Quick matte box question...

btownproductions

btownproductions

Well-known member
I've been wanting to pick up a matte box for quite some time, and was just wondering.. I've seen all sorts of different matte boxes, some with a 16:9 matte, some with a 4:3 matte, some with no matte at all. Is it necessary to have the matte in there? What exactly is the point of having it there? Wouldn't that risk cutting out some of your image? I would think you'd need to zoom past it to get the matte out of your shots, which I wouldn't be able to do anyway since I'm shooting with a 35mm adapter.

Sorry for all the noobish questions, I just don't wanna end up getting something that won't work for me.

BTW, I'm shooting on an HVX w/M2. I've been thinking about getting one of the "cine city" Indian MB's, yeah yeah... I know.. But I've heard some fairly good reviews on them. I just wanna use this until I get the RR MB on my list.



EDIT: Here's some pictures to show what I mean. The one I'm looking at right now comes with interchangable mattes, and I was wondering if it's even necessary to use either of them.

newmattemow-thulla-4-1.jpg
newmattemow-thulla-5-1.jpg
newmattemow-thulla-14-1.jpg
 
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I believe the point is to prevent light from getting between the mattebox and your lens or otherwise you get some ugly flaring. A 4:3 matte meant for a 16:9 cam would basically let light in from the top while causing vignetting on the sides.

BTW, if you're looking for a mattebox I have an Indifocus one that I've been thinking of selling. It's a step up above the Indian one in that it's a swing-away design for quick changes.
 
Huy Vu said:
BTW, if you're looking for a mattebox I have an Indifocus one that I've been thinking of selling. It's a step up above the Indian one in that it's a swing-away design for quick changes.
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What's the build like on the Indifocus MB? Also is there a french flag/side flags for it? How does the swing away function feel? A lot of the cheaper MB's with swing away seem to suffer from very poor build quality (too many features, not enough thought).
 
The build quality is on par with the Indian one, which is to say that it's ok, but it's no Redrock. Everything is held together with bolts and screws which require the occasional tightening. No sideflag, although you can get it as an extra option from Indifocus for $50. The swingaway uses a magnet and actually holds together pretty solidly.
 
I know it's not a professional quality MB and you get what you pay for, but after reading your review of it that you wrote about a month ago... Not sounding too promising.

I am not happy at all with the way it's put together.
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The French flag is on a screw that always come loose when the flag is adjusted up and down, requiring constant retightening.
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The poor build quality almost negate any savings the unit offer and I spent more time fighting with the mattebox than I would have like.
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Considering you just bought it quite recently, and are already selling it. I'm kind of unsure about it, especially after reading your own review of it...

I know I can't afford a Redrock right now, and am in the market for a cheaper matte box, but with such negativity toward the IndiMatte, I'm not sure if this would be the right one for me.. It has more features than the Cine City MB, but do those features come at a price? I wonder if the build is much different between the two.

How much would you be willing to sell it for?


PS. Do you have any pictures of it? the IndiFocus site doesn't really have much info/pictures for it
 
I stand by that review. This mattebox is what is is: a budget entry that is not without its flaws. It does the job, but for the price the build isn't superlative; you get what you pay for. I shoot with a very small crew (usually just me and the sound guy), usually always on a tight deadline and so it's important that the gear holds up well and be able to set up quickly. For less demanding shooters on a budget, this maybe less of an issue since it no other MB that I know of offer as many feature for the price (vertical adjustment, multiple rotatable 4x4 filters, swing away). I've basically concluded that to get to that level of quality that I want, I'm going to have to shell out the big bucks. I've also have other expenses at this time so this item is the logical thing to go.

If you're still interested and want to talk about price, shoot me a PM so we can discuss this in private. Thanks!
 
Your bigger issue is size. You can go 4x4 or 4x5.6. In either case the filters are pretty expensive. A big sensor will need the bigger box at FOV. So you might what consider your long range plans.
 
A matte box is a holder for your filters, which quickly exceed the cost of the matte box.

They come in different sizes: http://www.abelcine.com/store/product.php?productid=1001192&cat=285&page=1

It depends on the size of your lens and the distance to the filter. Not an issue with a single screw on filter. However, if the filter is in the first tray of the matte box, it isn't against the lens.

On a 1/3" sensor, a big lens was 72mm. On today's FF35mm sensors, more than 6 times wider, the glass can get quite big. In a wide angle shot the opening may not be wide enough.

The reverse is cost. While the 4x5.6 matte box filters may be more versatile, they cost more.

http://www.abelcine.com/store/product.php?productid=1001192&cat=285&page=1
 
Yeah I understand the use of filters and such. I just didn't quite understand what you were trying to get across in your post. I mentioned earlier in my thread that I'm using an HVX w/M2, so I think a 4x4 would be fine for my purposes
 
Beg, borrow or steal... to get the RedRock MicroMattebox... Absolutely the best value IMHO... for the price, you get a real quality machined product that includes 2 rotatable filter frames and if you are shooting outdoors I'd get the Deluxe kit so you have side doors as well as the top. I plan to order another filter frame for mine.

I ordered the case as well since this is something that you will want to protect from damage while in transit. I takes about 5 minutes to set up out of the case.

Good luck on your shoot.
 
Red rock is great value. With any MB it is extremely important that they hold your fliters absolutely flat to the optical plane. Being slightly off introduces a lot of problems from glare to sharpness. The Indian knock offs have criminally poor machining where you'll be lucky to have one that lines up flat. The metal is soft so it can easily be bent. Also the trays are of such poor quality that they can easily scratch your filters when sliding them in. They also have a tendency not to hold your filters well as well as bend and warp.

I owned one and had to get rid of it as it posed too much risk to my filters.

Save the money (and your filters). You can also find good buys on used MBs here as well. I scored a Chros 450-1 for 700. Timur got the same thing for 500.
 
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