C500: Matte Box for C500 MkII

A

acgreen7

Member
Looking for a matte box to throw on a c500 mkii rig. It definitely comes off as more professional to clients but aside from throwing some pro-mists itll essentially be for show.

Wondering what box people use/recommend for under 1k (cheaper the better). Main lenses would be a couple cne primes, canon 24-70, and fujinon 20-120. Swing away might be best since I cant clamp on to the 24-70 right?

Any input greatly appreciated!
 
The Wooden Camera Zip Box Pro would probably be my pick of the new small/minimalist matteboxes - you can configure it for both swing away and clamp-on.
 
If it's just for show, you could get a cheap Fotga or Neewer.

I have a Cinematics matte box, mainly because I got it really cheap second hand on eBay. It's the only matte box I've ever owned, so I'm not sure how it would compare with other brands. I mainly have mine for using graduated ND filters. It's not that light and the distance from 15mm rail hole center to the matte box center is 93mm, which isn't the standard distance, so you'd need a vertically adjustable baseplate. With that said, it has a lot of nice features, like bottom flag (useful when shooting at the beach), flocking material on the inside of the flags, and all aluminum construction.
 
if it's for a lens like the 24-70 with zoom extension i'd go for the super lightweight clamp on misfit atom from bright tangerine.

Youi could also use the standard wooden camera zip box. It's a bit cumbersome in handling though. The filters don't go in smoothly. The box itself is availabe in two sizes and limited to 90mm diameter maximum. I would recommend an additional adapter ring (simmod or similar) for a more solid mount. It's not very impressive either :) Despite all downsides I use it because it's small for gimbal usage and it packs small when you have to traveling light.
 
Jim Feeley said:
You know, it's limited but the upcoming and very-inexpensive SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box. $80 USD (perhaps a bit higher later). They have an adapter ring that accommodates up to 114mm...
Go to this page and scroll down to see what they're up to:
https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-lightweight-matte-box-2660.html
Click to expand...

I love that that there IS an $80.00 matte box, objectively now that they've gone mainstream, that's what they always should have cost and I like Small Rig stuff, I have a decent amount of their stuff for most of my X-T3 HH rig.
Matte boxes are one of those things that probably always should have cost $80.00 yet because of the feature film industry, the good ones were often $5k. All they are is a glorified lens shade that holds filters. No electronics, no
innovation, stagnant technology for decades, they should be cheap. When I owned film cameras, it always killed me how much a matte box cost in comparison to lens or a mag, they cost the same price range and there was nothing
to them.
 
Jim Feeley said:
You know, it's limited but the upcoming and very-inexpensive SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box. $80 USD (perhaps a bit higher later). They have an adapter ring that accommodates up to 114mm...
Go to this page and scroll down to see what they're up to:
https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-lightweight-matte-box-2660.html


The music in this short promo is convincing, no?
Click to expand...


haha for 80$ its honestly worth a shot. still have some parts of theirs from years ago and they hold up
 
if you want a lightweight clamp on the misfit atom is a different world. It weighs only 198g while the small rig has 457g. That makes a difference in terms of stress on your lens tube
 
Clermond said:
if you want a lightweight clamp on the misfit atom is a different world. It weighs only 198g while the small rig has 457g. That makes a difference in terms of stress on your lens tube
Click to expand...

475g? I must have read the details wrong. I thought it was lighter!
 
Liam Hall said:
475g? I must have read the details wrong. I thought it was lighter!
Click to expand...

I saw it in the description and was wondering also. I asked via Facebook and SmallRig confirmed the weight. Seems not to be super-light only super-cheap :) I pre-ordered it too

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-lightweight-matte-box-2660.html
scroll down
Product Dimensions: 228.5 x 166 x 72mm
Package Dimensions: 255 x 190 x 85mm
Net Weight: 457g±5g
Package Weight: 907g±5g
Material(s): Aluminum Alloy, Carbon Fiber, ABS+PC
 
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Hmm... my two Arris, the LMB-25 and MMB-2 both come in at around 620g. So I'm starting to think it's not really worth the effort to swap one of them over to a 450-500g unit, only the featherweight 200g clamp-on units make much sense.
 
Clermond said:
I saw it in the description and was wondering also. I asked via Facebook and SmallRig confirmed the weight. Seems not to be super-light only super-cheap :) I pre-ordered it too

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-lightweight-matte-box-2660.html
scroll down
Product Dimensions: 228.5 x 166 x 72mm
Package Dimensions: 255 x 190 x 85mm
Net Weight: 457g±5g
Package Weight: 907g±5g
Material(s): Aluminum Alloy, Carbon Fiber, ABS+PC
Click to expand...

Wait what? It says on that page:

"SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box 2660
Key Features:
1. Lightweight Clamp-On Matte Box with Carbon Fiber Top Flag.
2. Weights Only 238g Without Top Flag."
 
I have to ask, do you really need a matte box to look more professional? The C500 MKII is a proper video camera that certainly looks pro as far as I'm concerned; I understand rigging a DSLR/Mirrorless camera to gain functionality & look more pro, but I just don't see the need with a genuine pro video camera.

I guess it depends on the client, as some people will be impressed with anything other than a smartphone.

Okay back to matte box recommendations. Here's a review of the Cinematics matte box, but it will have a hard time competing in price with the $80 SmallRig.

The Genus Wide angle matte box looks interesting, although, like a lot of these products it's merely a glorified sun shade.

Since the matte box is mainly for show, does it matter if it's 4x4 or 4x5.6?
 
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Clermond said:
if you want a lightweight clamp on the misfit atom is a different world. It weighs only 198g while the small rig has 457g. That makes a difference in terms of stress on your lens tube
Click to expand...

I have a Bright Tangerine Misfit Atom and Misfit Atom Pola+ and they are really nice when you just need some light control and/or something like a clear or ND(or polarizer in the Pola+). There are times I’ll pull the Canon lens hood on my 17-120 when I’m doing handheld and use the Atom, which is actually lighter then the factory hood. If you can get one on special, they are definitely worth it. Full price, they are really expensive. I bought both of mine when B&H had them in the Deal Zone(maybe 1/2 price?).
 
Another vote the the Bright Tangerine Misfit Atom. I have a couple of them with the top flags and use them on my pair of C500 MkII’s...with and without filters when better shading is desired.
 
Imamacuser said:
I have to ask, do you really need a matte box to look more professional? The C500 MKII is a proper video camera that certainly looks pro as far as I'm concerned; I understand rigging a DSLR/Mirrorless camera to gain functionality & look more pro, but I just don't see the need with a genuine pro video camera.
Click to expand...

Maybe its just my experience but when we've used it as a b or c cam next to alexas, physically it looks like a b or c cam. I do more doc style marketing and I always found that little things for the client makes it feel like the shoot is always bigger than it is. its a show kinda like with grading... that LOG footage looks pretty terrible but wait! look at this before and after with a lut! im amazing at what i do!
 
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