Gitzo tripod review

[swmcl]

Hello again.

I've been meaning to write a review on this tripod for some time. Reason being I want to see if others are experiencing my difficulties and concerns and two because I am not at all pleased with my product based on the expense. Please understand that my gear arrives after taxes in some cases and certainly some exorbitant shipping fees.

The tripod is a Gitzo GT2540LVL. Carbon fibre with 4 leg pieces per leg. Coupled with a Gitzo G-1570M Rationnelle Magnesium 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head. Both purchased through B&H.

I have no issue whatsoever with B&H by the way. Absolutely first class.

The tripod feet unscrew by themselves when on rough tracks. I lost a foot somewhere in remote Tasmania because of the vibrations in the vehicle. It must've fallen off the tripod and then fallen out of the vehicle when I lifted the tailgate. All I know is I replaced the standard feet with Gitzo Big Feet All Terrain Shoes which I'll also speak to later.

The tripod centre column cant be stopped from turning no matter how hard I try. I can lock up the head in the panning motion and still there is this play left to right and it is in the tripod itself. A poorly designed centre column shape I think is to blame.

I do hate the screw type locking mechanism of the legs and much prefer the Manfrotto click type but still. The carbon fibre legs don't simply fall down like they do on my smaller Manfortto I have to pull each leg down (even when vertical) into position. This means I have to make a guess as to which leg sections to use. I prefer to use the larger sections at full extension and then finish off the setting with the smaller sections.

The new feet - the "all Terrain" feet don't freely swivel. I can have the 5x7 camera attached and I still have to individually press each foot flat onto the ground. These feet, once the ball socket is separated, become easier to separate the second time around. How's this ? Well, I once used the tripod with legs spread far enough to be at the extent of the range of movement in the feet. Pressing down on the tripod a little and 'pop' off come the feet ! I clicked the feet back on but they fall off more easily now. Now I have to be paranoid about the feet and rarely carry the tripod without being very conscious about the feet dropping into the wilderness somewhere. Having a much bigger ball with the same size feet I think would allow the feet to go to a greater angle ? Getting the feet loose is another thing again.

The head is not too bad but is badly overengineered in that they have added too much metal. The amount of wrist strength needed to get it locked up in any of the three axes is unacceptable. I have very good wrist strength and I reckon I'm not too far from breaking something at times. When I say, "locked up" I mean locked up - I don't want my larger camera sagging if on an angle and potentially breaking lenses. I believe they've put too much metal in and around the parts that should flex allowing the user to lock the head into position. The retaining screw into the camera is too short. I only get up to a turn of thread and would like to have three or four turns at least. Perhaps having two retaining screws, one for each thread size would be a better solution. I would like to see embedded levels in the head in two directions at least.

The levelling feature is great in concept. One must only rely on the levels on the camera itself of course. The bubble level in the head is tucked away out of sight and the bubble level on the bottom of the vertical column is flimsy. But the levelling idea is great.

With this number of issues for something costing me over a grand is simply not acceptable. I do also own a Ries (no small puppy) and a smaller Manfrotto.

I'm learning that name brands need to be questioned and truths be told. In this product I see something rushed to market and with a Ferrari price tag just because they can. I wouldn't mind betting there would be a Chinese made brand that would compete very well with this setup.

[djdister]

The tripod centre column cant be stopped from turning no matter how hard I try. I can lock up the head in the panning motion and still there is this play left to right and it is in the tripod itself. A poorly designed centre column shape I think is to blame.


I can't speak to all of the problems you have experienced, but one thing I read a number of times was to avoid a tripod with a center column for LF gear. So my Gitzo has the 4 section legs but no center column, and so far no issues with it.

[tgtaylor]

The new GT models are too light and flimsy for heavy LF for my taste. I use a Gitzo G1341 for 6x7, 4x5 technical, and 8x10 Toyo MII with an Arca Swiss z1=sp BH without complaint. Well, I would prefer a pan and tilt head for the MII but once balanced the head holds the camera in a vise-like grip with zero sag so I'll tolerate a couple of moments of inconvenience rather than shelling out $400 or more for an Arca type pan and tilt head.

I use the G-1570 M head on a Gitzo G1500 tripod with a Toyo 810G and yes you have to torque the hell out of the head to prevent sag. But once torqued there is no sag. I like the big plate on the Rationnelle because I use two tripod blocks when mounting the G. I have also mounted the G on a Manfrotto 457B with Manfrotto 329 RC-4 head which holds the camera in a vice like the Arca but requires less torque than the Rationnelle. While the G1500 and the 475B probable weigh the same, the latter is more bulky. Both, though, are very solid platforms.

Thomas

[Kirk Gittings]

but one thing I read a number of times was to avoid a tripod with a center column for LF gear

I heard that when I started too (36 tears ago) but the truth is more nuanced than that. It depends on the tripod, how much of the CC you use, the weight of the camera and wind. I have one that I'd use any time under any conditions with up to a 4x5, and another that I will only use at half mast in still conditions up to 4x5.

[StoneNYC]

Sadly, Gitzo does not honor the Lifetime Warranty we got when we bought our tripods 40 years ago.
Ries honors the lifetime warranty on their tripods bought then.

Neither did manfrotto when I tried to use it after the catch on one of the legs failed to open, luckily the lab I bought it from decided to cover it, but they didn't understand why Manfroto wouldn't...

Companies these days have no honor anymore...

[tgtaylor]

Manfrotto purchased Gitzo and Gitzo tripods are manufactured in Italy.

Thomas

[StoneNYC]

Manfrotto purchased Gitzo and Gitzo tripods are manufactured in Italy.

Thomas

Figures...

[koh303]

The head is not too bad but is badly overengineered in that they have added too much metal. The amount of wrist strength needed to get it locked up in any of the three axes is unacceptable. I have very good wrist strength and I reckon I'm not too far from breaking something at times. When I say, "locked up" I mean locked up - I don't want my larger camera sagging if on an angle and potentially breaking lenses. I believe they've put too much metal in and around the parts that should flex allowing the user to lock the head into position. The retaining screw into the camera is too short. I only get up to a turn of thread and would like to have three or four turns at least. Perhaps having two retaining screws, one for each thread size would be a better solution. I would like to see embedded levels in the head in two directions at least.
You could have gotten a manfrotto 029 and not have any of those problems (or 848rc4 i think is the current equivilent).

As for the lifetime guarentee:
some years back a guy walked into the store where i worked and threw an old heady duty 3 way head on the counter. The entire tilt collar was broken and the handle was severely bent. It was clearly mishandled and he just said, he thinks he broke it himself by over tightening and letting the head drop from about shoulder height.

So - off it went to Manfrotto, who low and behind called a couple of days later saying that they have the parts on hand and the head should be back in a day or two.
No mention of price as of yet. The head came back with no invoice for the repair, just a note attached to the new handle and upper section of the head - "lifetime guarantee".

This was common practice and i have seen that happen many times (not as much with gitzo as people tend to break those less...). This was perhaps 6-7 years ago. Have they changed policy since? Who knows.

[Ari]

It sounds like you were quite unlucky and got a dud; I'm sure that returning the new gear in exchange for another copy would get you a trouble-free tripod.
If it fails again, then send it back for a full refund.
There's a lot of competition out there, and finding a decent set-up should not be hard.

My experiences with Gitzo products have been usually positive; with Manfrotto, less so, especially since the merger.

And you are right about B&H, they are tops at what they do.

[StoneNYC]

It sounds like you were quite unlucky and got a dud; I'm sure that returning the new gear in exchange for another copy would get you a trouble-free tripod.
If it fails again, then send it back for a full refund.
There's a lot of competition out there, and finding a decent set-up should not be hard.

My experiences with Gitzo products have been usually positive; with Manfrotto, less so, especially since the merger.

And you are right about B&H, they are tops at what they do.

Yes my Gitzo head is solid, but it's also an older model, ya know the "they don't make things like they used to" and all that.

[Bob Salomon]

Neither did manfrotto when I tried to use it after the catch on one of the legs failed to open, luckily the lab I bought it from decided to cover it, but they didn't understand why Manfroto wouldn't...

Companies these days have no honor anymore...

Gitzo France never offered a lifetime warranty. Karl Heitz, the USA importer of Gitzo, offered the lifetime warranty.

Gitzo France was bought by the parent company of Manfrotto and became a product distributed by Manfrotto (formerly Bogen in the USA) and the factory moved to Italy.

When that occurred Karl Heitz went out of business except for still selling some odds and ends that he had left over like Tessina. He died a little later.

Manfrotto put their own warranty on the Gitzo products that they sell and did not continue the former distributor's warranty.

So, if you have a problem with old lifetime warranty products you would have to take that up with the company that offered that warranty. And that is Karl Heitz who is long out of business as the company was never taken over by another distributor.

Samething if you have a Keystone movie camera. It was also sold with a lifetime warranty. But like Karl Heitz Keystone is long out of business.

[Lachlan 717]

Figures...

Care to explain this?

[StoneNYC]

Gitzo France never offered a lifetime warranty. Karl Heitz, the USA importer of Gitzo, offered the lifetime warranty.

Gitzo France was bought by the parent company of Manfrotto and became a product distributed by Manfrotto (formerly Bogen in the USA) and the factory moved to Italy.

When that occurred Karl Heitz went out of business except for still selling some odds and ends that he had left over like Tessina. He died a little later.

Manfrotto put their own warranty on the Gitzo products that they sell and did not continue the former distributor's warranty.

So, if you have a problem with old lifetime warranty products you would have to take that up with the company that offered that warranty. And that is Karl Heitz who is long out of business as the company was never taken over by another distributor.

Samething if you have a Keystone movie camera. It was also sold with a lifetime warranty. But like Karl Heitz Keystone is long out of business.

I don't believe this is entirely accurate as when you buy a company (or it's product lines you buy it's previous offerings and warrantees too, by law, they should honor those.

[StoneNYC]

Care to explain this?

Well if Manfrotto bought Gitzo and the previous poster said they won't honor his Gitzo item, and it's probably because Manfrotto now owns them, so if they won't even honor their own product line, it would FIGURE that they won't honor someone else's line that they bought.

[Bob Salomon]

I don't believe this is entirely accurate as when you buy a company (or it's product lines you buy it's previous offerings and warrantees too, by law, they should honor those.

Manfrotto didn't buy Karl Heitz. Karl Heitz offered the USA lifetime warranty. Not Gitzo France. So when Manfrotto (Vinten/Vitech) bought the Gitzo factory they may have inherited the Gitzo France warranty but that was not the Karl Heitz warranty.

Basically the distributor in a country, say us (HP Marketing) in the USA, is required by our contracts with the various companies that we represent to supply warranty service not the manufacturer. That is one of the costs of being a distributor. You have to take care of the warranty and the service of the manufacturer's products.

In many cases we have the same warranty as the factory. For instance 10 years on a Berlebach tripod. But in others we have our own USA exclusive warranty. For instance 5 years on Linhof or lifetime on Heliopan filters against manufacturer's defects.

If we stop being the distributor then the next distributor is responsible for the factory's warranty on the product but not our warranty. An example of this is when we stopped representing Rollei in the USA in 1996. The successor company, Samsung, did not have the same extended warranty as we had and did not honor our extended warranty.

[Greg Miller]

I don't believe this is entirely accurate as when you buy a company (or it's product lines you buy it's previous offerings and warrantees too, by law, they should honor those.

Gitzo did not buy the importer. The importer provided the warranty.

[Greg Miller]

The tripod feet unscrew by themselves when on rough tracks. I lost a foot somewhere in remote Tasmania because of the vibrations in the vehicle. It must've fallen off the tripod and then fallen out of the vehicle when I lifted the tailgate. All I know is I replaced the standard feet with Gitzo Big Feet All Terrain Shoes which I'll also speak to later.

Just get some blue Loctite. That will keep the feet from unsrewing, but will still release if you really want to replace the feet.


I do hate the screw type locking mechanism of the legs and much prefer the Manfrotto click type but still. The carbon fibre legs don't simply fall down like they do on my smaller Manfortto I have to pull each leg down (even when vertical) into position. This means I have to make a guess as to which leg sections to use. I prefer to use the larger sections at full extension and then finish off the setting with the smaller sections.

That's pretty much the norm for Gitzo. That goes into the purchase decision of which brand to purchase.

[Lachlan 717]

Well if Manfrotto bought Gitzo and the previous poster said they won't honor his Gitzo item, and it's probably because Manfrotto now owns them, so if they won't even honor their own product line, it would FIGURE that they won't honor someone else's line that they bought.

Did this make any sense to you as you typed/dictated it?

[StoneNYC]

Did this make any sense to you as you typed/dictated it?

Yes

[StoneNYC]

Manfrotto didn't buy Karl Heitz. Karl Heitz offered the USA lifetime warranty. Not Gitzo France. So when Manfrotto (Vinten/Vitech) bought the Gitzo factory they may have inherited the Gitzo France warranty but that was not the Karl Heitz warranty.

Basically the distributor in a country, say us (HP Marketing) in the USA, is required by our contracts with the various companies that we represent to supply warranty service not the manufacturer. That is one of the costs of being a distributor. You have to take care of the warranty and the service of the manufacturer's products.

In many cases we have the same warranty as the factory. For instance 10 years on a Berlebach tripod. But in others we have our own USA exclusive warranty. For instance 5 years on Linhof or lifetime on Heliopan filters against manufacturer's defects.

If we stop being the distributor then the next distributor is responsible for the factory's warranty on the product but not our warranty. An example of this is when we stopped representing Rollei in the USA in 1996. The successor company, Samsung, did not have the same extended warranty as we had and did not honor our extended warranty.

Gotcha, now I understand

[Lachlan 717]

Yes

Figures...

[Ed Bray]

I was quite surprised at the review of the Tripod, I have a Gitzo GT2530Lvl (3 section CF) which has a Benro PC1 panoramic head below a Manfrotto 410 head.

Personally, I find the tripod both easy to use and very stable and considering the lack of weight (my other LF tripod is a Manfrotto 058 with a 400 head and that weighs a tonne) and lack of flexing in the tripod I think it is a great piece of kit. I bought mine about 5 or so years ago used for about $300 and it is in pretty much the same condition now as when I bought it.

[tgtaylor]

As far as the leg sections becoming undone, I believe that is due to the new marketing concept of being able to quickly open a section with just one twist of the wrist and have the whole section drop to the ground. When this feature first came out a few years back, I recall it being demonstrated in the stores by the factory rep. Personally I prefer the way the older model open and close – especially closing them as they have an air resistance as if you were pushing against a column of compressed air. It’s very easy, IMO, for the leg sections on the newer models to become unscrewed and drop off.

That’s what happened to me while winter hiking in Tolumne Meadows a couple of seasons back with a GT0540 in a 400AW Pro Trekker: One of the leg sections became unscrewed and was lost and I had a hell of a time getting Manfrotto to replace it even though I had paid for the parts. It was only after Henry Posner at B&H jumped in was I finally sent the leg section. The tripod holders in the Pro Trekker’s are slips where the legs protrude from the bottom of the pack and if you don’t have the compression straps set firmly a section can easily unscrew and be lost. For hiking with lightweight cameras I now have the 350 AW Pro Runner which has a hideaway tripod holder that the feet sit in which will prevent that from happening even if the 3 compression straps are not set tight.

Thomas

[Greg Miller]

As far as the leg sections becoming undone, I believe that is due to the new marketing concept of being able to quickly open a section with just one twist of the wrist and have the whole section drop to the ground. When this feature first came out a few years back, I recall it being demonstrated in the stores by the factory rep. Personally I prefer the way the older model open and close – especially closing them as they have an air resistance as if you were pushing against a column of compressed air. It’s very easy, IMO, for the leg sections on the newer models to become unscrewed and drop off.

That’s what happened to me while winter hiking in Tolumne Meadows a couple of seasons back with a GT0540 in a 400AW Pro Trekker: One of the leg sections became unscrewed and was lost and I had a hell of a time getting Manfrotto to replace it even though I had paid for the parts. It was only after Henry Posner at B&H jumped in was I finally sent the leg section. The tripod holders in the Pro Trekker’s are slips where the legs protrude from the bottom of the pack and if you don’t have the compression straps set firmly a section can easily unscrew and be lost. For hiking with lightweight cameras I now have the 350 AW Pro Runner which has a hideaway tripod holder that the feet sit in which will prevent that from happening even if the 3 compression straps are not set tight.

Thomas

That sounds very different form my GT3530LS. I can loosen the twist locks with one hand, but the legs don't move (nothing even remotely close to dropping to the ground). It still takes a forceful pull with air resistance to get the legs to drop. So I usually loosen the twist locks on all 3 legs, then pull all 3 legs at once to extend them. The reverse the process to collapse the legs. To actually lose a leg would take a bit of effort. You have to completely loosen the twist lock which will take several twists (I just tried it and it took 20 twists). Then you have to pull the leg past the bushings which takes a minor amount of effort. I cannot imagine all that happening in the field without noticing. So the different models must be constructed differently. These 2 models are quite a bit different in terms of construction and max. load.

[Bill_1856]

Get rid of that Gitzo crap, and buy yourself a nice, used Leitz Tiltall, (usually under $100 on eBay). There's no lifetime warranty -- they just happen to last that long.

[Jeff Keller]

Sorry to hear about your problems. Your experience is different from mine.

My GT3540LS is relatively new but normally I pull the legs down, they don't readily drop down. I have 5 different Gitzo tripods of varying ages, none of the legs will fall out.

What I do to extend the legs of the GT3540LS is grab the 3 lowest twist locks, unlock all of them at once, extend the legs, then lock each of the locks. I use the top most twist lock to partially extend the top section as much as desired. This tripod does not have a center column which significantly reduces weight.

Your leveling head must be very different from the standard rapid column. The standard rapid column does not rotate on three of my Gitzo's, only on a very old 4 series metal Gitzo. I overloaded a small Gitzo with a center column under windy conditions and saw too much rotational flex but couldn't tell exactly where the flex was. It wasn't rotating to a new position rather flexing then coming back.

I'm not sure if yours is the same but the portion of the tripod the three legs are bolted to has a clamp to hold the center piece (column or plate if no center column). This clamp was slightly loose on one of my tripods causing movement.

Good luck, jeff

[toyotadesigner]

For 31 years I use and abuse a Gitzo tripod with a center column. The last 8 years with a Manfrotto gear head. Never had any problems with the Gitzo. Don't ask me which model it is - I really don't remember, the paint is already rubbed off. It's heavy, it's made of aluminum, and the leg sections turn when tightening or opening the twist locks. I've never used the center column, just drilled a hole into the bottom of the two segments to mount a hook for a camera bag, sand bag or sand screw. I even used it once as a jack/support to repair my 2.8 tons offroader (all legs collapsed of course).

So I think your tripod could be a bad sample or Gitzo doesn't implement a quality control as 30 years ago.

I didn't even know the Gitzos had a life time warranty...

[Greg Miller]

I even used it once as a jack/support to repair my 2.8 tons offroader (all legs collapsed of course).

Doh!!! I don't think I will try that with my carbon fiber model.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Gitzo had 35 years ago also a lifetime warranty in EU, but they troped it some years ago and soon lather they got eaten by Manfrotto!
My 35 years old alu Gitzo is still in use, the 10 years old carbon 1228 also! But my newest buy is a Sirui Carbon after the seller was hanging with he's 80 kg body on the Sirui witch was only for 18 kg and I like it much more then my Carbon Gitzo!
But from now in 20 years I can tell you which one is really the better one;--)))


Cheers Armin