for warranty repair. Unfortunately, communication doesn't seem to be their strong suit. It took nearly a month to get my tripod back after several promises of "it's shipping out tomorrow." Not sure if they handle Canadian repairs there or not, but definitely get it repaired as soon as practical.
Posted by Gary Gulash on April 28, 2008 at 9:46 PM
Thankyou Chuck. I'm surprised at the quick response, 26 minutes to find someone else with the same problem. Yikes!!! I purchased Gitzo hoping to avoid shoddy construction problems of lesser tripods, not impressed I had been trusting this thing to safely hold up my camera and long lens for years to come. Chuck did you explore the idea of Gitzo just sending you a replacement leg, even if just a loaner, until yours was repaired or as a solution to the problem?
Posted by Chuck Beatty on April 29, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Hi Gary,
No I didn't explore a temporary replacement. I just limped along until there was a lull in my shooting schedule. I probably pushed it longer than I should have, but didn't want to miss any good opportunities. I also had an old Promaster tripod that we use for video that I was able to make work temporarily. Fortunately, I wasn't using big glass and didn't have to extend the legs much.
I was also disappointed to have a problem with what I considered to be a quality product. Mine was also barely a year old. I was even more frustrated with my interactions with Bogen. Hope you have better luck.
I've got a 1349 I picked up in the first year of release, so it's been around a while. We've also got several in the 1200 series, though I don't remember their models right now.
The 1349 has had the holycrap beaten out of it over the years, and I've done everything you shouldn't do to a tripod. It bounces around in the bed of my pickup, rides in the floats on floatplanes, falls off cliffs, and gets dunked with some regularity.
And it has held up better than any other tripod I've used in 40 years of hard photography. And I've destroyed more than a few tripods applying my own special form of loving care.
Yup, I've had several leg joints come unglued. And nope, I wasn't willing to part with the tripod long enough for Gitzo or any of their agents to do the repairs. But each of my fixes have never failed.
The solution is plain old rubber cement, used according to bottle directions. It works so well and so quickly that I keep a small tube in my standard camera repair kit.
Not according to warranty, custom or Hoyle, but it works. I'm willing to put up with the occasional glue failure because everything else about the tripods works so well. Not really an issue or concern for me.
I had this problem with my 1325. One leg wouldn't stay tight and constantly needed a couple of turns to re-tighten it. As it got worse, eventually it seemed that the threads were stripped. I unscrewed the leg from the central hub, gave the threads on both parts a good cleaning with a brush, applied epoxy glue, and reassembled. The tripod is good as new.
Discussion
5 repliesI just had my Gitzo CF 1325 repaired with the same problem. Eventually, it will wear to the point that the leg will fall out of the metal sleeve. (Not good, trust me...) I sent it to Bogen Imaging in New Jersey for warranty repair. Unfortunately, communication doesn't seem to be their strong suit. It took nearly a month to get my tripod back after several promises of "it's shipping out tomorrow." Not sure if they handle Canadian repairs there or not, but definitely get it repaired as soon as practical.
No I didn't explore a temporary replacement. I just limped along until there was a lull in my shooting schedule. I probably pushed it longer than I should have, but didn't want to miss any good opportunities. I also had an old Promaster tripod that we use for video that I was able to make work temporarily. Fortunately, I wasn't using big glass and didn't have to extend the legs much.
I was also disappointed to have a problem with what I considered to be a quality product. Mine was also barely a year old. I was even more frustrated with my interactions with Bogen. Hope you have better luck.
The 1349 has had the holycrap beaten out of it over the years, and I've done everything you shouldn't do to a tripod. It bounces around in the bed of my pickup, rides in the floats on floatplanes, falls off cliffs, and gets dunked with some regularity.
And it has held up better than any other tripod I've used in 40 years of hard photography. And I've destroyed more than a few tripods applying my own special form of loving care.
Yup, I've had several leg joints come unglued. And nope, I wasn't willing to part with the tripod long enough for Gitzo or any of their agents to do the repairs. But each of my fixes have never failed.
The solution is plain old rubber cement, used according to bottle directions. It works so well and so quickly that I keep a small tube in my standard camera repair kit.
Not according to warranty, custom or Hoyle, but it works. I'm willing to put up with the occasional glue failure because everything else about the tripods works so well. Not really an issue or concern for me.
I had this problem with my 1325. One leg wouldn't stay tight and constantly needed a couple of turns to re-tighten it. As it got worse, eventually it seemed that the threads were stripped. I unscrewed the leg from the central hub, gave the threads on both parts a good cleaning with a brush, applied epoxy glue, and reassembled. The tripod is good as new.