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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Matte box advantages

Lliam Worthington said:
Hey Jonas, your situation sounds quite similar to mine. Shooting an Indie feature. Need to be able to go Guerilla. I prefer not to have the weight etc.

Another point is that Mattebox filters are more expensive than screw ons. And another bonus to no Mattebox for Scarlet set up, is that you don't have to worry about a riser to bring your Scarlet up to standard height. So there are a fair few cost savings.

I have gone the screw in route also. You'll probably want to seriously consider some IR ND's though and the Vari's are supposed to be atrocious on Scarlet and 4k. There is a good screw in 77mm route - via the Tiffen Indie Pros which is the way I went. If you haven't already read up on the IR ND's, it's definitely worth reading up on here on RU.

All that said, dropping in filters fast and easily with a Matte Box is great obviously, grad filters as you mentioned, and I can see why generally it's an essential pro tool, as Phil is right of course about the importance of controlling light. And one other thing that I know might sound a bit ridiculous, is that it's not just clients who see pro when it comes to Matteboxes, it's some actors. Some really do respond to a "Film" camera look.

I will certainly get myself a Mattebox sometime after my Indie is over, if I'm not living on the streets that is, and i can afford something decent and the filters to justify it. But for now all I've done to help with flare control is buy a $35 dollar pretend piece of crapbox off ebay, which gives me few basic flags, that I can also drape/cover further if required. Dirt cheap. Super light, height adjustable and may even just help with the odd actor lol :) At the very least help should stop any cop from asking me for a permit for my professional production... "Sorry sir, carry on, I didn't see your mattebox" :D

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Filmcity-Ma...ltDomain_0&hash=item5648babc00#ht_1861wt_1348
(Note mine goes up to 80mm fronts - which just fits my widest lens - this one is only 77mm - but there's plenty of 80's around)

Best

Lliam
Click to expand...

Hilarious! Yes, the officer would probably be deeply embarrassed for even thinking that something professional was going on once he sees that. But I might still pick up a copy to use for my 5D or whatever :)
 
I agree that that is a pretty amazing example from Phil. Also, I am interested to hear that the O'Connor CAN accommodate lens movement.
I can answer some of your questions about the Shoot 35:

Now onto the question of which one to get... The Shoot35 looks great! A few questions:
1) I imagine wide angle lenses will be used quite frequently in combination with the matte box. I will be using the Tokina 11-16mm and Zeiss ZF 21mm. Will these vignette at 4K? What about 3K?

I was told by Shoot 35 that it covers full frame from 24mm I think and 4K from about 17mm. I was prepared to live with this compromise given the incredibly low price and excellent quality and the fact I could not find another matte box that would accommodate the significant lens travel of my Leica Rs and some of my older Nikkors.

2) My lenses do breathe. The ZF 100mm f/2 is a real pain and travels about an inch. The 21mm does not breathe at all. The 35, 50 and 85mm all breathe about 1/2" or less. The Tokina I'm not sure about because I'm waiting for the new version to come out at the end of March before buying it. Which of these would work with the Shoot35?

I don't think that you would have a problem with any of these lenses.

3) I notice it uses 15mm with studio spacing. I use 15mm LW right now... Is there a way to mount it anyway? I would rather not have to switch to studio and get new rails, a new follow focus and everything for the time being :/

You will have to check with them directly about this. Is 15mm LW an arris standard with an offset?

Cheers

Rob
 
Rob Castiglione said:
I agree that that is a pretty amazing example from Phil. Also, I am interested to hear that the O'Connor CAN accommodate lens movement.


Rob
Click to expand...

I have the OBox and it's easy to use a variety of still lenses with it without any hassle if set up right. Don't bother getting screw on step down rings for each lens - it's expensive and time consuming to have to keep screwing them on.

This is what I ordered and it works perfectly for my needs (still lenses - one of which moves with focus).

[TABLE="class: t1, width: 494"]
[TR]
[TD="class: td1"] Item[/TD]
[TD="class: td2"] Qty[/TD]
[TD="class: td3"] Item Description[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: td4"]OCOBSFS[/TD]
[TD="class: td5"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: td6"]O-Box WM Side Flag Set (2 Flags)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: td4"]OCOBSFB[/TD]
[TD="class: td5"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: td6"]O-Box WM Side Flag Bracket Set (2 Brackets)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: td4"]OCRR114110[/TD]
[TD="class: td5"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: td6"]Reduction Ring (114-110mm)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: td4"]OCBR[/TD]
[TD="class: td5"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: td6"]C1243-1117 Bellows Ring[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: td4"]CHSDR5085[/TD]
[TD="class: td5"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: td6"]AC-450-22 Flex-Ring Flexible Step-Down Ring (110:50-85mm)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: td4"]OCOBLS[/TD]
[TD="class: td5"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: td6"]O-BOX WM Set (15mm LWS)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


The Bellows ring takes it from 150mm to 114mm, then I use a 114mm-110mm reduction ring to get it down so I can use a flex step down ring which is made of rubber and moves with your lens when you focus.

Here's a link to the flex step down ring:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=CHSDR5085&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

In addition to moving with your focus the advantage of this is that it doesn't screw on to the lens so it's very quick and simple to change lenses even without a swing away mattebox.
 
Rob Castiglione said:
So, the flex step down ring is a Chrosziel part and all your lenses have to have 85mm fronts?
Click to expand...

No, your lenses need to be anywhere between 50mm and 85mm. The flex ring stretches over the front of the lens. It takes a second to insert any size lens (from 50mm-85mm) into the flex ring.
 
Here is an image of exactly the same setup that M.D. describes above:

428203_383898084956986_100000103924091_1601834_1034424774_n.jpg
 
M.D. Hilton said:
No, your lenses need to be anywhere between 50mm and 85mm. The flex ring stretches over the front of the lens. It takes a second to insert any size lens (from 50mm-85mm) into the flex ring.
Click to expand...

That sounds great! So the fact that the OBox is not swing-away is not such a big problem then since you can just move the lenses in and out of the rubber ring without having to reposition it and/or screw in anything?
 
Thanks for the image Eric of the "fully loaded" Red - made my day.

Can I just get confirmation that the stretch ring part is a chrosziel part?
 
My pleasure- I love that pic! Thanks again to everyone @ RED who helped make that happen last year.

The part is a Chrosziel item as D.M. illistrates on page 3 of this thread.
 
Eric-taner said:
Yes you got it Jonas its all about the "I want to look professional"-factor, even do many don't like to be honest in that way. i did many tests with, and with out a matte box, and unless you don't have a very difficult light situation, you will never see a difference.
so save that money for something that will really make your movie look different.[/LolQUOTE]
Lol, this is so wrong it's even funny.
Click to expand...
 
Ok so the OBox with Chrosziel rubber ring is starting to look like a winner.

Any thoughts on whether the Shoot35 can be used with LWS rods?

And what about something like the Proaim?
 
Jonas Klittmark said:
2) My lenses do breathe. The ZF 100mm f/2 is a real pain and travels about an inch. The 21mm does not breathe at all. The 35, 50 and 85mm all breathe about 1/2" or less.
Click to expand...

Excuse me if I try to correct you here. The extension of lenses while focusing is not called breathing. "Breathing" is a change in image size (like a bit of zoom) when focusing, and it happens with lenses that don't extend as well. Photographic lenses are more prone to breathing than cine glass.

I second the use of matte boxes, clip-on or rail based, it all depends on your needs. As soon as you are moving the camera, it's much better than external flagging.
 
I have a set of Lomo primes and want to buy a matte box, but on some of the lenses the aperture ring is at the front of the lens... When i adjust aperture, the front, with filter threds, turns too. I guess a clip-on would turn when I adjust aperture, but can I use a rail based one like the O´box?
 
Jonas Klittmark said:
That sounds great! So the fact that the OBox is not swing-away is not such a big problem then since you can just move the lenses in and out of the rubber ring without having to reposition it and/or screw in anything?
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, A swing away is still easier to change lenses with but the rubber flex ring makes it much easier to change lenses than if you had a screw on or clamp on. It has enough flex that I can easily remove the lens without moving the matte box. The might box might have to be adjusted to put a new lens on depending on the size of the lens you're putting on (for instance, if you're replacing a wide lens with a longer lens you'll have to, obviously, slide the matte box away from the camera to accomodate the longer lens.)

Either way - with a swing away or with a flex ring - the matte box will almost always have to be adjusted on the rods to put it in proper position for the new lens.

Hope this makes sense...
 
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