Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
  • 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 Woes

You know, after I got back into my place and uploaded the video... the same thing crossed my mind. It is possible... I just didn't set it up right. :)

Doesn't change the fact that I hate those screws... heheh
 
Hi CVB and kalone.
Ooops, my bad . I should read the posts a little bit closer. Didn't see it was an electric follow focus.
 
CVB said:
I was talking to Daren (Finner) and he had the same comment about the tight spaces... It would be a spring-damper so basically think BMW type smooth movement, it would open slowly and then hold position. I wonder if it would be better to have a several detents that would hold it in different positions.. then you can just hold the release pin down and skip the detents that you don't want to use. BTW, the release system is a little different on this mattebox, you press a button on the smart side to swing the front away, should be a little easier to open than the MB20. It will be protected from accidental opening as well.
Click to expand...

Hi CVB,

I seem to remember a swingaway that had a arc shaped bit of metal that the spring loaded plunger that locked the mattebox in place could locate onto at different degrees of swing. I'll poke arounf and see if I can find a photo.

Chuck
 
Tim... OK, noted. I'm thinking I'm going to just go with multiple detents with the plunger. The dampers I've used in the past are plastic and I haven't been able to dig up any metal ones... I hate plastic. Hold off on nixing the smart side release idea until you see it.. I think its much easier to use and will speed up lens changes - no linkages are involved. If everyone hates it then its easy enough to put it on the same side as the Arri.
 
Brook Willard said:
Ok, here it is. The audio's a little rough... and my phone rings in the middle of it... but you get the picture.

If anybody else wants me to demonstrate something else on the MB [or if they want to see something I didn't show], I have it for a few more hours.
Click to expand...

Brook you did a nice consise job of this video. Hit some good points. I have thought about it for a bit and I agree that a spring would be more of a pain then a benifit. The ability to stop the swing of the matte box at any point is far more important then having a sweet dampening spring system. I think what may work well is you press in the swing out release button and the swing has a little friction just like what you show in the video until it gets to 90 degree's. At the 90 degree point I recomend that it locks solid into place at which point you can then press the release button to close it or press the release button and swing it a further 90 degree's so it opens the full 180 degree range. Durring the swing from 90 degree's to 180 degree's it should again have a little friction until it hits the 180 degree point where it would again lock. From this point you would just hold in the button as you swing it closed past the 90 degree lock. Seems to me like this would be the most functional swing system. This would be good as a person usually mounts a lense and does work from the camera smart side and only needs to open the matte box to the 90 degree point (I would say this would be 95% of the time or more). In the odd situation where you would want to open the matte box to the 180 degree point this system would give you this option. The most important factor to this system is that you can push the release button and swing open/closed the matte box all with one hand. I do not see this being too tough to design though.
 
The beauty of the friction design is that the MB won't swing freely if a lens is being changed when the camera isn't level. On older MBs I've worked with, changing the lens when the camera isn't level sucks... because the MB flies open and just swings there while you're working on it. You just can't get it out of the way.

Enough friction on the swing-away would allow for the MB to be "parked" wherever it needs to be to change the lens.

I like your idea of a lock at 90 degrees, as long as it can be released to travel further.

Curt, I'd love to see this smart-side release you're referring to. If/when you feel ready to make it public, post it! Or send it to me privately... :devil:
 
Hello Finner,

If you swung the mattebox 180 degrees wouldn't end up being where it was before just backwards? Or am I missing something here?

Chuck
 
CVB said:
Tim... OK, noted. I'm thinking I'm going to just go with multiple detents with the plunger. The dampers I've used in the past are plastic and I haven't been able to dig up any metal ones... I hate plastic. Hold off on nixing the smart side release idea until you see it.. I think its much easier to use and will speed up lens changes - no linkages are involved. If everyone hates it then its easy enough to put it on the same side as the Arri.
Click to expand...

Curt I think your idea of a smart side release button being very good, it just makes sense. You will probably get a little resistance to it at first because it is different then any other MB out right now but after users opened it 5-6 times they would get use to it and IMO find it much more convenient. I can see it working very well and it becoming the perferred release button. It's not the user "Norm" though, which is actually nice. Different for being different sakes makes no sense but when a person can see a more functional option like your smart side swing button release its cool to see. It's great to see companies shaking up the "closed minded, uncreative mentality" of many camera/camera support companies out right now.

As for anyone being worried about linkage or too many moving parts causing problems situation, don't worry. I took some close looks at View Factors products and Curt designs well thought out simple high quality engineered solutions on his products. If Curt says he can design A non-problematic smart side release button it will be good. I am very excited to see the overall system you have come up with. It is clear to see that you have come up with some very well thought out ideas.
 
Thanks Daren.. we try :)

Chuck, maybe you're getting too much of that Oregon fresh air, try closing your windows and watching more TV ;)


Alexander... everything will be aluminum.. no plastic... plastic = crap & expensive tooling. Carbon fiber flags and sun shade are my first choice, I need to run the design by our suppliers and see what kind of pricing we can get if we buy in bulk. Most of the carbon fiber stuff I've done has been low volume and expensive but these are fairly simple parts so we should get a good rate.
 
Brook Willard said:
I like your idea of a lock at 90 degrees, as long as it can be released to travel further.
Click to expand...

You bet Brook. The important thing about having a lock point at 90 degree's is that if a big gust of wind comes up and you have a filter in the box the lock will hold it from swinging closed on you and bashing the $$ lense you have in your hand and then smashing the back element into the metal PL mount.
 
Heheh... awesome.

As for the I vs. the II, they sunshade is removable, they just moved the tilt mechanism to the MB instead of on the shade. While I don't see much benefit for the eyebrow, it's great for the siders and bottomer.

And it looks cooler because there's more crap all over it.

I suppose the benefit to moving all of the tilt control for the eyebrow et al to the MB is that the shades can now be made of CF instead of aluminum with a tilt mechanism built in like on the I.

Video time...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top