Another Gitzo tripod bites the dust.

[Phrasikleia]

Some of you may remember my thread from two years ago about the material failure (and warranty repair troubles) that I experienced with my first Gitzo tripod. Just last night I had a second one fail in a similar way, this time a 2-Series carbon fiber model:



And I came across a thread on another forum with several other people reporting precisely this failure with the same model (GT-2531): http://www.latogaphoto.com/2009/12/p...-gitzo-tripod/

I had a 5D Mark III with a 17-40 f/4L mounted on it, so it was nowhere near to being overloaded. Like the other people in that thread, I was using it in the cold (-11 C) and simply pushed down on it a bit as I always do to ensure that it was stable--something one ought to be able to do with a tripod. I always carry it in a padded bag and am very gentle with my equipment. I did absolutely nothing in the least bit abusive to it.

I'm now wondering if maybe I should switch brands. I'm not sure I can trust Gitzo anymore so long as they are using this apparently fragile alloy to hold the legs together. I paid good money for Gitzo tripods because I wanted equipment that would not let me down.

Should I be considering a switch to RRS? It looks like they don't quite have a comparable set of legs (something that stands as tall and is just as light). Has anyone had any problems with a RRS tripod? Any other suggestions for me?