Looking for a minimalistic matte box, or universal lens hood...

[Piotr Wozniacki]

I've been deliberating for quite a while now over the optimum shoulder rig for my FS100. I do have a working solution for my EX1, based around the RR mattebox on rails, with a large and heavy PAG battery as the over-the-shoulder counterweight... But that's very heavy, so I decided to make anoether one for my FS100 much lighter. Not only to spare my own (weakened) spine, but also in order to be able to rest it on a smaller/cheaper tripod head...

It will still incorporate rails, as I do need some sort of counter weight at the back as well as 2 handles & FF in the front - but I'd like the matte box to be as small and lightweight as possible (the RedRock is nice, but makes the rig very front-heavy). Perhaps even not a true matte box (I prefer using my Heliopan VND filter), but some lens hood that would fit any one of my lenses with a universal donut or bellows...

Any suggestions for such a minimalistic matte box, or universal lens hood? It should be rails -mounted, but lightweight and... cheap :)

TIA.

[Giroud Francois]

balsa wood , cardboard, sheet of black foam, black spray can, some cokin filter holder (the X-pro is great)
should not take more than 1 hour to build what you need.

[Gabe Strong]

Here's the $99 IndiMatte Box. Not sure if this is what you are looking
for, but worth a look.

indiGO-MATTE - indiSYSTEM

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Judging from the pictures, is the disk (screwing into the lens thread, and seated inside the matte box "shell" held only by 2 screws) the only connection that this matte box is attached to the camera with?

If so, than - even though the size and weight are exactly what I'm after - I'm afraid it's no good for lenses with the Heliopan VND filter on, as the latter has no external thread. BTW, the manufacturer would sell those Indigos by hundreds if the disks could double as step up rings from various lens diameter to - say - 77mm Heliopan...

Should this $99 little thing have rails bracket, and a universal "sack" (or even set of donuts), I'd be all over it!

Thanks anyway


PS. All the above shortcomings are solved with the Pro version, but this is $350. Still worth considering, though...

[Piotr Wozniacki]

In the below pictures, my FS100 rig under construction

The idea is to get the shoulder pad underneath the camera (in order to balance it better on the shoulder, and make the rig shorter). This was achieved using my old Letus riser v.1 (still must go down some 10-15mm, to get in axis with the mattebox). Speaking of the latter: as can be seen, the RedRock mattebox is way too large (not to mention, heavy) - will probably be getting the Proaim MB-600, or even MB-300, instead. Apart from being smaller/lighter, they can be moved along the rails freely to accommodate the changing length of the lens - while one of the RR MB's shortcomings is it can not go backwards beyond a certain limit, as it would collide with the rails ...

As a side note: In the foreground, the surprisingly good Manfrotto 504HD head on the 535 CF legs - very smooth, and lightweight tripod. Ideal for camera-only usage! Its payload though is just 7.5 kg - not enough for the rig depicted...This is comfortably seating on the biggest Manfrotto head, the 526, which is rated at some 15 kg.

PS. Looking at my rig, please suggest a better way of attaching the nanoFlash... Mounting it at the hot shoe via a ball joint is only temporary, as it's unnecessarily high this way and spoils the rig's balance !