John Morrison
Well-known member
As a disclaimer, I won this as being one of the first five people to respond to their post located here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=132470&highlight=Cover+Lens
I received the Multi Tool Cover Lens packet in priority mail, packed in a shipping box small enough to fit into my standard sized street mail box. Something like 1" x 8" x 6", or thereabouts (I'm not sure about the actual dimensions). Shipping time was less then a week.
The Multi Tool Cover Lens comes with a page of instructions, well written and informative.
A pack of four double-sided warm-cards of good quality is included on a 24 inch plus chain, suitable for hanging around someone's neck. They're very sturdy.
The cards include:
1. Cool White Balance Card, with a center cross-hair on one side and Siemens Star on the other.
1. White-Balance Card with cross-hair in the center, with 18% Grey on the other side.
1. Warm card light and dark either side.
1. Minus Green one side / Plus Green on the other
The hard plastic looks like it darkens the color of the cards somewhat, possibly making the 18% Grey more like 22% - not sure, and I haven't tested it (nor do I have a way to test it). These cards fit into a pouch flap on the front of the lens cover, which provides a fair amount of protection from protruding objects hitting the lens. A small pen-holder is attached to the side, and holds a small pen. The pouch which contains the warm-cards could also hold a notepad which is by itself a useful item to have available on set.
Opposite the pen-holder is the flap and pouch for the warm-cards. The flap attaches via Velcro to the lens cover. On either side of the flap, about an inch from the edge and equidistant on both sides is a small ring on a tab (4 ea.), which can hold accessories (I don't know what accessories are available yet).
The lens cover itself is waterproof and fits nicely over my DVX100 built-in manufacturers matte-box. The device covers the front completely, but can still let dust in via the rear ports of the built-in matte-box on the DVX - although tightening the barrel lock takes care of this, the cover barely fits to close off the rear port, adding about 1/2 inch more material would be a great help here. The warm cards are sturdy enough to provide an extra degree of protection, and is a very good thing.
The micro-fiber cloth has an interesting feel to it - it feels like high quality clothe and includes a Velcro attached hook to keep it from getting lost (very handy). It's very soft and appears to be very absorbent, and my understanding is, that it is washable. It resides within an inside pouch (at the lens side), and is large enough to handle with cloth to spare (this is an annoyance of mine with other lens clothes, which are just big enough to grab hold of). The cloth is about 6" by 8" or there abouts.
Pros: Excellent idea (wish I'd thought of it). The cards supplied are good choices, and its functionality is something I look at now and wonder "why didn't someone think of this before?"
Cons: Plastic covering the cards is a little dark. I'm not sure if that makes any difference at all in it's use - but something to be aware of, and an answer either way would be useful. Other than that - there really isn't anything about its quality, construction or functionality I can complain about.
Comments to Cover Lens:
- Consider replacing the pen with a grease-pencil & holder (clip maybe?) for follow focus marking, or make it an option.
- The size could be just a tad bigger to make it easier to close off the back end of the open-rear matte-box on the DVX.
- The sturdiness of the plastic encasing the warm cards is excellent. Is there a way to manufacture these cards with a more transparent plastic? The plastic seems a little dark - unless the color / grey-scale is optically correct as is (I have no way of knowing, and admit to guessing this using my trusty eyeball). If this is a non-issue, then please ignore.
- Would you consider making several sizes of these, such as sized large enough to fit over real matte-boxes - those with and without flags? These could be very useful as added protection to those of us with various sized matte boxes as protection, especially onset with cameras mounted on our tripods, cranes and what not. Our matte boxes are also expensive, and prone to damage - possibly some kind of material that absorbs shock as well would be useful here.
- The placement of the barrel lock / string opening grommet is right below the microphone and can be difficult to pull tight if you have large hands / fingers. Placing the pull strings somewhat off-center or on the side would alleviate this. This is another annoyance of mine and is the same issue I have with matte box filter holders, where the set thumb screws are positioned right below the microphone, making adjustments frustrating.
Other Comments: Optional larger sizes for 4x4, HD or larger matte boxes may be more than is reasonable to ask for, since there are many sizes of matte-boxes on the market, but protecting them is an excellent idea and at the price point you're selling them for I'd recommend this as a must-have product in anyones kit.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=132470&highlight=Cover+Lens
I received the Multi Tool Cover Lens packet in priority mail, packed in a shipping box small enough to fit into my standard sized street mail box. Something like 1" x 8" x 6", or thereabouts (I'm not sure about the actual dimensions). Shipping time was less then a week.
The Multi Tool Cover Lens comes with a page of instructions, well written and informative.
A pack of four double-sided warm-cards of good quality is included on a 24 inch plus chain, suitable for hanging around someone's neck. They're very sturdy.
The cards include:
1. Cool White Balance Card, with a center cross-hair on one side and Siemens Star on the other.
1. White-Balance Card with cross-hair in the center, with 18% Grey on the other side.
1. Warm card light and dark either side.
1. Minus Green one side / Plus Green on the other
The hard plastic looks like it darkens the color of the cards somewhat, possibly making the 18% Grey more like 22% - not sure, and I haven't tested it (nor do I have a way to test it). These cards fit into a pouch flap on the front of the lens cover, which provides a fair amount of protection from protruding objects hitting the lens. A small pen-holder is attached to the side, and holds a small pen. The pouch which contains the warm-cards could also hold a notepad which is by itself a useful item to have available on set.
Opposite the pen-holder is the flap and pouch for the warm-cards. The flap attaches via Velcro to the lens cover. On either side of the flap, about an inch from the edge and equidistant on both sides is a small ring on a tab (4 ea.), which can hold accessories (I don't know what accessories are available yet).
The lens cover itself is waterproof and fits nicely over my DVX100 built-in manufacturers matte-box. The device covers the front completely, but can still let dust in via the rear ports of the built-in matte-box on the DVX - although tightening the barrel lock takes care of this, the cover barely fits to close off the rear port, adding about 1/2 inch more material would be a great help here. The warm cards are sturdy enough to provide an extra degree of protection, and is a very good thing.
The micro-fiber cloth has an interesting feel to it - it feels like high quality clothe and includes a Velcro attached hook to keep it from getting lost (very handy). It's very soft and appears to be very absorbent, and my understanding is, that it is washable. It resides within an inside pouch (at the lens side), and is large enough to handle with cloth to spare (this is an annoyance of mine with other lens clothes, which are just big enough to grab hold of). The cloth is about 6" by 8" or there abouts.
Pros: Excellent idea (wish I'd thought of it). The cards supplied are good choices, and its functionality is something I look at now and wonder "why didn't someone think of this before?"
Cons: Plastic covering the cards is a little dark. I'm not sure if that makes any difference at all in it's use - but something to be aware of, and an answer either way would be useful. Other than that - there really isn't anything about its quality, construction or functionality I can complain about.
Comments to Cover Lens:
- Consider replacing the pen with a grease-pencil & holder (clip maybe?) for follow focus marking, or make it an option.
- The size could be just a tad bigger to make it easier to close off the back end of the open-rear matte-box on the DVX.
- The sturdiness of the plastic encasing the warm cards is excellent. Is there a way to manufacture these cards with a more transparent plastic? The plastic seems a little dark - unless the color / grey-scale is optically correct as is (I have no way of knowing, and admit to guessing this using my trusty eyeball). If this is a non-issue, then please ignore.
- Would you consider making several sizes of these, such as sized large enough to fit over real matte-boxes - those with and without flags? These could be very useful as added protection to those of us with various sized matte boxes as protection, especially onset with cameras mounted on our tripods, cranes and what not. Our matte boxes are also expensive, and prone to damage - possibly some kind of material that absorbs shock as well would be useful here.
- The placement of the barrel lock / string opening grommet is right below the microphone and can be difficult to pull tight if you have large hands / fingers. Placing the pull strings somewhat off-center or on the side would alleviate this. This is another annoyance of mine and is the same issue I have with matte box filter holders, where the set thumb screws are positioned right below the microphone, making adjustments frustrating.
Other Comments: Optional larger sizes for 4x4, HD or larger matte boxes may be more than is reasonable to ask for, since there are many sizes of matte-boxes on the market, but protecting them is an excellent idea and at the price point you're selling them for I'd recommend this as a must-have product in anyones kit.
