George Loch
Well-known member
I know the matte box allows for filters but, other than that, is there a compelling reason to shoot with a matte box on a 5D?
-gl
-gl
Matte box: Why?
- Thread starter George Loch
- Start date
That old chestnut. Wonder how many times I have seen that question. The answer is not 5D dependant.
A mattebox allows the use of one set of filters, irregardless of the lens choice. The most important of these is probably a grad ND. With a round screw on filter, how would you adjust for your horizon? With a mattebox you can position that transition exactly whre you need it. Turning it horizontally also enables you to bring down a window shot to the left or right of the subject. Further, a mattebox stablizes long and heavier lenses when on rails. It eliminates play in the mount (especially necessary for Zeiss CP.2's with their lousy EF mounts and many manual lenses with adapters), supports the lens and of course provides flare and stray light blocking in a much more complete fashion than a lens hood. I have also found that it protects the whole rig, not just the lens. All of this may seem irrelevant, but when you start working with some serious cinema glass (yes they can be PL mounted on a 5D with an adapter) the choice becomes much more obvious.
A mattebox allows the use of one set of filters, irregardless of the lens choice. The most important of these is probably a grad ND. With a round screw on filter, how would you adjust for your horizon? With a mattebox you can position that transition exactly whre you need it. Turning it horizontally also enables you to bring down a window shot to the left or right of the subject. Further, a mattebox stablizes long and heavier lenses when on rails. It eliminates play in the mount (especially necessary for Zeiss CP.2's with their lousy EF mounts and many manual lenses with adapters), supports the lens and of course provides flare and stray light blocking in a much more complete fashion than a lens hood. I have also found that it protects the whole rig, not just the lens. All of this may seem irrelevant, but when you start working with some serious cinema glass (yes they can be PL mounted on a 5D with an adapter) the choice becomes much more obvious.
JMtheDP
Veteran
There's also the psychological element of people expect a professional movie camera to have a matte box on it. Childish, I know, but it is true.
I would never go anywhere without a matte box for the simple reason of filters. There are also filters like polarisers which don't work properly if the front element of your lens rotates, as many stills lenses do.
I would never go anywhere without a matte box for the simple reason of filters. There are also filters like polarisers which don't work properly if the front element of your lens rotates, as many stills lenses do.
Ryan Lightbourn
Well-known member
The better I became as a D.P., the more I realized I had to bite the bullet and grab a matte box (mostly to prevent ugly light spill...I already own a ton of 77mm filters and have all of my lenses stepped up to 77).
William_Robinette
Shallow Member
Actually screw on grad-nds work the same way as polarizers. They have two elements to the ring allowing them to rotate 360 degrees.
Sol M.
Veteran
Absolutely. flare/light spill control, which can improve image clarity and contrast.
Compelling enough for me.
Then again, the same also holds true for a lens hood as long as it effectively shades the lenses you have. Still, a matte boxes with French flags and side flags can provide more control in various lighting conditions. Whether you'll find that to be useful (and worth the cost) depends on the type of shooting you do.
Compelling enough for me.
Then again, the same also holds true for a lens hood as long as it effectively shades the lenses you have. Still, a matte boxes with French flags and side flags can provide more control in various lighting conditions. Whether you'll find that to be useful (and worth the cost) depends on the type of shooting you do.
eiker_ir
Well-known member
Matte Boxes with square/rectangular filters also allow vertical/horizontal adjusment which isn't possible with screw on filters.
David W. Jones
Veteran
It really depends on the camera, and what you are doing with it.
When I am shooting an event where the lighting can change between scenes and I need to cover a lot of ground rather quickly with an HDSLR camera without ND filters built-in, AKA run-n-gun, but I hate that term, I tend to use a 77mm screw-on vari-ND filter with a rubber lens hood. If I'm shooting an actor delivering a line in a commercial situation, I might choose to use a matte box with a 4x5.65 Hollywood Black Magic 1/8 filter. Sometimes I use no matte box or lens hood, so it really depends. Speaking of matte boxes, I just replaced my Arri MB20II setup which was liberated from a shoot, with a lower cost Chinese made Movcam MM1 matte box, which is really nice for the low price.
When I am shooting an event where the lighting can change between scenes and I need to cover a lot of ground rather quickly with an HDSLR camera without ND filters built-in, AKA run-n-gun, but I hate that term, I tend to use a 77mm screw-on vari-ND filter with a rubber lens hood. If I'm shooting an actor delivering a line in a commercial situation, I might choose to use a matte box with a 4x5.65 Hollywood Black Magic 1/8 filter. Sometimes I use no matte box or lens hood, so it really depends. Speaking of matte boxes, I just replaced my Arri MB20II setup which was liberated from a shoot, with a lower cost Chinese made Movcam MM1 matte box, which is really nice for the low price.
Quite impressed with the build quality of the new version of the Movcam actually. They are moving forward. Don't like the screw down pin for 144mm lenses, but other than that a totally legit and yet inexpensive matte box.