Price of Matte boxes...

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DVX100Shooter

Veteran
Now I have Cavision Matte box that I am happy with. But I was curious about the Chrosziel box. Why does it cost as much as it does? The box looks just like my Cavision with the large French flag and 2 rotating 4x4 filter holders. I paid about $480 which included the shipping from Canada and the Chrosziel is selling for $1,694.95 at EVS. I am sure it has a lot to do with the NAME. You'll get the same results from either one of them.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

Don't know... I went into a shop the other day and got to put one in my hands. It felt cheap! Like a platic toy! And after getting my new Formatt, the Chosziel seemed even cheaper.

I'm designing some rod supports for the Formatt, so I can't think of any reason for paying that kind of money for a Chrosziel...
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

They charge that much cuase they suck! Thats my professional analysis.

I too got the Cavision for around the same price because I just couldnt fathom paying over a grand for the same thing. Mine works great and I am happpy.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

They are what is known as a "status symbol" to stick on the front of your camera...sad.

There was a point at which they were about the only game in town, if you wanted a matte box, you bought Chosziel\Century. Happily, there are now numerous companies producing matte boxes at a far more realistic price, though you'll find numerous people defend their purchases, out of defence at spending all that $$$, and having recieved no benefits over the "cheaper" alternatives.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

I've got one. It works. It's not very functional for holding filters. Especially more than one filter.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

aaaagghhh!!! I was set to buy a Chrosziel, but now... I just want to make the best purchase first time out. I hate to cut corners and then have to spend more in the long run on something else/better later. Maybe I should look into renting a mattebox first? That has been suggested to me, as I am mostly filming stuff for personal enjoyment now. No paying jobs, sadly.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

ok i don't know if this makes me an expert on matte boxes but i have had

1st the cinetactics
2nd the formatt
3rd the chrosziel 411-53

my absolute least favorite was the cinetactics, it moved around constantly and i got a lot of totally unusable footage because it had rotated and vignetted a HUGE amount.

my favorite as far price/performance by far was the formatt.

i hated to move on from the formatt but i really wanted to get the panasonic anamorphic lens.

the chrosziel is nice but way overpriced.

unless you really need to go anamorphic get the formatt.

i NEVER had any vignetting with the formatt, the chrosziel only vignettes if you zoom all the way out and look at it in underscan.

matthew
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

Mathewd5,
What adaptor did you use to fit the formatt to the dvx and where did you get it from? I would love to get the definitive answer to this as there was much discussion before with Jarred having trouble getting adaptors for this thing.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

i've posted complete answers to this before...

the formatt comes with a 72mm adaptor and a 50 something one, i think it was 59 (don't remember, didn't need/use it)

i screwed the 72mm into the threads on the front of my dvx-100a and then the format fits around that and then you tighten a screw and it stays on quite nicely.

the formatt as i got it and as i saw it displayed at the bogen booth at the dv.com show in NYC was setup so that the filters loaded from the bottom.

i had no problems with this, worked great.

i asked the bogen rep about problems with fitting/vignetting on a dvx-100

first thing he said was "are you from that dvxuser site?"

he showed me the unit mounted on a dvx-100 in their booth and we zoomed all the way out and there was no vignetting.

his answer to the vignetting was that it would only vignette if you mounted third party adaptors, i believe the early posts were attempting to mount the formatt "upside down" which would sort of be right side up, so that the filters loaded from the top.

the problem with that is the built in mic gets in the way and it would appear to me that you would have to do something to move the matte box way out to miss the mic and that might cause the vignetting?

i don't know firsthand, unfortunately my matte box worked great with no modifications right out of the box.

matthew
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

Matthew, say the Formatt and the Chrosziel were the same price, what would you go with?
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

but that isn't taking into account the anamorphic issue.

i loved the formatt, i mean it is made of tin basically, but for the price it is a steal.

the crosziel is waaaay overpriced but it is built better than the formatt.

but if a formatt version supported the anamorphic for even 2x the $299 price i would get the formatt.

the chrosziel is nice but its all about what fits what.

matthew
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

Mathew, so your saying that you can use filters just fine, right? How about a grad ND, that's 4x5.6, is there enough room to move it? What about the rotating stage?
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

I have owned Formatt, Lee, ARRI & now Chrosziel MB's. I'd defend the status symbol & it's German quality all day long. It just works. Don't know about that one that looks like a little tent ?

If your filters are not parallel you get reverb & reflections. If you can't use it with Acc. Lens & real filters (4mm, Glass, more than one) and get wings for it that stay put, then I wouldn't bother it.

Are we going to be like me & buy 5 or 6 thru our lives or just one ? Remember the TV spot: "It's just like a BMW". Get the Chrosziel, b*tch about the price a bit & be happy you did.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

i bought a vocas wide angle matte box with french flags along with a chroziel follow focus (and rails system). together they cost as much as my dvx !!! and let me tell you, they are worth every penny! i will never have to buy another matte box or follow focus. not to mention the chicks i score from having those sexy babies slapped on my dvx !!! ::)
i looked for months for a matte box, and after handling many, chose the vocas (it is very similar to century). the quality is flawless. and yes it costs way more than the cavision, but when i looked at the cavision, it just felt "cheap" (escpecially the bellows system). i guess you get what you pay for. although, in the end, why do any of these items cost so much ?! supply and demand. argh!
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

[quote author=cur-sed_neil link=board=Links;num=1097598752;start=0#14 date=10/14/04 at 19:37:28]i bought a vocas wide angle matte box with french flags along with a chroziel follow focus (and rails system). together they cost as much as my dvx !!! and let me tell you, they are worth every penny! i will never have to buy another matte box or follow focus. not to mention the chicks i score from having those sexy babies slapped on my dvx !!!  ::)
i looked for months for a matte box, and after handling many, chose the vocas (it is very similar to century). the quality is flawless. and yes it costs way more than the cavision, but when i looked at the cavision, it just felt "cheap" (escpecially the bellows system). i guess you get what you pay for. although, in the end, why do any of these items cost so much ?! supply and demand. argh![/quote]

I agree the Bellows brand is bad stuff. I got the 3 by 3 molded plastic one and it is solid.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...


the chrosziel is better made than i think one's first impression would lead one to believe.

look at mont blanc pens, they look like cheap plastic but the are a really nice resin.

anyway, i love the chrosziel, wish it held three filters!

i need to get a focus ring that will let me set two stops, i don't need the stuido follow focus, i just need to be able to go between focus setting #1 to focus setting #2 without worry of overshooting or undershooting the intended setting.

the century optics focus ring purportedly does this.

can someone confirm this with firsthand knowledge??

how important are the side wings for the chrosziel??

between the wings and the hinge their like $550+

matthew
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

The Century focus ring only has 2 pre-set stops, you can't set them.
 
Re: Price of Matte boxes...

[quote author=matthewd5 link=board=Links;num=1097598752;start=0#11 date=10/12/04 at 21:30:40]but that isn't taking into account the anamorphic issue . . . . . . but if a formatt version supported the anamorphic for even 2x the $299 price i would get the formatt.

the chrosziel is nice but its all about what fits what.

matthew[/quote]

So Matt, will your chroziel work on the DVX with & without anamorphic andapter or do you still need 2 matte boxes at the end of the day?
 
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