Formatt FM500 Matte Box

I have the Formatt Matte Box, but I haven'r really used it yet. I can tell you that it fits the camera nicely. Dv.com gave it really high review scores, and the price is very attractive.
 
There are some things I don't like about it, the most important being that it can't be adapted to fit on rods. It's a clamp on forever. That means it's deas not fit VERY solidly on the camera, and it's so big it sometimes gets in the way. For handheld it kind of sucks. The french flag is ridiculous, it never locks in position. the part that filters are just attached without the tray is weird, but works well. But it has a rotating filter stage, and I still think it shoud be better than the Indiesnap. If you think that you will get something that is worth 300 bucks you're wrong. But then again a Chrosziel isn't worth 800+, too.
 
Well I've Had this mattebox for about 1 year and love it. Yes it is big, but not much bigger than the Chrosziel. And yes, the eyebrow is rather big and has trouble locking once in a while. The no filter tray is different but it does work well and cuts down on weight. Has anyone gone hand held with the Chrosziel clamp on? That mother f er has alot more wieght to it becuase of those trays. When your holding a SDX900 it's no big deal but on the little DVX or HVX, a little wieght on the front goes a long way. Also, the format matte box was never designed to be anything other then a clamp on. Same with the clamp on Chrosziel. That feature always comes at a cost. Hey but for $300.00 bucks, I think it is very well built. Much better then anything out there in that price range. Really, is any of this crap worth the money??

Steve
 
Vocas is great, they also make custom build camera accessoires. They are a Dutch company and you can find them at NAB in april Booth # C8937. They have a HVX Matte Box clamp-on and one with rails.

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