Matte Box

T

treynolds

Well-known member
So i have seen a few good designs for DIY matte boxes on here and I like the ideas. I understand the reason for using a matte box if you have a lot of filters or are worried about lens flare, but honestly the only reason i want one is for the look so that my clients don't complain about me using a consumer camera on their shoot.

I recently was looking on Ebay at some cheap options and i found this one

http://videotools.movierich.com/

Now most of you will see this and quickly realize what it is,

a combination of this type of index card holder

http://www.vanillajoy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/file-box-and-az-poly-card-divider.jpg

and this flexible lens hood

http://shashinki.com/shop/images/PX-3STAGEHOOD.jpg

I don't know if I should hate the guy selling these or just be mad that i didn't think of it first. Its a super simple design that would do the job of making the camera look more professional on a shoot. With a little cutting you could even make this hold your filters if you wanted.
 
The biggest problem if you're only looking to boost your "looks" with a modified index card box on your camera, is that you look like you have an index card box on your camera. Why that dude is selling a $2 box for 75 bucks is beyond me...(that's pretty close to Zacuto's markup ratio :-p)

There's better options, the foldable sun shades for $50 or so look miles better
 
$50 isn't that bad but i haven't seen a reasonable looking shade for that price. Any chance you could link me to something?
 
Look around used... I got a used Century sunshade from the B&H used department for $37. It's a little beat up, but it's really nice... it has an integrated Series 9 filter holder. It won't fit on my smaller lenses though, but works well on an Iscorama and on Canon L zooms.
 
One of the reasons to use a matte box is for the purpose of holding heavy glass filters. It doesn't look like any of these do that.
 
If you're looking for an actual useful mattebox, the price goes up. treynolds just wants something beefy to throw on the front of a lens for looks.
 
Yeah Nox is right. I don't use many filters, just CPL and NDs. I'm just tired of going to shoots and clients (usually corporate stuff) looking at my rig and thinking that i'm not doing anything they couldn't do themselves.

I was thinking of making one that mounts to my cokin filter holder because then ive got all of my bases coverd, Im already using that to hold my filters, and then I could throw it on top.

The Cokin is obviously ideal for me but its way out of my price range for now.
http://www.amazon.com/Cokin-Z360-Z-PRO-Matte-Box/dp/B000RKXS4I

Thanks for all the advice guys.
 
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