https://www.polarprofilters.com/pages/basecamp-matte-box[/quote]
Polar Pro’s Base Camp only works with Polar Pro filters and its filters will not work in other systems. Good reasons to give it a wide berth. Unfortunately, the YouTube “influencers” that Polar Pro has been paying to hype this product either don’t mention at all that this is a proprietary, closed system, or downplay the significance.
There’s also nothing new about this. In still photography, it has been possible to use square and round filters together, one of the features that’s being hyped, for decades. This makes it possible to separately adjust the placement of a graduated neutral density filter and a polariser, which is quite useful in landscape photography in particular. See Lee Filters for an example of a system with which this can be done.[/quote]
Gerald Undone is one good resource for this discussion:
-Upfront with terms of his review
-At 2:30 into the review, contrary to the statement above, Gerald discusses the filters being solely for use in this matte box only and the reasons for it.
An added benefit I found was the set of collars that comes with it that allow mounting on cine-lens without front filter threads of very large front lens such as the Sigma 105mm.[/quote]
As stated in my response to your first post, in which you suggested that Tilta is copying PolarPro’s ideas, Tilta is not only not copying, there are good reasons to give PolarPro’s filter system a wide berth. If you want to buy it anyway, that is of course your decision.
In my post, I did not mention by name any of the YouTube “influencers” that PolarPro is paying in its marketing campaign, but since you have chosen to...
Gerald Undone is one of the many YouTube “influencers” that PolarPro has paid to hype this product. Indeed, PolarPro has paid him and other “influencers” to hype its entire line. It isn’t an accident that the video that you link is not the only one on his channel pushing PolarPro products.
This is an object lesson in concerted, clever social media marketing. These are not reviews. They are paid endorsements, using YouTube like the Shopping Channel. Indeed, it appears that so far every single “review” of this product on YouTube, and of the related still photography product, has been paid for by PolarPro.
It’s bad enough that this is going on in the first place without it leading to suggestions that PolarPro is an “innovator” whose ideas other companies, according to you Tilta, are now copying.
Maybe consider that the word “influencer”, as applied to YouTube, has become a synonym for “salesman”, and that PolarPro knows how to identify and pay “influencers” that it believes get how to sell on social media. It’s a Win-Win for these YouTubers and the companies that they’re working for. Maybe less of a win for consumers and basic ethics.[/quote]
1. The only fact you provide for staying away from the PolarPro matte box solution is the proprietary filter system it employs. You then go on to insinuate that fact is somehow obscured. Contrary to your conspiracy, both PolarPro and Gerald Undone clearly point this fact out and the reasoning behind it.
2. As I stated, the very first part of Gerald Undone's review is devoted to full-disclosure of how he decides to do paid reviews/endorsements. He was provided several matte-boxes for paid reviews and found the PolarPro to be the one he wanted to put his reputation behind and review while returning the others and not accepting payment due to things about them he didn't like. If you have a problem with someone making a living with such a philosophy then simply don't watch or accept such a person's opinion. You did not dispute a single fact in his review. Your only factual negative noted aligns with Gerald Undone's one downside note in his review - that the system only takes special PolarPro made filters. So you would appear to be in agreement with Gerald Undone.
3. I have used the PolarPro Basecamp matte box and found it well built, simple and fast to setup and conducive to lens changes (versus a full on rail matte box system such as our Chroziel), and it performs well. The only negative I have is you cannot stack 2 filters.
Have you personally used the PolarPro matte box and have experienced factual reasons for your advice to stay far away from it?
If not, do you have factual knowledge beyond the published requirement for proprietary filters that you can provide to support your negative advice on the product?