The one thing about a mattebox . . . it makes the clients think you know what you're doing. A mattebox combined with spewing some random technical jargon about the firmware hack will keep them out of your hair.
I think more people have been interested in my case full of lenses rather than my matteboxes. I always get suggestions such as "why do you have so many lenses? You do know you can get a lens like my _______ camera came with and it's a zoom and can do from ______ to ______ and it's the best (only) lens I've ever had! blah blah blah blah"
or
"hey, those lenses look expensive.. If you were to sell them on ebay, how much do you think they'd be worth....?" *looks around suspiciously*
I bought it yesterday for the FF and Cheap rig also posted here, so review coming with that as well. And the 5" monitor. Stop posting cheap deals please VK , can't help myself. ...haha :-)
Pretty useless if you can't put any filters in! You then have no control over shutter speed/aperture. You'd think it wouldn't cost much to add a couple of slits in it...
@Vitaliy_Kiselev Yeah, Cokin filters seem to be the way to go if you're on a budget. Plus you can get mattebox-like rectangles which clip on if you want some cover :)
@Ptchaw I don't give a fuck about opinons of C..m guy. He lives from affilate links. Of course, if you want to replace proper mattebox with this you must be nuts. Cokin P matte boxes price now is about $165. Indian 4xx4 stuff is also quite cheap. And better options from TrustMT also exist. But if you look at lens support prices you realise that $58 is not that bad for a toy that can shade your lens and support front of larger manual lens also. :-) I don't understand such reaction.
@Vitaliy_Kiselev I don't think this one supports the front of the lens; the lens seems to float inside it. As you say, there are much better options for similar prices.
@Vitaliy_Kiselev Not sure I'd trust a bit of plastic if my lens needed supporting, but fair enough! You might be able to fit a filter holder behind it. Primers?
>Not sure I'd trust a bit of plastic if my lens needed supporting, but fair enough!
Anyway, it is better for not large manual lenses than nothing that we have usually on amateur rigs. For large lenses you always need to use proper support, either build in or ring based.
As for primers, I just want to see "much better options for similar prices". Only one option below $100 that I know of is not very good indian matte box mounted on lens.
@Vitaliy_Kiselev I brought a 2nd hand Hama 'shader' for £40 with a an extendable fabric hood. Takes Cokin P filters, with slots for filters up to 150mm.
Mine arrived yesterday, shipped in 10 days from China. As expected, the lens hood and flags are molded plastic, not suitable for mounting filters or anything else. However, the 15mm rail-mount is well-machined out of aluminum. I replaced the cheesy blue thumbscrews with red anodized spares from my Gini rig and it looks much better. The hole in the lens hood fits around lenses up to around 72mm front diameter and the vertical adjustment range is broad enough for most situations. The flags snap on securely and there are built-in detents that keep them stable at several different angles. On mine, the top flag is noticeably bowed, but not enough to impair its functionality.
Overall, it's an inexpensive rail-mount lens hood with adjustable flags, much more effective than the snap-on petal hoods that come with wide-angle lenses.
I can't weigh it, it's too light, basically no heavier than an aluminum 15mm rail bracket. It is clearly not intended to support a lens, or anything other than its own weight. For that purpose, however, it is sturdy enough to remain stable under windy conditions.