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Fotga DP3000 series matte boxes
  • 69 Replies sorted by
  • Sorry, I didn't know what was the proper size to publish a pic, I did an export at less than 2MB. The issue with the Lanparte height adjustable baseplate is that if I lift up my camera I will lose the proper position of my FF. The vertical adjustment is already at his maximum downward. However I found the Fotga DP500II C Shape height adjustable bracket to be an option. Can I post the ebay's link?

    And thank you very much for your quick answer.

  • Do you mean one at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/810/special-deals-complete-rigs-and-rig-parts#Item_2 ?

    As I slightly do not understand. Did you tried to adjust matte box height by itself?

  • @NetSpot You mean left to right adjustment right? Meaning your lens does not center that way instead of up and down? If so, that's the same reason I sold my RedRock Swing out knock off matte box. It's re branded by many companies but it's so poorly built, the donuts would fit for some lenses. If this is your problem, that's one of the tradeoffs for a mattebox so cheap. Bummer but that's how it is. Poor QC.

  • Yep I tried but as my DSLR is not a Full Frame, the distance from the base to the center of the lens is shorter. The DP3000 looks to be sized for a Full Frame and the Nikon D5200 is much smaller. My Lanparte base is not the adjustable one . It's the one I get in a bundle, the Lanparte adjustable base looks good but I cannot afford it at the moment. Actually that's 105-140$ for the C shape bracket (the one shown in your post above the advanced handles) against 260-300$ for the adjustable base.

    Cheers!

  • @vicharris No I only meant up and down adjustment for the moment, but horizontal adjustment is something I'll have to figure out with a C Shape stuff. and What the f**** the RedRock is poorly buit! At the price they sell it! Never tried Redrock and will never do.

  • @NetSpot

    Can you make photos of all your items. I mean base, MB from other side, etc. Just try to make them small, ok?

  • @NetSpot

    No, all the knockoff versions. Not RedRock. I'm sure there's is fine. As for your problem, seems like there's an easy fix and I'm sure V will figure it out.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev @Vicharris So here are the pics of the Matte box with my lens inserted into. As you can see, I'm already at the lowest adjustment on it, my lanparte base is fixed and the adjustment part of the MB would need a centimeter downward but then it would be in contact with the frame of the MB. I contacted an Ebay seller about the DP500II C Shape bracket, and he told me that it would work with my MB.

    Thx for your help guys!

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  • @NetSpot

    It is not MB fault at all. And why you need such strange solution? It is fault of your camera mount (btw one of the reason why you never seen it on deals here). All you really need is to find proper adjustable base (even without rods). And they are cheaper than C bracket. Problem with bracket on rig it's weight mostly, and you anyway will get base, sooner or later.

    Also, I specially asked not to upload photos of such size (really, even 400px are enough in this case).

  • I didn't realize you had a fixed base mount either. Those will get you into trouble easily if you aren't using industry standard stuff. Some thing is happening to me with my BMCC. All of better bases are fixed at industry standard so I need to use an industry standard mattebox or one that will adjust to that. That's why I sold my Cinematics. It doesn't adjust low enough because of the swing away function.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev @vicharris Sorry for the size. The issue with an adjustable base is that if I rise the DSLR by 1 or 2cm, the follow focus will not have an optimal position (see pic attached).

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  • This is what happens when you try to piece stuff together from different manufactures and save money. I've been there. Also, no matter what they say, most chinese and india stuff is not the same in specs. Somethings off here and there. I would suggest you buy everything that's adjustable as much as possible if you're piecing things together.

  • @Netspot.

    I had the lanparte height adjustable base plate and got rid of it, for me it's overkill in size for a DSLR.

    I use the same baseplate you have for my DSLR's.

    I also have industry standard height MB and had the same issue you have. My solution was to remove the top plate of the baseplate, get some longer m3 screws. And raise it to position the GH2 optical centre at 85mm with spacers.

    For the GH2 you need to raise the camera by 13mm to achieve 85mm optical centre.

    Link to previous post http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/66905#Comment_66905

    Here is the mod: that's actually a 10mm spacer, I was able to lower my mattebox x 3mm, and 10mm material is easy to find.
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  • @kavadni Nice! Where did you find this 10mm perfect spacer? But if I understood well, you don't use your follow focus anymore with this mod or did you find a solution for the follow focus like bigger gear mod or extension arm?

  • @netspot

    There are standards for rod/rail systems. See http://www.ocon.com/inspiration/labs/rod-standards-explained/

    Some of the cheap brands don't adhere to this. Check which of your gear does not and adjust that piece. It will make things work better together.

    My $0.02

  • @netspot ... just search google ... http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/aluminium-plate-10mm ... then hacksaw and file.

    I still use the lanparte follow focus. My rig is all lanparte (that said I replace the shoulder mount with the Tilta when the BMCC is used)

    I've looked more closely at your photos. It's not clear what you have done ... you seem to have used something to drop the height of the matte box rods? The first picture of the front of your rig shows your camera is too high?

  • @kavadni On the pic, I only inserted the lens into the matte box only to show that I'm missing a centimeter upward from the rod clamp (of the MB) or downward from the frame of the MB, the rods of the rig are not inserted in the rod clamp of the MB because I can't. And so my problem is that the camera is not high enough and the adjustment pushed at its highest point for the lowest position of the matte box. Sorry! I think it's quite hard to follow. So to summerize I need either to rise up the DSLR or lower the MB (I think I'm being even more confusing). That's why I'm thinking to install the MB on the vertical pair of rods on the side of the swing-away mount using the following: http://goo.gl/M25ROa

    Consequently I'll be able to adjust the C-Shape mount and then play with the adjustment of the MB.

    (Disclaimer: reading this post may cause irreversible brain damages and the will to slap the author in the face with a rotten herring)

    Thanks for your help and your patience

  • @NetSpot

    I think it can be good idea to make separate topic now, as MB are not involved in all this, really.

  • @Netspot, @Vitaliy is correct we are now discussing too many other parts.

    Simply ... raise the camera.

  • I've been able to put the Mattebox on a practical test last week during a feature shoot with BMPCC and it worked like a charm. I own the swing-away version and for the price point I think it's a nobrainer. General built quality is pretty good but you shouldn't expect top of the notch quality. The mattebox itself is made of well built plastic, the flags and mounting clamp are made of andonized aluminum. Unfortunately there are still some cheap plastic screws that lower the general feel a little bit. The swing away works good, even if I've the impression that it'd be more solid without it. The side mount for 15mm Rods is not very useful as you can't lock the rods inside it, at least I didn't figure out how. I like the filter trays as you can fit any type of 4x4 filter, it doesn't matter if its a thin resin or a massive glas filter. Filter rotation and position locking works also like it should. The only real drawback are the donuts, as they aren't made for lenses with a rather small front diameter (<58-60mm). But you can solve this by using universal donut bags (e.g. Kamerar) or attaching step ups on your lenses. You also will probably need a heigth adjustable base as I don't believe fotga is using any standard distance.

  • My Fotga DP3000 M3 arrived today. So far, I'm impressed. Here are my initial thoughts, mostly as compared to the Cinematics box that I'm replacing.

    Build quality is decent, considering how lightweight it is. It doesn't feel like it's going to break, but I do worry about scratching hard plastic components. There already is a scratch mark on the inside.

    The swing away arm is very robust and well designed, but the latching mechanism feels a little finnicky. It's a tiny screw that feels like it could get lost or bent fairly easily. I like the design of the swing-away mechanism overall, though, especially the height adjustment mechanism. Brilliant!

    The side mount for 15mm rails is nice, I just wish it matched up with my super sexy Easom Optics cinema cage. Even so, I'm already using it to hold a short rod with a hot shoe adapter, for mounting my shotgun mic. Nice.

    The flags are wonderfully minimalistic and lightweight. They don't make my whole unbalanced like the ones on my Cinematics matte box do. They also don't feel like they're going to pull loose and swing around, like the Cinematics ones tended to do. My one complaint is that you need an allen wrench to tighten them -- the Cinematics design had problems, but what was nice is that you didn't need a tool to tighten anything.

    The filter trays are simply mediocre. There is a lot of resistance on the rotating one, and you have to almost completely unscrew the locking screw in order to release them, which feels like another component that could easily get lost. They do lock down tight though, and don't seem quite as chintzy as some other brands do.

    The donut rings are thicker than I expected, which I actually really like. They aren't going to get torn, bent, or flop out of the matte box. They sit in there very snugly, and do their job perfectly well.

    It was nice of them to include a set of 12" rods. They are lightweight and feel as strong as any I've ever used. I already have replaced a pair of heavy steel rods that I was using on top of my rig with these.

    I wish they would have used metal knobs for all of the tightening mechanisms. Most of them are, but the side and bottom rod tensioners are plastic, as are the knobs for adjusting height. I don't understand why, their follow focus has nice metal rod tensioners so why not use these on the matte box too? And the side one is ridiculously oversized. Why? I don't hate it, I just don't understand why it has to be so big and so... plastic.

    Overall, it looks really sharp. Let's be honest, for those of us using big 4x4 matte boxes with smaller cameras, at least part of the reason is to look more professional. I thought that my Cinematics matte box looked good, but I like the design on this one even better.

  • @Sangye So you feel that the DP3000 M3 is an improvement over the Cinematics? I always thought the U-shape of the Cinematics give it more stability when the matte box is locked in compared to these one-side swing arm configurations.

    Seems like both matteboxes have issues with their filter holders. Which one is the better of the two? Can either of accommodate 4mm thick glass filters or only 3mm filters?

    Finally, are you selling your Cinematics, lol?

  • @fotosiamo - Overall, hard to say. The Cinematics does feel a little more stable when locked, but the locking mechanism bent after a few months and wouldn't tighten down, so it's always rattling. That's fine on a tripod, but annoying as hell when I go handheld or am carrying it around on set. I don't know when it happened, and I may have dropped it or banged it into something, so I don't blame that on build quality. It's hard to fault the Cinematics for build quality. It's almost all metal, it took some abuse from me, and overall it held up pretty well. My specific issues with it besides the broken swing-away lock were that it was heavy, flags were always coming loose and swinging around, and I kept losing the screws that hold the flags on. They just come unscrewed too easily. So far I don't have any of those problems with the Fotga, but I don't think it'll stand up to quite as much abuse as I put the Cinematics through.

    Like you say, the filter trays aren't great on either of them. They feel a little sturdier on the Fotga to me, but not by much and I could be wrong. I don't have a 4mm filter on hand, but it's supposed to be compatible. I have a Schneider Platinum IRND on the way, so I should be able to test it next week.

    Bottom line: if you want a good, affordable, lightweight matte box, get the Fotga. Also get it if you need side rails, or height adjustment. If you NEED a sturdier matte box and are okay with paying more and having it weigh substantially more, while losing side rails and height adjustment, maybe better to get the Cinematics. Both are very good deals, but I'm happier with the Fotga than the Cinematics, mostly because of weight and height adjustment.

    I could sell you my Cinematics AS-IS (with the bent swing-away latch and missing screws), but do you really want it, lol?

  • Haha, yeah, I guess not if it's broken/missing screws. So if you were to do it all over again, would you still opt for the Fotga instead of the Cinematics?

  • Cinematics do sell a height adjuster separately, too: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E37DXWI