Induro tripod catastrophe ! (beware)

[Blue Deuce]

Back in Jan. I attended a birding / nature festival. A photography store from N.C. was showcasing the new Induro line of 8x carbon fiber tripods. Their build quality seemed on par with the Gitzos so in the interest of saving around $100 I paid $574 for model c313. Up until last Sunday I was singing it's praises. Now on to the story.

While hiking looking for birds with the 500 f/4, Wimberley and 20d over my shoulder I suddenly felt a huge load off my shoulders and heard a subsequent THUMP. I immediately realized that my entire rig had just hit the ground from a fall of appx. 5 feet. It seems that the tripod plate that the mounts to the center column had literally come apart from it. I was looking for set screws that might have come loose or some other means that would affix it but there were none. It seems that the only thing holding it to the center column was a very, very thin layer of some glue and then a snug fit. This just wont cut it when you have that kind of money and weight over your shoulder. I was fornunate that I had a camo lens wrap which prevented any scuffs and this incident can attest to the build quality of the lens since there doesn't seem to be any damage to the optics or the IS. The camera is also working fine but suffered several scratches which I can live with since I am impatiently waitng on my Mk III.

I contacted Induro through their web site and never heard a word. I then got ahold of the store in N.C. and I can't praise them enough so far. I sent it to them and was told that it is in fact defective. They have suggested I pick which ever Gitzo I want and they will do whatever it takes to make this bad event right. I have chosen the GT3540 LS and will inform them of this tomorrow.

Sorry to ramble and I dont have any pictures to share.

[blonde]

sorry to hear that Mike and as a person with a similar rig, i can't tell you how horrified this made me feel the good thing is that there was no damage to your gear and that you are taken care of.

[Lightstream]

Dude, that absolutely sucks!! Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

I've been doing a little bit of investigation into the tripod world. I have a Benro A127n6 that has never let me down, although one of the leg locks is beginning to 'spin' slightly - I wonder if I've been twisting it the wrong way, but it seems to take a whole LOT of twisting in order to close properly. Which is wierd. But anyway, back to the point.

Benro is now being marketed as Induro in the US. My experience indicates that they are more than adequate to handle my gearlist (see sig, include a 1D and 300/4 ISL that are no longer with me). Others say they have had horrible experiences. Michael Reichmann from Luminous Landscape loves the 413 even though he broke one of the carrying points. That it broke at all is evidence of insufficient attention to detail, and your experience is a truly terrifying one.

Just to clarify which point broke: is that the part supporting the center column where the 3 legs meet, or the part where you screw your tripod head/gimbal head onto?

I definitely agree that if I were you I would be running the hell back to Gitzo right now.. my only 'field failure' situation with a tripod was with the $20 Supermarket Special, the plastic threads screwed into an alu center column stripped and the head fell off. I always thought glue and press fits were the domain of $20 tripods, not $600 ones!!

Right now I'm sizing up a new tripod - and that is going to be the Gitzo 1530. I've decided to take the Benro options off the table.

[blonde]

this is not meant to cause a argument or to stir the pot but i would like to say that after having 1 tripod fail on me and almost watching my entire rig fall into the river, i will never search for cheap solutions when it come to stuff like that. from now on, i will only go with Gitzo because it has been proven in the field by many professionals and i know that it can take the abuse. this is not to say that there aren't any great deals out there like my beloved bogen manfrotto 3021 but when you are talking about something that will need to hold $7k in gear, i think that $600 for a cf gitzo is a great price.

[Lightstream]

What happened to you? I need more ammo to persuade myself to push the button on the Gitzo. War stories are always good; especially from people whom I'm familiar with.

[blonde]

well, i went to a camera store to check out some bogens. in the store, the owner came up to me and showed me a new tripod that they got that looked very solid and had all the same features as the bogen for about half the price. i decided to buy it because at the time, my rig was only 350D and the 70-200 f4. anyway, fast forward to after i got the 1D and 100-400, i was out in the filed shooting some black crown night herons and needed to grab something off my bag. as i was kneeling to get to my bag, i noticed in the corner of my eye that my entire rig is starting to fall sideways straight into the river. of course, i jumped right up and managed to grab the camera strap and prevent the entire thing from going under. i examined the tripod and found out that the holding mechanism for of the leg was completely broken off so the entire leg failed....

[Blue Deuce]

Originally Posted by Lightstream

Just to clarify which point broke: is that the part supporting the center column where the 3 legs meet, or the part where you screw your tripod head/gimbal head onto?

The part where you screw the head onto.

I have the 3021 as well and have hiked all over mountainous terrain in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho with no problems. It's a great tripod but I just felt the need for something a little lighter to take on long hikes.

[Lightstream]

that is pretty bad.....

BTW, much as we may consider the 1D and 100-400 to be 'pretty ordinary' it actually is quite a heavy setup and quite challenging for the cheap tripods to hold. This is a six pound rig and when angled off-axis with the zoom fully racked out or pointed up (and the weight on the 1D end) it will put many of the lower-end setups to the test.

[Lightstream]

Originally Posted by Blue Deuce

The part where you screw the head onto.

I have the 3021 as well and have hiked all over mountainous terrain in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho with no problems. It's a great tripod but I just felt the need for something a little lighter to take on long hikes.

That's absolutely horrible. I have always been under the impression that would be one of the strongest parts because that is where all the load is going to be, especially if carried over the shoulder!!

The 3021 is fantastic, a friend of mine has it. It's only downside is that it's heavy, but it is built to last forever. You could do the caveman-hero-slaying-fierce-beasts thing with it as a club.

On the flip side of things, I am consistently amazed at how many $20 Supermarket Specials I see in the field each and every time. I'm a devoted fireworks hunter, and that absolutely means a tripod (I'd like to see which champion can handhold 4 seconds f/8 ISO 100 frame after frame for 100 shots and have them come out sharp - with or without IS). Yet NINETY percent of the shooters I see, including some with very nice DSLRs, seem to use the Supermarket Special. One night I went out with a borrowed Arca Swiss and Gitzo G120, I probably had the sweetest tripod setup there that night.

(the 120 is a very old alu model from years gone by.. I can't even find references to this one on the Internet)

[foxbat]

Originally Posted by Lightstream

Right now I'm sizing up a new tripod - and that is going to be the Gitzo 1530.

Do it! You're making the gestation period of the african elephant look positively hurried!

[Lightstream]

Waiting for a B&H rep to confirm it comes with certain extras that I want it's in the cart already

I must say though, that Benro offers a tremendous price advantage.. that's the thing most people see, not the extra engineering that goes into the pods.

Update: While Gitzo's catalog says a free bag is included, B&H apparently doesn't give you the bag... wierd!

[Prydain]

Originally Posted by Lightstream

Waiting for a B&H rep to confirm it comes with certain extras that I want it's in the cart already

I must say though, that Benro offers a tremendous price advantage.. that's the thing most people see, not the extra engineering that goes into the pods.

Update: While Gitzo's catalog says a free bag is included, B&H apparently doesn't give you the bag... wierd!

Gitzo describes it as a 'dust cover'. It's a plastic shipping bag that's really long, not the $180 Gitzo bag. That's what came with my 5540 last week.

As for the original OP. For all our benefit, you might further describe just exactly what failed. I found this teardown in the in FAQ section of a 328 Benro which should be the same as your Induro 313 as far as center column:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=293860

The eighth reply shows a picture of the top of the column disassembled. The top plate is apparently bolted to an aluminum sleeve that is pinned to the CF column. The sleeve looks to be about 3/4-1" thick. With the plate bolted to the column with the head bolt, the weak point appears to be that the aluminum sleeve came out of the CF column. Is that indeed what occurred? I haven't taken my center columns apart to check, but this Benro/Induro stuff appears to be a pretty good copy of the current Gitzo line. Another reason that I got the 5540LS with camera plate only, and no center column for my future 500 acquisition. It does make me want to look at my center columns more closely though. Glad your lens survived. I have never heard of this issue with a Gitzo center column, and to be honest, the lifetime warranty on the Gitzo tripod would have been worth that extra $100 bucks .

This kind of nightmare is where your camera store can really shine or fail miserably. Let us know how it turns out.

[Lightstream]

Ahh, that explains everything. I picked up a cheap tripod bag to go with the pod. I would consider a strap or sticking it on the back of my Orion Trekker II (which is pretty easily done), except that I shoot in urban environments and sometimes prefer to operate 'under cover'. When on public transport, the less they know, the better.

A tripod bag seems to get mistaken for some kind of musical instrument more than anything else around these parts.. it doesn't scream 'valuable camera nearby'.

Also agreed for the bigger setups I would consider eliminating the center column altogether. Blonde is using the 15 degree Gitzo leveller base - that looks good.

[Blue Deuce]

Originally Posted by Prydain

As for the original OP. For all our benefit, you might further describe just exactly what failed. I found this teardown in the in FAQ section of a 328 Benro which should be the same as your Induro 313 as far as center column:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=293860

The eighth reply shows a picture of the top of the column disassembled. The top plate is apparently bolted to an aluminum sleeve that is pinned to the CF column. The sleeve looks to be about 3/4-1" thick. With the plate bolted to the column with the head bolt, the weak point appears to be that the aluminum sleeve came out of the CF column. Is that indeed what occurred?

lifetime warranty on the Gitzo tripod would have been worth that extra $100 bucks .

This kind of nightmare is where your camera store can really shine or fail miserably. Let us know how it turns out.

The aluminum sleeve that fits inside the center column came out. As I previously mentioned there was a film of some glue but it wasn't even applied uniformally on the sleeve.

I don't usually skimp on stuff. I was looking for a tripod, had a wad of cash in my pocket and made a impulsive purchase. I am terribly disapointed in Induro never taking the efforrt to respond to my email.

I don't know why I didn't take any photos. I think it made me sick looking at it. I will ask the guy at the camera store to do so and email them to me.

[Lightstream]

Originally Posted by Blue Deuce

The aluminum sleeve that fits inside the center column came out. As I previously mentioned there was a film of some glue but it wasn't even applied uniformally on the sleeve.

I don't usually skimp on stuff. I was looking for a tripod, had a wad of cash in my pocket and made a impulsive purchase. I am terribly disapointed in Induro never taking the efforrt to respond to my email.

I don't know why I didn't take any photos. I think it made me sick looking at it. I will ask the guy at the camera store to do so and email them to me.

Ahh, that makes sense. I wouldn't trust the glue.

Press-fitting is a technique to solidly secure two aluminium components together. Heat the outer one, freeze the inner one. Slot them into each other and let them warm to room temperature - the parts will expand/contract into each other with tremendous force.

I'm guessing that Benro tried it with their Al tripods, but forgot that carbon fiber doesn't expand and contract like Al does and therefore press-fit doesn't work anywhere near as well.

They should at least have replied to your email. At least the good thing is that your camera shop backed you up. The only reason why I even took a chance on a Benro is that I had an outstanding local dealer who would help me out even if all else failed.