NatureScapes.net Forums

Dear all,

I am a bit concerned about Gitzo in this moment. On one side, I am looking for a new big tripod for my longer lenses and narrowed it down to the Gitzos 3530LS or the 3541LS.

On the other side, my 1298 Basalt tripod had a leg breakdown during my last trip to Norway. It is now for 5 ½ weeks at the Gitzo service center in Germany and they are still waiting on one part. They need to exchange one of the lowest leg sections only.

Is that service quality common for Gitzo?

If yes, it might be quite hard to decide for another Gitzo. My big (and in the near future middle) tripod is a Manfrotto Carbon 441, which I really like. As Manfrotto and Gitzo are both Bogen Imaging, I am not sure which way to go in this moment.

Regards

Bernd

I haven't any idea myself about Gitzo service, though I did ask about a replacement foot to have as a backup, which the gitzo rep was emailed about and I haven't heard back .. maybe he.s on vacation ....

I don't know what lens your shooting or which tripod manufacturer your going to go with, but if you choose to to buy a gitzo, I just purchased and received this past Wednesday from Netscapes, The Beast, which I think is appropriate .. a GT5541LS for my Nikon 600mm .. I used it for the first time today .. NICE !! I got just what I wanted, a tripod that easily handled the 600 and it was rock solid and LIGHT !! For just $200 american dollars more, I think you'd really be happy with it .. it twice the weight of what your currently lookin' at in Gitzo, but that is also recommended for a 400mm lens.

I would hope your gitzo failure was a once in a lifetime episode. I've used my other ( slik and gitzo )tripods a mere 3 years without a lick of trouble before buying this one, so I hope these are isolated problems.

Good luck in your selection process !

Curt

Hey Curt--

Glad you like the tripod--you are right it is a beast.

As to the foot model # that we emailed to Gitzo--I do know that Gitzo Europe shuts down for the whole month of August for holiday, and that might be why we haven't heard back.

That might also be why service is taking longer than ususal.

Hi Chris,

thanks for the information, but Gitzo got my tripod in mid July. Even with the summer holidays in August, the two remaining weeks of July should be enough to exchange a tripod leg. Are the repair centers in the US and Canada faster?

Regards

Bernd

I waited one month for a 1348 Gitzo broken-leg repair in Canada. Luckily the Camera Store in Calgary gave me a loaner during the wait. The experience had me seriously wondering about purchasing a cheaper backup. It's a great tripod when working but I've had more trouble with this tripod than any other and the service is slow.

I had one of the legs on my 1325 come lose this past winter in the middle of snowy owl season...wasn't happy! However Gitzo Cda (Amplisphoto) had it fixed within 2-3 weeks -can't remember exactly but I recall that I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in the mail.

The service guy I talked to said it could be 2-8 weeks depending on if the parts were in stock or if they had to wait for a shipment from Europe.

Hope you get it back soon!

UK is worse than Germany.
They never logged my Explorer aluminum into their maual system, they have had it since the first week in June, and as yet have not provided an estimate.
The problem is a broken head casting where one of the leg bolts goes through.
In the meantime my 20 year old Benbo is heavier and less flexible for the macro work I do, but spares are readily available in the UK.