killersnowman wrote:
Interesting. I run the family machine shop with my father. Hes had it for 33yrs, ive been involved for 8. Cool to see another machinist / photographer.
And yes i agree that making a one off replacement for the cast parts would be more than $300. Especially if they wanted it to look the same. Parts could be made easily that function the same but not look like the gitzo originals
I know this off topic but I just wanted to tell you both that I had a custom macro focus rail made by a father & son machine shop in Florida back in the mid nineties. I showed them what it had to do for me and they went beyond and above anything I have ever seen for my application. The device has forward and back precession focus, lateral focus adjustments and pitch and yaw. I paid them a little over $3,000 for it and you couldn't give me $300,000 for it today. They even made a custom carring case for all the parts. There is nothing like being able to utilize the service of a great machine shop when needed. Glad you guys are also photographers.
shmn and sjms nailed this one for you. This problem started three years ago in the salty environment. It was a small, [so small you can't see it], scratch, chip, ding, scrape, that let just enough salty in contact with the metal to do its damage. Even after a fresh water wash down, [which was great on your part], the damage has begun.
And to add if the leg and its holder are dissimilar metals then galvanic corrosion also comes into play.
A 58" 3-series RRS tripod w flat plate is $925! Maybe that sounds reasonable, but a $300 repair + my original purchase price is still less than $925. I've been using the same set of legs since 2003
when RRS came out with their product they decided to manufacture things different. i had used and up until getting the RRS in hand
still had Gitzo products. when i got one of the original TVC33 legsets and observed the substantial difference in manufacturing and
materials i decided that it was time to divest myself of the rest of the G product. it was a technical and business decision. it came down to assuring that there was going to be no need for a potential $300 wasted outlay later. in the balance of
things i did come out ahead.
coreybell wrote:
shmn and sjms nailed this one for you. This problem started three years ago in the salty environment. It was a small, [so small you can't see it], scratch, chip, ding, scrape, that let just enough salty in contact with the metal to do its damage. Even after a fresh water wash down, [which was great on your part], the damage has begun.
And to add if the leg and its holder are dissimilar metals then galvanic corrosion also comes into play.
in the case of the leg itself being non metallic that would reduce the chances of dissimilar material issues.
sjms wrote:
when RRS came out with their product they decided to manufacture things different. i had used and up until getting the RRS in hand
still had Gitzo products. when i got one of the original TVC33 legsets and observed the substantial difference in manufacturing and
materials i decided that it was time to divest myself of the rest of the G product. it was a technical and business decision. it came down to assuring that there was going to be no need for a potential $300 wasted outlay later. in the balance of
things i did come out ahead.
Don't get me wrong… I want the RRS tripod, however, I'll wait until my current tripod quits on me. The price of my one repair will likely extend the Gitzo's usability for 3 to 4 more years. A second repair will not be worth the investment.
When it's time to retire my current tripod, I'll put the money into a RRS and know that it will last until I'm done with photography or life
sjms wrote:
watch the vibes too. especially when those pipes unload in the lower register.
sent PM
Sound is increasingly being tested for crowd/offender control. They are finding some lower pitches played loud enough will cause sudden explosive diarrhea. It's amazing what you can learn watching "Modern Marvels"!
unless there is someone that you do know that actually owns one they are sold direct by RRS only. no shops and they are not mass produced. they build in lots. they do carry them in stock as available.
really if you are satisfied with what you are using there should be no reason investing in one unless there is an actual need.
sjms wrote:
unless there is someone that you do know that actually owns one they are sold direct by RRS only. no shops and they are not mass produced. they build in lots. they do carry them in stock as available.
really if you are satisfied with what you are using there should be no reason investing in one unless there is an actual need.
Perhaps but I'm still looking for a Christmas present for myself.
shmn wrote:
Looking at the close up of the aluminum lug, the white powder is aluminum oxide...basically, aluminum "rust". That aluminum has been corroding for a while and you can see where the protective paint layer (or whatever they use) has become de-laminated from the aluminum. I work on boats and see a lot of this aluminum corrosion. Salt water and aluminum do not mix and when they do...the results are never good. You probably did not clean all the salt out after the dip in the Caribbean...some got under the aluminum and some got under the protective coating and started to corroded the aluminum from both sides.
The actual failure may have been caused by a number of factors but the corrosion definitely exacerbated the problem. There may have been moisture between the lug and leg which froze and caused the lug to split or maybe it just split due to the weakened aluminum under stress (weight).
In any event, I don't think this is a Gitzo problem (in my opinion) but a user problem. These tripods are not built for salt water environments (actually nothing really is impervious to salt water...even most stainless steels). I don't have feelings one way or another about Gitzo, but I would not grant a warranty claim if I saw this. Sorry.
If you plan on being near or in salt water, next time use a tripod made for it (http://www.gitzo.com/news+%26+events/news/Gitzo+introduces+the+new+Ocean+Tripods+Collection./26235706) or use a "disposible" tripod. And if you read Gitzo's write-up on the Ocean tripods you can see that even though they are designed for salt water water use...they use the term "resistant" rather than "impervious". Even the Ocean tripods won't last forever in salt water conditions. Ask any salt water boat owner about how long things last out there....Show more →
I guess not many pros use there gear around salt water let alone using it once for a dip and cleaning it, I guess I am better off buying another brand for less if they only last about 3 or 4 years.
Jeffrey wrote:
Tyler, great to hear that. I've been machining since 1972 and running my own businesses since 1987, the current one since 1992. I know Rodney at Next Intent. I don't know who makes all the parts for RRS but I thought it might be in SLO. Thanks for the comments.
ive sent the guys at rrs a line and had told them i was interested in making some parts for them. but honestly im not sure if it would be a good match. we do do some Aluminum work on linear motors and some suspension pieces for Porches but we mostly are machining a lot of low quantity high difficulty oil exploration gear. lots of nasty stainless and exotic materials. when i get to running some aluminum pieces it feels strange running the parts at such high surface speeds. im used to having to go slow and paying close attention to get good chip control.
killersnowman wrote:
ive sent the guys at rrs a line and had told them i was interested in making some parts for them. but honestly im not sure if it would be a good match. we do do some Aluminum work on linear motors and some suspension pieces for Porches but we mostly are machining a lot of low quantity high difficulty oil exploration gear. lots of nasty stainless and exotic materials. when i get to running some aluminum pieces it feels strange running the parts at such high surface speeds. im used to having to go slow and paying close attention to get good chip control.
I was shooting with a buddy that had the most expensive Gtizo they have (he's a wildlife shooter mostly), and when he came out to Oregon to shoot landscapes, he had to wash his tripod every time we got down shooting the coast. He had said that he had problems with the legs as well.
Another buddy had the leg break off (more of the grommet I think) He said it was his second time that it happened to him…
I have a simple Manfrotto 055XproB tripod I have had for maybe 3 years now. It weighs a ton, is bullet proof and never fails me. I don't need to worry about it in the ocean. If i had to wash it every time, it would be long gone.
I don't think i would be happy if this happened to me on a 1000 dollar tripod.
For what it is worth, it doesn't look like corrosion to me. The white dust looks more like a paint layer between the outer coating and metal. The flaking-off of the paint layer would be expected with the deformation of the underlying metal substrate. Also the crack propagation looks like a brittle fracture through the metal, not a failure due to corrosion eating away the metal. The edges on the crack don't look fresh, so it may have been around a while before the failure was noticed. I would need to stick it in my (work) electron microscope for a visual and chemical analysis to be sure of all that though.
If there was an impact on the metal that caused the failure there should be some obvious deformation that changes the shape from perfectly round. You can't tell from the photos here though. An impact on the leg that had enough force to cause this in the mounting would be very obvious i suspect.
