Pro Moviemaker November/December 2021 - Web

GEAR MINI TESTS

SMALLRIG MINI MATTE BOX £91/$99 smallrig.com Cinema-style matte boxes are mostly built to suit large cine lenses. Typically, they are sized and priced to match these high-end kits. Fitting them to smaller cameras, usually mirrorless, can be expensive and often needs a big baseplate with 15mm rails. But there is a move to smaller, lighter and more affordable matte boxes. One of these is made by SmallRig. Built from lightweight aluminium, plastic and carbon fibre, it costs just £91/$99. Instead of fitting to rails, it screws into the filter thread. The matte box comes with a 95mm lens opening, so it clamps around cine lenses of that size. It also has a kit of four adapter rings to fit 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm filter threads. These screw into the filter thread on your lens, then the matte box is tightened onto this. Optional rings as small as 52mm are available. These adapter rings have the same size thread at the front, too, so you can actually screw a filter on. For example, if you are using a lens with a 77mm filter thread, the adapter has a matching size thread on the front, for a 77mm filter. The kit comes with a standard, cinema-style 4x6.65-inch filter tray, that takes up to 4mm-thick professional filters. This slides onto the front of the matte box, and you can stack filters on top of each other – and even use screw-in and cine- style filters together, if you want. On the top of the matte box are four standard 1/4in-20 threaded mounting

“The carbonfibre flag is attached to the top of the unit, and is adjustable and removable”

points to attach more hardware – but only to a maximum load of 0.7kg/1.5lb. After all, the weight is supported by a filter thread. On the bottom is a 1/4in-20 threaded hole with Arri-style location pins. This would be useful if you wanted to fit the box to a rail system, instead of using the filter threads. But you would need to cobble together a supporting clamp, and probably something to seal the light between the lens and matte box. It could be done, but it’s better used as a thread- mounted unit. The carbon fibre flag is attached to the top of the unit, and is adjustable and removable. Just set it out of frame and you are good to go. It’s secured with a simple locking clamp. Fitting filters into the frame is really simple, thanks to a quick- release slider. It’s more fiddly to get them on and off the matte box, but this is a good thing – so they don’t accidentally get knocked off in use. For not much money, SmallRig has come up with a light, useful product. It’s ideal for smaller cameras and can

SPECIFICATIONS Material: Aluminium, plastic and carbon fibre Filter frame: 4x6.5in, 4mm thickness Filter size: 95mmstandard, adapter rings down to 52mm Accessorymounts: 1/4in-20 threaded Maximum load: 0.7kg/1.5lb Dimensions (wxhxd): 176x137x42.7mm/6.9x5.4x1.7in Weight: 150g/0.3lb

work with professional cine filters or screw-in filters, like variable NDs. It functions very well and is a really great buy. PROMOVIEMAKERRATING: 9/10 A light and affordable option for smaller cameras Pros: Small and compact, takes different filters Cons: Does not fit to rails

PRICE POINT Keeping the price under a ton is a fantastic deal for a well-designed matte box

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