Does anyone experience some strange (burnt iron/charcoal/carbon, not sure how exactly to describe... ) smell on the Gitzo carbon fiber CF tubes? If you want to check rub your hands on the tubes and smell. I have tried two almost new ones and was quite annoyed by it. May be I am more sensitive to this smell... Is anyone else like me??

Does the CF smell subside as it gets old? Is it CF smell or smell of something applied (like new) on the tube when new?

I was really annoyed by it... Any experience with RRS ones??

I have five Gitzo tripods. And have never noticed any strange smell from them.

i have a new 3542 LS and i smelled that on my first use , don't know how long it will be there .

Thanks for the response Lars.

You may never had/noticed it. You may not be sensitive to it. There are two threads one here and one on another forum about this. Many haven't noticed it until they were told about it. It may be gone when its used for sometime... Some were saying only new ones have it... So I am not really sure, whats the consensus. I was really annoyed by it. I did try two new copies.

Is it still there? Any specific way to get rid of it. After handling the tripod and holding the camera, i felt the camera rubber retained the smell for few weeks... I might be a little overly sensitive for this particular smell.

Anyone with this experience on a RRS?

screwdriver wrote:
i have a new 3542 LS and i smelled that on my first use , don't know how long it will be there .

That type of CF tubing is sanded smooth after it's extruded (pultruded, in Gitzo terms), so perhaps the smell is residue left on the tubes after that finishing process? You can wipe the tubes down with a paper towel moistened with alcohol or glass cleaner, with no ill effects.

Weird question maybe... How vigorously are you rubbing the legs? It might just be burnt skin from friction. Rub your hands together quickly like you're warming them up and smell. Is it the same?

/weirdo

John, No definitely its not that, even normal handling make my hands smell... There are a few others who have experienced this. The sensitivity to the smell definitely seem to vary among people.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/general-tech-talk/865293-gitzo-carbon-fiber-tripod-2.html

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/822060

@dcains... What you are saying makes sense. May give it a try. But I would expect products like Gitzo to be well taken care of before they are shipped to avoid unpleasant experiences like these.

I asked the OP in above thread, if the situation got any better and haven't got any response

I've got 3 of my own - never actually noticed the smell, but I did fully disassemble them when new, for a cleaning and reassembly with a silicone-based grease I prefer.

bbvaj,
Funny that you brought up this subject as I thought it was just me. I have owned the 3541LS (new), 3540LS (pre-owned), and 2541L (pre-owned) and they all have/had the same distinctive smell when I rubbed my hands to the CF tubes and rubber leg locks. It could easily be recognized when I put the tripods close to my nose. I thought I was just too sensitive, or that is just what the Gitzo CF manufacturing process produces. It never bothered me to the point where I had to rub any lubricant, but I still didn't like the smell. Anyways, I now also have the RRS TVC-34L and happy to report that it does not have any strange odor to its CF tubes or rubber leg locks.

Thanks for the help. I am considering to try RRS route, given my sensitivity to that specific odor...

ciscopro2000 wrote:
bbvaj,
Funny that you brought up this subject as I thought it was just me. I have owned the 3541LS (new), 3540LS (pre-owned), and 2541L (pre-owned) and they all have/had the same distinctive smell when I rubbed my hands to the CF tubes and rubber leg locks. It could easily be recognized when I put the tripods close to my nose. I thought I was just too sensitive, or that is just what the Gitzo CF manufacturing process produces. It never bothered me to the point where I had to rub any lubricant, but I still didn't like the smell. Anyways, I now also have the RRS TVC-34L and happy to report that it does not have any strange odor to its CF tubes or rubber leg locks.

Just did the sniff test on my GT2540LVL, and it seems odor-free to my nose. Granted, this tripod is a few years old, and it's been broken down and thoroughly cleaned/re-lubed several times. FWIW, here's the grease I like to use, and silicone dielectric grease is available in any auto parts store:

http://www.amazon.com/Novagard-Lubricating-Protecting-Dielectric-Silicone/dp/B001BNZ1AY/ref=pd_sbs_auto_2

I have two Gitzo tripods. One systematic and one mountaineer. They don't smell either. One is new and the other rather old.
You could of course claim that everything smell if you are sensitive enough for just that smell. But Gitzo is one of the most common tripod brands all over the World. And thousends of people only here at FM own and have used them. Still I have never been reading anything about it until today ?

dcains wrote:
Just did the sniff test on my GT2540LVL, and it seems odor-free to my nose. Granted, this tripod is a few years old, and it's been broken down and thoroughly cleaned/re-lubed several times. FWIW, here's the grease I like to use, and silicone dielectric grease is available in any auto parts store:

http://www.amazon.com/Novagard-Lubricating-Protecting-Dielectric-Silicone/dp/B001BNZ1AY/ref=pd_sbs_auto_2

+1 My tripods are also odor-free

I have a new GT3532LS, when I close the legs and the air goes rushing out the other end I can smell a strong adhesive-type of smell coming out.

I have 4 old models of Gitzo CF tripods, and i love all the smells, it smells money and luxury!!!

I've owned three Gitzos and not noticed a smell with any of them. I don't blame the OP for wanting to get rid - I would too.

My RRS tripods smell like money well spent.

I seem to recall noticing some kind of odor when I first got my Gitzo, I believe I traced it to the lubrication/grease used in the locking knobs. When you slide the legs in and out, trace amounts of the lubrication can get deposited on the tube surface (I have seen it as some slight oily/greasy sheen on the tubes), where it may then transfer to your hand upon handling. Could that be the source of your smell?

Like others, I eventually had to clean/re-lube my tripod and in doing so removed the original grease and used something else (I use lithium grease). I don't notice any particular odor anymore- well I can smell the lithium grease slightly if I put my nose to it I guess, it's a different odor than what I recall smelling when I first got the tripod though.

Norman

Ruahrc wrote:
I seem to recall noticing some kind of odor when I first got my Gitzo, I believe I traced it to the lubrication/grease used in the locking knobs. When you slide the legs in and out, trace amounts of the lubrication can get deposited on the tube surface (I have seen it as some slight oily/greasy sheen on the tubes), where it may then transfer to your hand upon handling. Could that be the source of your smell?

Like others, I eventually had to clean/re-lube my tripod and in doing so removed the original grease and used something else (I use lithium grease). I don't notice any particular odor anymore- well I can smell the lithium grease slightly if I put my nose to it I guess, it's a different odor than what I recall smelling when I first got the tripod though.

Norman

Yes, this is what happened to me, and i never care about it, in fact i didn't want to point it as an issue, those tripods are expensive, so i don't want to waste money because of some bugs in my head.

Well, where and how do you lubricate it? I want to get a grease/lubricant to do for my tripods, the one i use most is almost dried and full of dust and maybe dirt or so, i think time for re-grease it again.