Tim Naylor
Veteran
I recently bought a Petroff PF 44-2 from Market Place.
Here's the link:
http://store.zacuto.com/4x4-wide-2-stage-petroff-matte-box-kit.html
After a week of production, I really found it to be one of the most versatile and well thought out MB's I've ever used.
I bought it for a few reasons: weight, adjustability, all rotatable stages, build quality, 4x4 compatibility and clip on option. DV has a ho-hum review on Petroff but it's not the same model and I think they missed how to make the rod knob work properly (take it off and re-attach at a better angle).
Many of the parts are plastic but of well made and durable stuff. I have alot of 4x4's so I needed something that had 4x4 trays but can also take 4x4.65 (90.00 holder from Ptroff). It comes with two fully 360 degree rotatable stages. You can also buy addtional stages that snap right on. What really sold me was that the matte box does not bump into the rods. If you ever use an adaptor with lenses of varying length, rods bumping into the mb is a real pain in the ass, necessitating the need for a collection of extension rods of various sizes.
It also has a standard 110mm rear opening making a good fit for an array of step down hard plastic donuts. When the trays rotate none of the bracketry gets in the way of my fingers. With some MB's rotating stages with your eye at the eyepiece can be an act in contortion because they've places certain braces in all the wrong places. With HD I often use a Pola and Grad in combination to control contrast. I need both stages to rotate - easily.
Also the hard plastic step down ring allows it togo straight on to the camera sans rods. There are run and gun jobs where a baseplate/rods is just too much but I still need an MB. Even when shooting 35mm jobs and we go to hand held, I often go to clip on to save weight. With ENG cameras that's all I use. So I get alot of use from one MB.
Some MB's are too heavy for clip on. This one is not. Much lighter than the competition. Even the sidedoors and eyebrow are well made and metal but light. They also fold neatly into the face of the MB not increasing the footprint at all. The whole MB fits very nicely into a small compartment in any of my cases or bags. I don't want a separate case for an MB.
It has no swing way. Something I don't really miss. I just take it off, hang it upside down on the rods and do what I need to. Also, it's one less moving part. I find swing ways inherently less stable and a point of weakness in many an MB. If I ever truly miss it than I'll buy Zacuto's swing way adaptor (something tells me theirs can withstand the abuse of production)
The other great feature is that the Petroff has great vertical adjustment options if you're working off rods. More than a few MB's have frustrated me to no end because you can't adjust the vertical. Especially with all the brackets and risers in the adaptor world, this makes your life much easier. You can also buy different rod/MB adaptors for reasonable price if you need to go off studio 15mm or 19mm rods.
Some people are wary of the plastic. But Petroff managed to use some high quality plastics in all their parts. I feel confident with the build. I've had more than a few all metal parts that had failed gloriously (Cinecity comes to mind). Plastic can be good if engineered and built right.
Overall, it has a real user friendly design. Rods don't bump in to the MB, vertical is a breeze, nothing gets in the way when you have to rotate filters, etc. Aside from holding filters and blocking light, the biggest sell for me for any MB is loads of easy adjustability and compatability. I don't want to be fishing for adaptors/special made parts, taking more than a few minutes to buid and fit it, having an extra case for it, getting someone with tiny fingers to rotate the filters, paying through the nose for every part, lack of expandability, etc. I never want to have a separate MB for clip on.
So there you have it. I dig it and recommend it highly, especially if you value, light, tight and fast to work with.
Tim Naylor - DP
www.timnaylor.com
Here's the link:
http://store.zacuto.com/4x4-wide-2-stage-petroff-matte-box-kit.html
After a week of production, I really found it to be one of the most versatile and well thought out MB's I've ever used.
I bought it for a few reasons: weight, adjustability, all rotatable stages, build quality, 4x4 compatibility and clip on option. DV has a ho-hum review on Petroff but it's not the same model and I think they missed how to make the rod knob work properly (take it off and re-attach at a better angle).
Many of the parts are plastic but of well made and durable stuff. I have alot of 4x4's so I needed something that had 4x4 trays but can also take 4x4.65 (90.00 holder from Ptroff). It comes with two fully 360 degree rotatable stages. You can also buy addtional stages that snap right on. What really sold me was that the matte box does not bump into the rods. If you ever use an adaptor with lenses of varying length, rods bumping into the mb is a real pain in the ass, necessitating the need for a collection of extension rods of various sizes.
It also has a standard 110mm rear opening making a good fit for an array of step down hard plastic donuts. When the trays rotate none of the bracketry gets in the way of my fingers. With some MB's rotating stages with your eye at the eyepiece can be an act in contortion because they've places certain braces in all the wrong places. With HD I often use a Pola and Grad in combination to control contrast. I need both stages to rotate - easily.
Also the hard plastic step down ring allows it togo straight on to the camera sans rods. There are run and gun jobs where a baseplate/rods is just too much but I still need an MB. Even when shooting 35mm jobs and we go to hand held, I often go to clip on to save weight. With ENG cameras that's all I use. So I get alot of use from one MB.
Some MB's are too heavy for clip on. This one is not. Much lighter than the competition. Even the sidedoors and eyebrow are well made and metal but light. They also fold neatly into the face of the MB not increasing the footprint at all. The whole MB fits very nicely into a small compartment in any of my cases or bags. I don't want a separate case for an MB.
It has no swing way. Something I don't really miss. I just take it off, hang it upside down on the rods and do what I need to. Also, it's one less moving part. I find swing ways inherently less stable and a point of weakness in many an MB. If I ever truly miss it than I'll buy Zacuto's swing way adaptor (something tells me theirs can withstand the abuse of production)
The other great feature is that the Petroff has great vertical adjustment options if you're working off rods. More than a few MB's have frustrated me to no end because you can't adjust the vertical. Especially with all the brackets and risers in the adaptor world, this makes your life much easier. You can also buy different rod/MB adaptors for reasonable price if you need to go off studio 15mm or 19mm rods.
Some people are wary of the plastic. But Petroff managed to use some high quality plastics in all their parts. I feel confident with the build. I've had more than a few all metal parts that had failed gloriously (Cinecity comes to mind). Plastic can be good if engineered and built right.
Overall, it has a real user friendly design. Rods don't bump in to the MB, vertical is a breeze, nothing gets in the way when you have to rotate filters, etc. Aside from holding filters and blocking light, the biggest sell for me for any MB is loads of easy adjustability and compatability. I don't want to be fishing for adaptors/special made parts, taking more than a few minutes to buid and fit it, having an extra case for it, getting someone with tiny fingers to rotate the filters, paying through the nose for every part, lack of expandability, etc. I never want to have a separate MB for clip on.
So there you have it. I dig it and recommend it highly, especially if you value, light, tight and fast to work with.
Tim Naylor - DP
www.timnaylor.com
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