What are you willing to put your tripod through?

[jsinon]

I posted a similar question a while back, but didn't get much in the way of feedback. I've also searched phrasing it every way I could think of. Anyway, what depth of water, mud, muck, dirt, what ever are you willing to subject your big $$$ cf legs to? I have a photograph in mind that will require me to get in the water and get the camera right at water level(very carefully) for the angle I'm looking for. I'm not sure how mucky the bottom is and don't want to unduly risk damage to a tripod I can't afford to replace.

And along with this, what recommended cleaning / maintenance do you perform. For what it's worth the tripod in question is a Gitzo GT2541.

Thanks for the help,
Jeff

[Naturalist]

I've never held back on any gear. If you want the shot, get in there and take it. I've had tripods in all depths of water within a foot of the head and never had an issue.

I use a Bogen 3021 pod.

[waynema]

Theres nothing wrong taking good care of our Gitzos! If you are worried, you should make plastic wraps for your tripod. See ben's 1541T review.

[jsinon]

The more I think about it, I think I'm looking more for cleaning and care after I take it swimming. Do I need to disassemble the legs to get any water out? Or will it drain on it's own? Are pieces likely to go flying if I completely unscrew the leg locks? I'm very mechanically inclined, heck, it's what I do for a living, but some things aren't meant to be taken apart.

[aram535]

I've walked into water and snow with my tripod but just to the first legs, never above that. Not because I didn't want to ruin the legs more because I have never needed to.

I guess the only thing on there that could get ruined is the hand grips, the leg covers and the logo. I do/would recommend washing the legs with clean water and drying them as soon as possible -- SPECIALLY if you're going into salt water.

[Todd Lambert]

Yeah, I recently took mine into some pretty mucky saltwater bogs - only up to the second set of leg locks... but I bought the best, to be able to use them as I need. If I couldn't do this, then I'd just buy WalMart 19.99 jobbies and throw them away after use.

I did not immediately wash the legs off, but the next evening, I ran them under some tap water, removing the last leg extension and rinsed them inside. In the new Gitzos, there's really not too much to them... just two pieces of plastic that push against the insides to make the seal. You can easily remove these, wash them, and screw everything back together in a minute or so.

[jsinon]

Thanks for the tips guys. The image I'm thinking of is in fresh water, so no problem there. No salt water.... Yet.

[rklepper]

I have had mine in the middle of a river stuck in the mud in the river bottom several times. If I was squeemish about doing that I would get different gear. I bought it to use it. It does get cleaned up afterward though. :)

[jacobsen1]

mine goes to the beach and into salt water. This is a huge part of the reason why I use an acratech head honestly... But I just hose it off when I get home and it's all set.

[Todd Lambert]

mine goes to the beach and into salt water. This is a huge part of the reason why I use an acratech head honestly... But I just hose it off when I get home and it's all set.

Hear Hear! That's why I too love my Acratech head. I call it the Glock of ballheads...

[jacobsen1]

because it's so solid you can beat people with it? ;)

[tenoverthenose]

If I thought it would help me get the shot I needed, I would take it scuba diving with me.

[ImRaptor]

I'll take my tripod into where ever I'm going. I learned quite awhile ago how to fully take apart and clean\lube everything when I am back home. I always seem to find sand in the most amazing places in my tripod that still get me scratching my head as to how it gets there.

[Hogloff]

Personally, I would be more worried about the gear attached to the tripod. Make sure the tripod is very stable in the water before attaching the camera. It is very easy to tip the tripod over via wave or current from which the tripod would easily survive, but I would no hold out too much hope for the camera.

[krb]

I paid extra for CF so that I wouldn't have to waste time worrying about this type of question...

[DennisW1]

I posted a similar question a while back, but didn't get much in the way of feedback. I've also searched phrasing it every way I could think of. Anyway, what depth of water, mud, muck, dirt, what ever are you willing to subject your big $$$ cf legs to? I have a photograph in mind that will require me to get in the water and get the camera right at water level(very carefully) for the angle I'm looking for. I'm not sure how mucky the bottom is and don't want to unduly risk damage to a tripod I can't afford to replace.

And along with this, what recommended cleaning / maintenance do you perform. For what it's worth the tripod in question is a Gitzo GT2541.

Thanks for the help,
Jeff

I have a Bogen/Manfrotto 3001 BWN, paid something like 140 bucks for it and it's sturdy enough to handle my 1D bodies with any reasonable lens. I even went outside the other evening and put the 500 f/4 with the MkIII body on it for a couple of moon shots and while I wouldn't use it on a daily basis with that kind of weight, it worked well enough for that brief period.
For what it cost me I'd throw it under a bus if necessary.

For the kind of shot you're proposing, I'd take the tripod apart afterwards, wash everything down and wipe it with WD-40. There's really nothing that's going to suffer permanent damage just from being in the water and some muck at the bottom if cleaned up properly afterward. Carbon Fiber doesn't suffer any damage from water or muck, it's all the hardware that you would need to clean up.