Missing in Action

Waddaya mean DSLR small form factor..??!

Within a week of having my mattebox all set up with my new Formatt glass 4x4 filters, I lost one of my filter holders with a Circular Polarizer still in it. I've been shooting out on the edge of a lake and experimented with different filters. My mattebox has two filter holders and I would shoot with both the polarizer and the ND filter, take out the polarizer, shoot with just one filter, etc. Occasionally I placed a filterholder with glass against my camerabag. I probably looked right through it when I left (it's glass*%##!) and found out 3 days later I was missing a filter and filterholder. So today I biked the 10 miles to the lake to see if it was still lying somewhere in the grass but that was just too much to hope for...
I just spent €25,- to send my damaged SmallHD monitor in for repair, now I need to spend another €80,- to replace my filter and holder. None of this would have happened if I just stuck to shooting with my EX1 and keep things nice and simple... Which goes to prove: the more stuff you have, the more can go wrong... (and it usually does)

MY CIRCULAR POLARIZER IN BETTER DAYS...

Filters for your mattebox

This is the first time I took my new Formatt 4x4 filters out for a spin. I have no experience with matteboxes and filters so I was very curious to see how they would behave.  It takes quite some getting used to working with a mattebox and filters. Not only is setup time considerably increased but try to find a bag big enough that will hold a rig with mattebox...
One of the first mistakes I made was to forget the 'donuts' that seal off the mattebox from light coming in from the rear, reflecting off the glass filters. In a few of these shots, the reflection is quite visible. I tried different configurations, adding and removing filters, opening up or stopping down the lens. This is just a first test, however, and now that I've seen the results I'm eager to do some more testing. Shooting water with only the polarizer, for instance, and doing comparisons between ND Grad .9 and ND .9
If there's anything you'd like to see in particular, let me know. For now, you get a pretty good impression of what these filters do and are capable of. Money well spent.

Mailbox: glass filters for my Mattebox

MY OWN STARTER'S KIT

Got my set of 5 glass 4x4 filters in today. I didn't buy my mattebox for the looks, as I've read that many people do. I wanted one primarily because I want to control the amount of light entering my lenses and I wanted a 'one size fits all' solution. Later on I learned about other types of filters: I loved what the Polarizer did to reduce reflections and enhance saturation while the Graduated Filter prevents skies from blowing out. So I put together my own 'Starter's Kit', consisiting of :

1. .03 ND Filter
2. .06 ND Filter
3. .09 ND Filter
4. .06 ND Grad Filter
5. Circular Polarizer Filter

Now how hard can it be to prepare this order? Apparently very hard because I was sent a 0.9 Grad ND as opposed to the 0.6 I specified. (Specified twice: once when placing the order and once after I paid. To make sure...)
The filters are new and engraved with the brandname and specifications. No complaints there  but the velcro on one of the pouches partly ripped off the very first time I opened it. No disaster but you don't want that to happen when you unwrap something new... Furthermore: on the seller's eBay store it says:

"Each Filter comes in its individual leather pouch casing."  

Do my casings look like leather to you..?

NYLON POUCH THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEATHER

.09 ND GRAD FILTER

.03 ND FILTER

RIPPED VELCRO: NOT A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION

In search of the best 4x4...

The search for a set of 4x4 filters for my mattebox is on. I've been doing some online research and I talked to a Tiffen representative at IBC last week and we could have talked the entire day. Selecting and using filters is a science all in its own... Initially I set out to buy a ND-filter because that's the main reason I bought the mattebox: to control the light coming in without having to have an ND-filter for every lens...but there's so much more to filters.
And there's so many more filters: Polarizers, ND's, graduated ND's, Black Mist, Skin Tone Enhancers, Hard Edged, Soft Edged, Diffusion filters, Sunset and Sunrise filters... after a talk to the Tiffen guy I was convinced I needed them all. Total cost would run into thousands of Euro's.

Now I've calmed down somewhat and am looking at a starter kit from Formatt. A polarizer for better contrast/reduce reflections, two ND filters for controlling the amount of light entering the lens, Super Mist for softening harsh/blue light and a Skin Tone filter for creating warm skin tone or warming outdoor shots of foliage, trees and the likes. But will I use all these filters? And how good is Formatt? People rave about Schneider and Tiffen but you hear little about Formatt. I just saw them at Zacuto's online store- a reputable store and maker of high-end gear. But does that make Formatt high end? To be continued...

Mailbox: Mattebox TrusMT M2

MATTEBOX FRESH IN FROM CHINA

Barely a few hours back in Amsterdam and DHL stopped by to drop me a package containing an impressive Chinese mattebox. This is my first mattebox and since I haven't had any sleep for 36 hours, I am glad I managed to set it up without any major problems... Although I couldn't get a camera mounted properly with this configuration. I had a problem fitting different lenses so that they line up nicely with the opening in the mattebox.
First impression: feels like a pro piece of gear but the french flag is really hard to screw into position tight. I like the swing-away feature and the two slots for the 4x4 filters that rotate independently.
There's no manual included how to set this thing up properly. Not that it seems terribly complicated but a few tips/instructions would be nice. I'll write more about this mattebox soon. And if anyone knows of some good, affordable 4x4 filters, drop me a line!

NICE, SOLID ALUMINUM CONSTRUCTION

SWING AWAY FOR EASY LENS SWAPPING

2 SEPARATE, ROTATING FILTERHOLDERS

Mattebox-deal

Vitaliy Kiselev, the guy who hacked the Panasonic GH1 and GH2, has a lively website and a lot of discussion on filmmaking, camera's and good, cheap gear in general. If you register on his website and 'post something really useful", you can sign in for a group buy deal.
I registered and immediately made an important contribution in the form of sound advice on cheap lav mics and, by God, Vitaliy deemed me worthy of becoming a member of his 'community'...
So it looks like I'm getting a nice deal on a TrusMT mattebox, more than $100 off the regular price.