Matte box?
 

Anyone use this matte box? Worth the cash?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

Yes, I have it. Yes, it's worth it.

There's a lot of matteboxes for sale these days that wouldn't last long with real sustained use. It may help to think of a mattebox as an accessory that will last 3-4 (video) cameras lifetimes.

Cool. The order has been placed.

Hey Nate, which videos on your site were made with the hd100?

Adam, just be sure you know that the picture isn't exactly what you're getting. This kit does NOT include side wings or a follow focus. Just so you're not surprised.

Right on, i noticed that... Thanks for looking out for me.
-aj

whats the number one reason for a matte box?

glare? filters? i'm a little new at matte boxes.

Yeah, you pretty much got it. The french flag and side wings control light getting to the lens which can cause ugly lens flares. The filter stages allow you to tweak your image in camera (like gradient, ND, polarizer, etc). When you start getting into higher-end shoots, you'll need the lightweight support rods anyway to mount your follow focus or in some cases a bunch or wireless motors that control zoom, focus, iris.

are there many cheaper matte boxes?

also can you just screw a filter straight onto the lens? like a tiffen filter?

I think I have seen a matte box for around $500, but it is barely more than the lens shade.

The DV boom has seen the rise of a lot of inexpensive "film-style" accessories. Problem is, a lot of them wouldn't hold up to pro use.

If you're buying just for yourself so you can make your movie or whatever, they're probably fine; but if you're working for other people and something breaking while on the job would make you look bad, then you should probably pass on the lower end stuff.

Nate, does the Chroziel support the 13x wide angle lense? I looked at the specs at BH, but didn't see anything mentioned.

Yeah. I had the 13x built on my camera and Chrosziel 450 kit at the Texas camera tests. Lens outer diameter is the same, but don't know about thread size.

13x is 1"-1.5" longer though. With Anton kit and mattebox, things were becoming a little long. I wouldn't put a firestore or wireless on the rear of a camera with the 13x.

Hum... Nate?

My matte box is pieces of cardboard taped to the lens with gaffer's tape. But then again I'm not generally shooting film style anyway.

Joe.

I didn't use it personally but I had the luck to work with Tip McPartland who has a Petroff Mattebox, the 5x4 type. He attached it to the 13x lens and it worked beautifully. In fact I'm planning to buy one soon.