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March, 2024

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Mattebox and rails?

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Kangbang
Posts: 14211 - Karma: 423
What purpose do they serve?
Jun 1 2011 1:45AM
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SeanTom
Posts: 7936 - Karma: 1,747
rails allow you to mound several different camera related things on a level plane ex: evan heaths HVX w/35mm adapter

and not positive of the mattebox, framing/lens hood?
Jun 1 2011 2:01AM
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eheath
Posts: 61097 - Karma: 118,198
Rails, like said, are to mount extras on, like a follow focus or mattebox or a big ass lens. Mattebox is a bigger lens hood but you can insert filters into the mattebox like ND or Polarizing filters. Matteboxes IMO aren't needed unless you're shooting an big scale short film or something, they really won't help out an amateur and they're fucking expensive.

That being said, rails on the other had could be nice for you too add a follow focus or to build a shoulder mount off of, either way you don't need either of the things you mentioned, they just help out.
Jun 1 2011 2:04AM
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Kangbang
Posts: 14211 - Karma: 423
Yeah, I was looking on a site for those and they were so damn expensive. Cheapest one I found was like $650, then the most expensive was $1650.
Jun 1 2011 2:05AM
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eheath
Posts: 61097 - Karma: 118,198
Yeah dude, its not really needed, especially if you don't know the functions haha if you need one, you'll own one.
Jun 1 2011 2:09AM
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Kangbang
Posts: 14211 - Karma: 423
Ok sweet. Thanks for the help. Why are the rails so expensive too? Can you build your own rails?
Jun 1 2011 2:10AM
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eheath
Posts: 61097 - Karma: 118,198
Because they're build to hold a lot weight, my stainless steal 18" rails are fucking strong, you can get carbon fiber setups that are cheaper though, you can't really "make" them. Cheap rail systems are indiSYSTEM check it: http://www.indisystem.com/products

they have mad products from really cheap and simple to expensive and complicated.
Jun 1 2011 2:13AM
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blatt
Posts: 5584 - Karma: 3,097
I still don't understand why anyone would pay $600+ for a matte box... But of course with anything camera-related they jack the price up far beyond a reasonable profit.
Jun 1 2011 2:24AM
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50in07
Posts: 3070 - Karma: 1,471
If you're filming professionally/ semi professionally, $600 isn't really that much money in comparison to a professional video setup.
Jun 1 2011 4:49PM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
idk how expensive the rails you are looking at are, but i bought some pretty generic rails for $150 (which seemed reasonable to me) and they've been awesome. i use them on my HVX to support my 35mm adapters & lenses. much more of an essential than a mattebox.
Jun 1 2011 4:52PM
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steep
Posts: 6063 - Karma: 297
ooooooh ohhhh nice orange name!
Jun 1 2011 5:45PM
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steep
Posts: 6063 - Karma: 297
stupid phone, that was supposed to quote will
Jun 1 2011 5:46PM
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WillStart
Posts: 3955 - Karma: 3,192
haha thanks dog!
Jun 1 2011 5:49PM
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kalum.ko
Posts: 585 - Karma: 1,672
Kinda saying the same thing Will Erickson said, but $600 is pretty cheap if your shooting semi-pro or pro.

There's no way a person can shoot in broad daylight with their lens at 1.8 and shutter at 50, which is why you need a Matte Box or Fader. A Genus 77mm ND fader runs for $185 on B&H. If u have a couple of lenses, with different filter sizes, that $600 matte box doesn't seem as expensive anymore.

I don't have a matte box or a fader, which means I usually have to shoot F/11 and higher when I want to keep my shutter slow. I don't like every-shot in a edit with crazy DOF, but I would say shallow depth of field is one of the main reasons so many people are buying DSLR's and with-out a matte or fader you can't really control it. So to end it, I think $600 is total worth for a matte box with rails.

Jun 1 2011 6:26PM
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