Big Time Mattebox Problem

D

Docmac

New member
Hey folks, Just finished building my rig onto my dvx100a. I have an M2 Encore setup and just purchased a mattebox off of eBay. It came with a 52mm adapter which I screwed onto my 50mm nikkor lens. I then proceeded to slide the body of the mattebox onto the 52mm adapter ring and then slid the rail adapter on and finished by attaching the mattebox body to the rail adapter. I know I'm a major newb, but I guess I'm a major dummy too, because as soon as I began to focus my 50mm lens, I realized that as the lens spun out, it was trying to push the mattebox with it. Conversely, when I spun the focused the other direction, it would pull the mattebox toward it. I must a totally different type of mattebox than everyone else is using, but the only way I can see it working correctly, is if the whole mattebox slid back and forth along the rail as I focused in and out. I decided to forget the attachment of the 52mm adapter ring to the lens and just mount it on the rails with the center of the opening centered with the lens. However, any little movement would make the mattebox bounce and shake, looking ridiculously wobbly and cheap. I then tried leaving the rail adapter off and attaching it to the camera lens via the 52mm ring. This had the tendency to pull downward on the lens from the weight. I came to the conclusion that the only way, that I can think of to make it work would be as stated above, it could somehow glide back and forth on the rails, or, have some type of very thin and flexible type of bellows that could move in and out with my lens as I focused. I have no idea of the brand of this mattebox, as the seller did not give a brand, but only said that he/she paid over $300 for it. The body is made out of some type of strong plastic/pvc and the shade and french flags are composed of thin but fairly strong dimpled steel. I was the winning bidder out of 28 bids and got it for $182. I thought this would be GREAT! But if I can't figure out how this is supposed to work, then it looks like it's going back on eBay. Does anybody have any idea of what I'm doing wrong or what I need to do to make this work? Or does this baby go back on the auction block?
 
Last edited:
i had a similar problem. my solution was to secure the lens adapter to the rig using a rod bracket (you can eithe rmake one really cheap or buy one off of amazon for around 70 usd). next secure the matte box with a stronger rod bracket to the rig. I also put fastened a rubber lens cover over the matte box open and lens to prevent light from coming in. i hope that helped. i'm a newbie too. the folks on here are great with info.
 
Focus a cinema lense. Its external length doesn't change the way most still lenses do. Guess which kind of lense the mattebox manufacturers design their products around?
 
Samuel, appreciate the feedback. I'm trying to visualize the rod bracket setup, but having a little difficulty. Could you possibly upload a photo of your setup to help me see exactly what you mean?

Craig, I hear ya. Although I was hoping to be able to use the lenses I have without having to purchase a different type (currently have a 50mm F1.4 Nikkor and a 28mm F2.0 Nikkor).
 
Samuel, thanks so much for the pics and info. But let me get this straight. From looking at the 2nd pic from the top, it looks like the rail adapter bracket holes have a slight gap, i.e. they look a little bigger than the rails themselves. Is this so that the mattebox, which is attached to the rail adapter, can slide back and forth along the rails while focusing/zooming the lens?
Thanks, Marc.

BTW, nice DIY job there!!!
 
thanks! that means alot. at first, that was my intention. however, the thing became a nightmare. so what i did was i fastened the bracket down, then i installed the rubber lens cover backwards on the matte box. i pushed the matte box just far enough forward to the point where if a extend the lens it wont bump into it during shoot. when i retracted it, i had space between the matte box and the lens. that's where the cover comes in. it prevents the light from filtering in and it make the whole set up look a little more uniform, if you know what i mean. the matte box is stationary, but you really can't tell because of the rubber lens cover. as you can see from pic #4 ( the 3/4 view from the back), the lens does not touch the rubber lens cover or the matte box. i found this set up alot better. it isolates the lens so that i don't have to worry about bumping the matte box. i actually held it straight down and had no movement, vibration, or noise from the unit itself. as i said before, i wanted to do it the way you want to. for me, this set up a tons better. you don't have to worry about messing up a shot and it saves you time on setting up. if you want, post some pics up of your set up. maybe we can get brainstorming to see what is the best option for your rig.
 
i'm not sure who are you referring to, but if it's me, i built it from scratch. i took a cheap lens hood that i bought on amazon and remoded it to my liking.
 
Man, talk about good old-fashioned American ingenuity. I gotta hand it to you Samuel, that's really using the noggin. Great idea! Yeah, I'll post some pics of my rig - probably be later on in the week before I can, but I certainly appreciate your help/advice. As for Maranfilms question, if you were asking me, I have no idea what brand, make or model mine is - got it off eBay without any info on it. I will say, however, that I really Samuel's DIY unit. Really nice work. Looks good and looks solid as well.

Thanks again, Samuel and I'll stick some pics up tomorrow or the next day.

Marc.
 
thanks for the kudos, marc. once i see it, i'll be able to help you out alot more. i found out that alot of the things you want to do for your rig you have to build it. it's easy to buy stuff, but i find it so over-priced. so, i did what any crazy novice guerilla-indy-pseudo-filmmaker would do....i went down to the local Home Depot and started to build. you'd be surprised how much money i saved by doing that. anywho, i'll be waiting for the pics.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top