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Fotga Matte Box topic
  • Forga Matte Box

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    As usual Forga have very good manufacturing quality. Very simple matte box, good if you need just work horse.

    Available at - http://www.personal-view.com/deals/matte-boxes/fotga

  • 7 Replies sorted by
  • Sorry for asking in two places, perhaps this was the more appropriate place than the deal thread.

    Could someone let me know how wide the aperture is on the rear of the mattebox, ideally to the millimeter. I know it comes with a donut that has a 103 mm aperture, so I'm assuming it's a little wider than that, but by how much?

    Thanks in advance.

  • I need info fast on this; I want to put an order in time for a shoot. Naturally, some of these can't be learned from Fotga. If anybody can share info, I'd really appreciate it:

    1) Are the filter trays plastic or metal?

    2) Are they rotating?

    3)If not is there another version with rotating tray(s)?

    4) Is it really 10mm adjustable in height? How?

    5) Is it properly aligned? Does it lock solidly?

    6) I see there are screws at the base. Can I order another French Flag with the attaching system/thumb-screws?

    7) How does this compare with Kamerar in terms of built and endurance over time?

    Thank you for putting this together. I'm really happy to find this community,

    Andrei

    PS: @Vitaliy is there a way to reach Fotga; there's no info online.

  • I talked with Fotocola on ebay and:

    1) All metal

    2) Non-rotating

    3) There is another version D5000 coming out in a week. Not all metal but with rotating filters.

    6) Another french flag with support can be ordered

  • @andrei

    Sorry, missed your post.

    It is correct. Just be realistic about new versions and timing :-) usually they are later then claimed.

  • Just stumbled across the Fotga DP5000 matte box on eBay. Apparently they have changed it, because it does have one rotating filter tray now.

    I also like that the swing-away mechanism is height-adjustable, and that it supports side rails.

    So I have a few questions: - How heavy is it? Specifically, how does it compare to the Cinematics 4x4 swing-away matte box that used to be offered as a deal here? That's the one that I'm looking to replace. - How smoothly does the filter tray rotate? Is it feasible to rotate these while the camera is rolling, without causing noise or bumping? - Any problem using Schneider 4x4 filters in this unit?

    I am impressed so far with the Fotga items that I have (follow focus, base plate). Both are very solidly built. My main complaint is that they seem excessively heavy. I modified the baseplate to be a little lighter, but they're still some of the heaviest components of my rig.

  • You can also check DP3000 MBs

    http://www.personal-view.com/deals/matte-boxes/fotga

    Usually filter stage on all, but top MBs are not top notch, I mean that it is very usable, but not very smooth or noise free. Also, for your filters you need to know their thickness.

    It'll be lighter than metal Cinematics (as I remember they now also switched to plastic body).

  • Thanks @Vitaliy_Kiselev -- that actually is the same one that I was looking at on eBay (I misread the DP3000 as DP5000).

    That's too bad about the filter stages not being very smooth. This otherwise looks like a fantastic deal.

    I am undecided between Schneider filters and some slightly cheaper IRND options, but they are all 4mm thick, which should work right?