My latest toys - Rycote and Matteblox

M

Mike Beckett

Well-known member
I hope to put these through their paces soon: the Rycote Universal Camera Kit and the Matteblox DV 'matte box':

P1020754.JPG P1020752.JPG P1020755.JPG

I basically need the Mattebox as a glorifed sunshade - some of my regular winter filming always takes place at midwinter, with the sun as low as you can imagine. The Matteblox is collapsible, fabric-like and very portable - and you can velcro in filters as well with a special mount. I know I could spend $1000 on a Genus, but (a) this is a hobby, get real, and (b) it would get left at home due to bulk (and probably weight, by the time you add rails to support it).

The Rycote Unviersal Camera Kit contains their new mini-blimp, which is supposed to be better than a Softie. It sits well on the accessory shoe of the HMC41 (and is uber-adjustable).

I hope to carry out some tests on these, and post more pictures at the weekend when the light is better (dark winter nights here).

I never thought I would "p*mp" a small camera to make it look cool...
 
Last edited:
The microphone probably isn't in its ideal position, it will be pushed back a bit to not protrude too far.

Ridiculous? Well, matter of opinion. This isn't for looks - the mattebox is to overcome specific lighting problems, and the Rycote was purchased mainly for the mini-blimp. You could mount the Invision bracket on the camera instead of the body and it would be lower profile. I will also most likely just mount the mic directly in the Panasonic XLR mount. (But give me a break, that was straight out of the box and making sure everything worked).

Plus, it's for tripod work, I can't see myself going hand-held with this! As I said, more photos and performance details for the Rycote at the weekend.

Grant - I am going to add about 100 pieces of Meccano to make it look like a DSLR. :)
 
Mike Beckett said:
The microphone probably isn't in its ideal position, it will be pushed back a bit to not protrude too far.

Ridiculous? Well, matter of opinion. This isn't for looks - the mattebox is to overcome specific lighting problems, and the Rycote was purchased mainly for the mini-blimp. You could mount the Invision bracket on the camera instead of the body and it would be lower profile. I will also most likely just mount the mic directly in the Panasonic XLR mount. (But give me a break, that was straight out of the box and making sure everything worked).

Plus, it's for tripod work, I can't see myself going hand-held with this! As I said, more photos and performance details for the Rycote at the weekend.

Grant - I am going to add about 100 pieces of Meccano to make it look like a DSLR. :)
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong i understand the uses for it ,i meant it as more of a joke, ill have to post a ridiculous pic of my own 40 soon
 
That's only the normal sized flag too. I didn't post the picture with the extra-large 'french flag' on that, you could have someone's eye out with that one!
 
Just to follow up on this.

The Matteblox seems fine, given that it is cheap, lightweight and portable. Clearly it will never be as good as a $1000 setup, but it seems to do the trick. Here's a photo of it on my wide angle lens, which was always a problem child when it came to getting a lens hood for it:

P1020768.JPG

I just need to stop it slipping round on the WA (it doesnt slip on the normal lens when I use the Matteblox adapter rings). It doesn't vignette either, at least not when it's pushed back a bit. Note that for the HMC4x, you need to use "inner lens hood" thing, it will not fit into the camera's inner thread filter.

I'm going to get a filter holder (velcro magic!) and some ND 4x4" filters and see how it goes.

The Rycote mini-blimp is quite good too. Quick comparisons with a fan (using just headphones to compare) show it to be at least as good as the softie. It is smaller than the softie, which is good on a camera this size:

P1020777.JPG P1020779.JPG

I probably won't use the full mounting kit unless I'm forced to, but it is handy to have all the bits and pieces.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top