Freak Gitzo head failure?

[Ed Richards]

I have a pretty new Gitzo 3 series low profile head. My tripod fell over while I was packing the car today (no camera on it, it was just waiting to be stowed.) Bumped one of the handles, which cleanly snapped off right at the thread line, leaving a stub in the head. Of course the head was not tight when it broke off, so that was the end of the day's shooting. Bent I could understand, and live with. But to shear right off? Anyone else have this problem? Back for warranty work next week. Meanwhile, I am glad I kept that old bogen head around. I carry my giant spare tripod in the car for shooting over fences, I guess it is time to put a spare head on it.

[CG]

Hmmm,

I don't think it was the tripod at fault. Steel hard enough to not bend under moderate stresses (like tightening up the position of the head) will often break under sudden hard impact like falling over. If they do warranty work on it they are doing a big favor. I would not be surprised if the steel for the handles is hardened a little to deal with the torquing normal to the handles job. Softer metal might bend a bit too much and cause endless problems.

Gitzo's a good brand and generally well made and well respected. When camera equipment falls, it breaks. Your having a spare is a great idea.

C

[Ed Richards]

I have replaced bent handles on other heads which had suffered various knock abouts. I think a tripod should be able to take a simple tip over and not break the head. If you are right that Gitzo using handles that are hardened enough to be brittle, that would certainly be a factor in my choice of a replacement. I will post my reponse from warranty repaid as to whether they think this is an unusual problem.

[Michael Graves]

I have replaced bent handles on other heads which had suffered various knock abouts. I think a tripod should be able to take a simple tip over and not break the head. If you are right that Gitzo using handles that are hardened enough to be brittle, that would certainly be a factor in my choice of a replacement. I will post my reponse from warranty repaid as to whether they think this is an unusual problem.

If things don't work out, I may have a handle for you. I was looking to replace the handle on an old-style R3 head and they sent me a new one that is a bit shorter than the one I was replacing. The threads are the same but it doesn't quite lock down on the old 3. The part number cross-refs to the newer model 3, so there must have been a slight difference in thread depth. I couldn't get Bogen parts to take it back because according to them "That's what you ordered", even though it was their staff that looked up the part number for me. Love Gitzo products. Hate Bogen service.

[Ed Richards]

Thanks Michael, but my problem is that the handle broke off right where the handle is threaded into the head, so the stub is stuck in the head, with the end flush with the head so that I cannot grab the stub. I would not be concerned if it just replaceing the handle, but this kills the head. If Gitzo will not repair it, I will try to drill it and use a scew extractor. Not having a machine shop, the probably of buggering the threads is pretty high.:-(

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, sometimes you can unscrew stuff like this with a hammer and screwdriver, if there is a high spot you can tap on.

Jon

[Ed Richards]

Jon,

I wish. I said flush, but what I should have said was flush the end of threaded socket, which is recessed about 1/4" into the side of the head.

[Frank Petronio]

Amongst commercial shooters I've noticed that Gitzo handles break in transit all the time. Most of them have learned the hard way and unscrew them from the head when packing. It is a shame that a fall "just right" can break them, but it happens to almost everything like that. I am sure if you dropped a Arca Monoball or any other top of the line head "just right" you could mess it up too.

[Ed Richards]

Thanks Frank! That is what I needed to know. I think I could hammer nails with my big Bogen head and not do it any damage. There is something to be said for crude and overbuilt.

[CG]

Ed,

I have to take back my comments, especially that warranty work would be a big favor from the manufacturor. I had no idea gitzo handles couldn't even take shipping stresses reliably. While I have not used Gitzos, I have always heard good things about them in the past, and now, given your and Frank's comments and experiences, I stand corrected. Sounds like Gitzo might be producing an overly brittle part.

C