Pascal Deshayes wrote:I'm also lurking around for the best price/performance mattebox and have found this Manfrotto model:
Interesting form/compact concept - what do you think?
I have this mattebox currently and I have some serious problems with it although some has to do with my particular setup for my BMPC.
Problems I have:
-it's not that compact or that light (see it on my rig for scale)
-it doesn't swing out, it swings vertically up and out (unfortunately, my top rods block this movement with a shorter lens like a 24mm prime.)
-top rods also block putting filters in from the top with a short lens
-the 15mm mounting block is huge and bulky, it blocks your camera from sliding in (from the rear) on a head like the 502HD, I had to move the mattebox forward to put it on my Sachtler ACE too
-I hate hate hate hate the nun's knickers on this. It's some type of polymer instead of felt and it's very tight. It's hard to wrap around 82mm lens diameters and it pops off easily. As far as I can tell, it's not removeable either. It's also very very short, so it's difficult to wrap a lens and keep it on...this is the big failure point of the mattebox
Things I like about it:
-Flexible, hard to damage, you never have to install your flags and it compresses flat nicely
-Build Quality, heavy but sooooo strong and well made
-Metal filter trays, 1 rotatable
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