You probably read the subject line of this article and immediately thought “So what makes the Manfotto Triaut 058B tripod so great?”
Well, in a word, Manfrotto has been making this same tripod design for over 20 years and has barely changed a thing about it since they released it.
Of course there is more to it than a long standing design. But before I get into all the great things about the 058B, let me start by saying this tripod is one of the heaviest tripods ever made for still photography and weighs in at around 13.5 pounds or 6.15 kilos. So this is a definite downside to this model if the added weight and reduced portability is a concern for you.
Manfrotto 058B Triaut Tripod
But that aside, it checks all the boxes making it the best tripod I’ve ever used. The main things that this tripod offers that some other tripods fail to provide so well are stability, speed, ease of use, and height.
Because of it’s above average weight, and thick legs, it makes it much more stable than other, lighter weight tripods in situations where the legs might vibrate or slip a bit at times. The legs on this model also have quick locking stabilizer arms that run from the tripod’s center column to each of the legs. So once you lock these leg struts into place, the tripod won’t move at all and you can lock the legs at any angle or in any position you like. You also don’t have to worry about the weight of a heavy camera causing the tripod to fall over or a strong gust of wind laying it on the ground. That’s great security to have.
All the weight in the legs also makes it a great tripod for using with a sidearm for cantilever shooting.
Manfrotto 058B Tripod With Manfrotto 131D Lateral Side Arm For Cantilever Shooting
Then the quick leg releases work on the basis of gravity such that with two fingers you simply press on the quick release levers, while raising the tripod up off the floor, and all 3 legs will fall to the ground within 2 seconds. This is its most valuable function I feel, rendering you ready to shoot right away. Then, all you need to do is press the quick release lever again when you are done shooting to lower the tripod back down and quickly close it up again. It also has separate quick release levers for each leg individually so that you can extend one leg at a time if you like. This is great for adjusting the height of each leg to easily level the tripod when needed. Maybe Manfrotto themselves said it best though:
“…featuring patented simultaneous release of all three legs or any individual leg. This permits the legs to be extended, the tripod leveled (spirit level provided) and locked in seconds without ‘fiddling’ with individual leg adjustments. Telescoping the legs is achieved by activating the same release.”
Manfrotto 058B Tripod Quick Release Levers
Then there is the height. This tripod, including its long extendable center neck, will give you a total height of 85″, which is higher than any other tripod I’ve seen. It even tops out a bit higher too once you add the height of your tripod head to it. With such height, it is ideal for getting landscape or architecture shots from a higher elevation or getting a bird’s eye view shot from above a crowd of people.
I also like how the center column neck raises up using a crank on the side of the column. This makes it effortless to raise the camera up a bit higher without having to struggle to pull the heavy weight of the camera upwards with one hand while trying to tighten the lock on the center column with your other hand like you have to do with most tripods.
Manfrotto 058B Tripod Neck Crank
The price runs about US$450 in the USA or about 15,600 Thai Baht in Thailand. Considering how solidly it is made, it is a great value. And if you take care of it, you will probably never have to buy another tripod again in this lifetime.
Manfrotto 058B Tripod Leg And Center Column
Because of the size and weight though it may not be ideal for all occasions, nor is it the ideal travel tripod, but if you do shooting that requires speed, height, and sturdiness, then I don’t think there is another tripod that can beat it.
Personally, I did not buy one until recently, but I had always felt like my other 2 tripods were never giving me everything I really needed in a tripod until I got this 058B. But now I’m good and I feel much more secure with putting my expensive equipment on top of a super sturdy tripod like this.
If you do a lot of studio work shooting products and/or shooting with heavy medium format cameras then this is the ideal tripod for you. It’s also excellent for architectural work and other types of shooting where the camera position needs to be very secure, stable and precise.
If you have one already then let me know how you like it.
Each to his own – I have pods for travel, but rarely use them these days, because I can manage without (on digital) with the technology built into my cams – so my prime use for a pod now is macro stuff.
And very few pods really suit that. To do live focus with maximum magnification calls for NO vibration – not “less”. I don’t give a toss about the weight. And I’ve settled on a couple of ancient Linhofs. One of which was purchased before calendars were invented so I can’t remember how old it is – and I grabbed the other one from my favorite toy shop, while they were trying to flog me a Gitzo (same company as Manfrotto – just their upmarket brand) at a price over a thousand bucks. I got the Linhof for a fraction of that price and it does all I need. I’ve narrowed the source of the remaining vibration down to some of the other gear I occasionally use with it – the pod is as solid as a rock.
That said – everyone should make their selection so that it suits THEIR requirements – and make sure they do their homework first, because constantly buying a new pod is a total waste of money, when a little more thought could – and should – have made that quite unnecessary.
The pictures suck, all too close – like confusovision fight scenes in movies. No pictures of the entire tripod, just close here close there wtf?
Sumdumguy, I felt soo bad when I came to your impolite “input”.. you could have put this a lot more elegantly by: first saying a big thanks to Marc for this nice piece of info. The time and effort he put into this doesn’t deserve such arrogant comments.. I wish we could have the opportunity to enjoy one of your paper 5with nice pictures.
Marc, I couldn’t care about the weight of it – this one ticks most of the boxes for me, but as with all the others, I have one question. I only want the ‘pod for macro work, and doing fine macros, I use live view practically all the time. Which means I want to avoid ALL wobble – otherwise, as I try fine tuning the focus in live view, the enlarged portion of the image goes for a dance and it’s very hard to finalize the focusing.
I’ve had plenty of people tell me to go for a carbon fibre ‘pod, it absorbs vibrations quicker. But that’s not the point – I don’t want the vibrations in the first place, while I’m trying to focus the lens.
Do you have any advice on that issue, with this – or any other – ‘pod?
Hi Pete – Yes, that vibration can be troublesome. I get it too. On all my tripods. And I don’t think it is something the manufacturers worry about since it is only noticeable when focusing with live view. I don’t shoot much macros, but when you focus with live view you need to zoom and it happens on everything. I also think no matter how stable the tripod is that you can’t control the vibration of the head from a heavy camera and lens. What I have been doing more of now is I focus using focus peaking on live view and don’t zoom in so much anymore to focus. I am not sure what camera you are using, but if you have one of the 5D series Canon bodies you can install Magic Lantern which adds focus peaking to the live view preview screen. Also, some of the newer mirrorless cameras offer it built in to the camera already. I think in the future most camera manufacturers will add it to their bodies because it is quite useful. Try that. Maybe that will help.
Ouch – Ok, well that parallels what I’ve been experiencing. Enlarging fully in live view is futile, the image isn’t sufficiently stable to set the focus. But stopping the enlargements in live view before I hit the maximum seems to work.
I’m using a Nikon D810 with a Zeiss 100mm f/2 Makro Planar – I’ve had a life long love affair with Zeiss glass & I’m quite used to manual focus (although that was easier with the split view in their Contarex than it is with digital cams – LOL)
The ‘pod I’ve been using is an ancient Linhof one – solid enough for elephants to sit on it. I can only guess what model number, the tag’s worn off. I can’t imagine that the ability of carbon fibre to “dampen vibrations” would make my focusing problem any easier to deal with – intuitively I think the vibrations would be happening while I was focusing, and only get “dampened” when it was no longer any help with the focusing issue.
The head is an arca swiss d4 and at the moment, I’m also using a Cognisys Stackshot, because I’m producing a set of photos for a jewellery catalogue & need the depth of field that a decent stackshot produces.