To repair or replace?

[Ilovebokeh]

Hi,

I have a Nikon D5500 and :

- the standard 18-55 Nikon lens (backup)
- a lovely Tamron 17-50 mm f2.8 (I love bokeh)

I bought a nice new promaster tripod ($300) but a leg buckled, the camera fell and ruined a $100 filter plus I just received an estimate for repair $250 AUD

Work Requested
LENS WAS DROPPED
HAS A TIGHT SPOT IN FOCUS RING THAT CAUSES AF TO NOT WORK
ESTIMATE
INSPECTED LENS
FOUND TIGHTNESS IS COMING FROM THE INTERNAL FOCUS BARREL
TO DISMANTLE LENS
TO REPLACE LISTED PARTS
TO REASSEMBLE LENS
TO PERFORM NECESSARY ADJUTMENTS
TO UPDATE FIRMWARE
TO CHECK AND TEST
[Parts]

I can find new for around that price.

Should I repair or replace?

I am/was also considering a 70-200 F2.8 lens. So any suggestions for a whole new kit or anything else?

I emailed the tripod manufacturer who said sorry, no liability for consequential loss. The camera store replaced the filter for free and said Tripod must have been operator error.

Many thanks

[Geoff79]

I'm no expert on repairs and replacements so I'll leave that to the more knowledgable... but out of curiosity, which lens broke? How much does a replacement cost?

Anyway, reason for my reply is just to chime in on those promaster tripods. I might have the same one. I think I spent $300 too.

Not at all pleased with it. All three legs have one issue or other, and have since about a month after purchase. I still get the job done, but it's various shortcomings make it very hard to use easily.

I had two manfrottos in the past and will return to them when I buy again. I'd not buy promaster again, or recommend them.


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[Tannin]

DWI offer:

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Lens For Nikon Mount: $242.25

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Lens For Nikon Mount: $369.55

Free shipping from Hong Kong, add about $5 for insurance and a small percentage credit card fee (or pay by direct deposit, for which there is no fee). Delivery generally takes about a week or 10 days.

12 month warranty via DWI, which is better than the warranty you'll probably have on a repaired lens.



PS: How can a tripod leg buckle?

[Geoff79]

With that post in mind, definitely replace!


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[Ilovebokeh]

Yes,

So in summary

Repair: $250
New import: say around $350

*my local store says 800 new.

Tripod legs fasten with a screw tightening/release motion.

Some of them do not stay tight. I check each time but it caught me out. There are 12.

[Cage]

Easy peasy huh?

Forget the lens repair and replace it.

Buying a tripod leads you into a world of outrageous claims and outright lies. There is no industry regulation or accepted code of standards so your only protection is to buy tried and true products. Some of the Asian products are quite good if you happen to luck onto a manufacturer who is producing for a high profile seller and then decides to produce the same product with their own label on it, albeit with some very minor changes.

The more locking points you have on a tripod, the more 'points of weakness' you have, unless you spend something like $1K on a Gitzo. I'd suggest you stay away from twist locks and opt instead for clip locks. I've had a Manfrotto 055CXPRO3 for about six years, it's had lots of use and it's as good as new. Oh, and it was my fourth tripod purchase as I wasted about $500 on trying to go the cheap route.

Manfrotto have been around for a long time and their products are quite up to their stated tasks. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. But I don't use their heads, don't like the tolerances.

As a suggestion for a replacement this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Manfrotto...cAAOSwXYtYzc-x would do the job and you could use your current head, although I'm sure you will want to update that somewhere down the track.

[Tannin]

Crikey!

Hey, Cage, a quiet word to the wise. It's OK to talk about politics, football teams, Canon vs Nikon, climate change, marriage equality, tax reform, religion, bicycle helmets, social diseases, drugs ... you know, this is a pretty liberal place. But don't mention the tripod locks! Stick to the weather or religion, it's safer.

Jokes aside, I have no opinion on twist locks v lever locks. I've always had had lever locks and have no experience with twist locks. Sometimes the lever locks bug me, but I'm sure that twist locks would too, only in different ways. I've owned about four or five tripods, all Manfrottos, all lever locks, and they have all been fine. Some people I respect reckon twist locks are much better, especially Gitzo ones. I pretend that I don't want twist locks because they take longer to operate (probably not true) or because lever locks are better at coping with the sand and mud I often work in (possible, by no means certain), but really it's just that I'm used to the other sort.

(I mentioned the tripod locks once but I think I got away with it all right.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnNhzgcWTk

[Cage]

Crikey!

Hey, Cage, a quiet word to the wise. It's OK to talk about politics, football teams, Canon vs Nikon, climate change, marriage equality, tax reform, religion, bicycle helmets, social diseases, drugs ... you know, this is a pretty liberal place. But don't mention the tripod locks! Stick to the weather or religion, it's safer.

Jokes aside, I have no opinion on twist locks v lever locks. I've always had had lever locks and have no experience with twist locks. Sometimes the lever locks bug me, but I'm sure that twist locks would too, only in different ways. I've owned about four or five tripods, all Manfrottos, all lever locks, and they have all been fine. Some people I respect reckon twist locks are much better, especially Gitzo ones. I pretend that I don't want twist locks because they take longer to operate (probably not true) or because lever locks are better at coping with the sand and mud I often work in (possible, by no means certain), but really it's just that I'm used to the other sort.

(I mentioned the tripod locks once but I think I got away with it all right.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnNhzgcWTk

Yeah, I was looking at the can of worms and wondering.

I just figure that the the clip lock gives a more positive confirmation of engagement, although having said that there is no way I'll use lever-release clamps, much preferring the screw in type. Go figure.

[arthurking83]

+4(or whatever number I made it too) on the replace and not repair!

As for tripod. I think the name probably says it all .. promaster.
When a brand name uses the terms pro or master .. you know it's one to possibly avoid. When the brand uses doth terms in the same name ... you know it's THE one to avoid.
My thoughts(ie. guessing here) would be that promaster is a reseller brand only .. don't manufacture them. They possibly get a high volume manufacturer to stamp them with a brand name on the gear, and promaster then sells them to wholesalers looking for a cheap item to maintain competitiveness.
The reason I say(guess) this is that you'd look into the brand name that sells the stuff, and what other type of stuff they also sell.
if they sell flashes and filters and binoculars and ... well anything that is not related to the item in question, then almost certainly they are a brand restamping consortium. If they don't make them, they have no control over quality control.
So the crux of the matter is that they only resell other manufacturers products with their own name stamped onto the product, and their sole reason for existence is to maximise profit .. not build a reputation and uphold that name.
So Promaster will push manufacturer to lower prices even further, manufacturer doesn't want to lose the volume of sales, so complies, manufacturer has to cut costs further .. wages wil be the first method, then quality of parts will come next, and then quality control(if there was any to begin with)
So the chances are that this brand sells a hundred thousand items of this type, and one will always slip through to the keeper. Just so happened that you were the unlucky keeper in this instance.

I don't doubt that the twist locks may have been made faulty. All the materials are made of plastic. And plastic is easy to mismanufacture too.
Don't fret tho, that Gitzo brand Cage mentioned .. highly respected and one of the top brands making tripods. Strangely their twist lock mechanisms are all plastic too.
I've abused mine no end .. broken a couple of important internal parts, pulling it apart to clean salt/sand/mud out and just rushed the job and broken those important bushing parts ... but! .. even with my klutzy clumisness it still locks 100% tight.
The point with the Gitzo, is that they have a reputation to maintain, I've read that they're made in China by another manufacturer anyhow, but I'm assuming that quality control will be present .. and the Gitzo is designed to tolerate some idiot factor ... idiot factor being me!

Manfrotto Neotech:

If you don't require the sturdiest tripod type in existence(ie. you mainly do wide angle landscapes or something like that) then absolute boulder like stability isn't imperative.
if this is the case, then I'd recommend looking into a little known Manfrotto tripod called the neotech model 458B.
An awesome design from a user's perspective in terms of setup and pack away.
No locks to fumble with, no twists, levers nothing.
In fact to set up the tripod all you do is pull the leg .. and no I'm not pulling anyone's leg here .. that simply the action needed to open out and setup the neotech tripod type.
They use a hydraulic leg design. So you pull the legs out open all three out and it's set. In the time to open just the one section of one leg on any normal tripod(twist or flip type) .. a neotech is setup fully.
The 'difficult' part comes when it's time to packup .. and you have to press a simple release button and push the leg closed.
That's about as difficult as a neotech gets.
So while the biggest advantage of the neotech is setup and packup time(save) . the best part of the design is the inevitable tweaking of the setup whilst shooting.
By tweaking, I mean leveling it out properly. There is no excuse not to level a neotech perfectly. Instead of gripping a twist lock, unlocking sliding leg up/down to level the head base .. with the neotech you press button and ease leg updown. The enitre motion just makes perfect sense, and many orders of magnitude better than any mechanical locking leg system.
The main issue with any of the leg locking systems is that the operator is going to adjust the leg most needed, and easiest to reach .. the top leg. the thickest leg, and the one doing the bulk of the rigidity work.
Common sense folk will always reach down to adjust the lowests, thinnest leg .. but who among us has this type of common sense? (I for one don't .. guilty as charged)

Biggest issue is that it's a one trick pony type tripod. It's as flimsy as a tripod gets ... and that includes some of those freebie tripod you may see that come as bonus products in a camera body kit .. free lens cloth, free memory card, free filter set, and free tripod.
The Neotech is anything but sturdy, and I reckon it may be made of watered down jelly. So I only use it with my (previously) 10mm on APS-C camera, and currently 12mm lens on Fx camera. I did once try it for macro photography and ... umm .. never again!

[Tannin]

If I remember correctly, Manfrotto has owned Gitzo for years, but they keep the brands distinct. They used to do all their manufacturing at home in Italy; whether they have outsourced much of it to China I couldn't say, but I suspect not. No-one here stops to think about it, but they do a lot of fine engineering in Italy: shipbuilding, aircraft, cars of course (Fiat is huge and they don't make Ferraris in China), and a heap of other stuff.