Filters, Adapters, Matte boxes

ND Filters and Lens/Filter Flares Clarification

B3Guy — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:56:24 +0000

Hey, all. I'm not entirely clear on how an ND filter changes the amount of flare in a lens system. (i.e. how much lens flare do you get with an ND in front of the lens versus with an ND in the camera body).

Also, how an ND changes flare from a flare filter (star, streak, etc.) i.e. would and ND in front of a flare filter reduce the amount of flare from the filter just the same as if the ND was behind the filter, or would the flare filter flare more with the ND behind it?

Perhaps some more experienced DPs could clear all this up for me, Thanks.

Always learning-

B3 Guy

Pen FT - m43 adapters?

RRRR — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:21:54 +0000

I´m curious to see if there´s anyone who has found a good adapter for pen ft lenses?

I just got a pixco one, and there is some play when mounted making it virtually unusable for video..

Metabones/Conrus EOS lens adapter for M4/3

mrbill — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:36:22 +0000

Emailed Conrus after seeing their adapter for the NEX camera - they have plans to release a version that will support canon eos lenses on the m4/3 format in Q2 of this year. If this is like the NEX adapter it will support electronic iris control and canon's image stabilisation, all powered from the camera.

M4/3 Adapter with Tripod mount

Rambo — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:20:40 +0000

Loving this adapter with tripod lens support. Battery and card changes without removing from tripod monopod etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-FD-Lens-Micro-4-3-M4-3-adapter-1-4-Tripod-Mount-E-PL3-PL1-GF3-GF2-/230722379347?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b8201e53

Any tips on 3x3" quality filters ?

feha — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:01:45 +0000

I bought a used Chrosziel SD 1001 SunShade with 3x3” double filter-stage. Checked on eBay, not many of these filters. I need ND filters or linear + circular in order to make a variable ND ?! Or is is best to invest on 77mm filters and use this "mini matte box" just as sunshade ?

Where to get thumb screws for matte box filter holders?

redpaw — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:14:32 +0000

Does anyone know where those tiny thumb screws can be purchased from? I just cannot find it anywhere... the companies that offer matte boxes dont have them in offer as a separate accessory either ;/ any thoughts ?

Bellows Hoods are Back in Style - 90 minute conversion project

Roberto — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 04:13:16 +0000

Spurred on by Black Magic Design having presented their new camera sporting bellows, I've finally got around to modifying my Hasselblad bellows mattebox into a hood. Since I used the rear filter slot as a mount, it no longer qualifies as a matte box - but the original is left totally intact and conversion is reversible.

Shown extended to FOV of Panasonic 14mm pancake; will fast-adjust to any focal length.

Next, upper French flag and front letterbox matte. I'm hoping it will be seriously dark in there!

My bellows cost $50. See similar on eBay

or Mamiya models at http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=mamiya+bellows+-macro+-focus&LH_PrefLoc=2&_npmv=3

[Edit 3 June: added much smaller file-size pics, PNGs too big, sorry!]

Filter for night-shoots to prevent bright lights

kronstadt — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:26:36 +0000

Howdie comrades,

(long time reader, first time joiner/poster)

So I came back from London with 4 hours worth of lens-test footage - mostly night-shoots. This was my first shoot with my Gh1 re-born as a Gh13 after I applied the LPowell 100mbps hack.

First thing that is immediately annoying about my footage as well as so many Gh1/13 night-time footages that you see on Vimeo and YouTube, is just how BRIGHT and glaring the lights look from passing cars' front-lights, street lights etc... That's just not how it looks like in films. So I'm guessing they probably use some kind of filters. The question is, which filters work best for night time shoots to keep those occasional light from passing cars etc from spoiling the rest of the picture?

Sorry for the newbie-ness. I'm only beginning to get into matte-boxes etc. I got myself a tiny compact Cromatek ProShade, so that it does not attract too much attention and be compact and mobile at the same time.

UV protector lens aberration

daddysauce — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:17:37 +0000

I got a 46mm uv protector (tiffen) for a GH2 but its introducing aberrations to the image. I would describe it as a purple tinted image offset. Has anybody found a brand that gives a clean image?

thanks

Cheap Chinese MB

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 23:05:24 +0000

As far as I know none of currently sold such MB have filter problems.
Also 4x4 filters are not 100x100 filters, they are slightly larger. Larger trays are not for 4x5 filters also.

Macro Converter Test Shot(s)

karl — Sat, 12 May 2012 08:06:40 +0000

The choice of macro converters available recently increased when Panasonic started to ship its 37mm filter thread macro converter, which can be mounted on a Panasonic 14-42mm Vario X pancake lens.

I had bought a macro converter from Siocore for the 37mm filter thread, earlier, and I would like to know how it compares to the one Panasonic is now selling (for more than twice the price).

To allow a comparison, I shot an object with many small details that many people should have access to - a 50 Euro bank note.

The focal length has been set to 42mm (the longest possible with this lens), and I tried to adjust the camera to object distance as narrow as posible, such that the autofocus was displaying a happy green frame. (I guess this distance adjustment method is not much more precise than +- 3mm, but that should be enough.

The center of the shot is aimed at the "roof top" inside the "5" of the "50", I think that is easy to replicate if you want to take another sample shot.

Light source was thermonuclear (the Sun :-), the aperture 10.

The attached image is the full frame as extracted from the raw .RW2 file (the only postprocessing applied while converting the RAW to JPEG was white balancing - no sharpening, no noise reduction or such).

I would be very interested to see results from other macro converters, especially regarding minimal focus distance / minimal object size.

EOS to micro 4/3 adapter won't fit Canon FD 28mm?

Ira — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:36:42 +0000

I just got an EOS adapter in the mail that won't fit my Canon FD 28mm lens. I can't figure out why this will not work! Very frustrating. Just wondering if anyone has any idea why this would be... Thanks!

Birger Mount for AF100 (and GH2)

Alex — Sun, 22 May 2011 16:00:29 +0000

In about two weeks, they plan to start to ship the first produktion run of 1000 units of their Canon EF mount adapter.

here is the newsletter:

At NAB Birger demonstrated functioning concept models of a new lens mount system for both the Sony NEX-FS100 and the Panasonic AF-100 cameras. These concept systems demonstrated electronic control of the focus and iris on Canon EF-mount lenses. This email is an update on those products specifically for the Broadcast market. Updates for the Industrial and Scientific; and Military, Security and Surveillance markets will be coming in the near future.

The AF-100 version of the product will come first, followed soon after by the Sony PMW-F3, Sony NEX-FS100 and the Arri Alexa. As we did the initial work for these cameras, it became clear that we needed to make some changes to our new generation of lens control platform, to economically develop and manufacture these additional variants.

It became clear from our conversations at NAB that an economical (and unobtrusive) wireless solution was important. We will be coming out with a hot-shoe mounted radio receiver (approximately 30mm cube) that will not require a separate power connection or battery, to remain powered from the lens mount, even during lens changes. Fortunately we realized the importance of this module prior to releasing the first adapters, as it would not have been possible without some small changes.

This talk of change generally raises questions of price and schedule. While we are adding significant flexibility to the system, I am happy to say there will be negative effect on price. We are finalizing some of the design and manufacturing issues to get ready for a volume release of the AF-100 EF-mount Adapter, and when we have the last details worked through, we will announce that we are ready to begin full scale production. At this point we will first show the final version of the product, announce the dealers, and be about two weeks away from volume shipments.

Those that have expressed (and wish to express) interest in selling our products should know that we feel it most important to attend to the product related issues first. We will be releasing more information on the dealer program, contracts and a closing date for orders for the initial production build in the next few weeks. We will not be accepting any deposits, orders or payments until the product is ready for production - and we have done a public demonstration. All orders at that point will require prepayment, so we can fairly allocate inventory worldwide. We are planning an initial build of 1000 units for the AF100/EF product.

We have an active beta program for the AF100 and the FS100 products, and have been floating hardware on some very large (and some not so large) productions. This has offerred us invaluable ergonomic information on the forth coming remotes, as well as access to footage and real world testing. In the coming weeks we expect to be able to talk about prductions using both the AF100 and FS100 focus systems.

We are excited for the future of Birger in the Broadcast industry. We are even more excited to get this product released in the short term. There is no one that wants these new products out in the field more than I do.

Regards,
Erik.

---
Erik Widding
President
Birger Engineering, Inc.

(mail) 38 Chauncy St #1101; Boston, MA 02111
(voice) 617.695.9233 x207
(fax) 617.695.9234
(web) http://www.birger.com

Micro 4/3 to Nex adapter

Brian202020 — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:31:23 +0000

I found this on ebay and found it to be an interesting adapter for those of you that are thinking about moving from a Micro 4/3's camera to a Nex camera and still want to keep all your lenses and lens adapters.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-4-3-M43-Sony-Nex-Adaptor-NEX5-NEX-5-NEX3-NEX-3-/110652784340?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c36b7ed4#ht_1686wt_1165

Mattebox Choices

o2x — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:10:26 +0000

Hi guys. I've been looking around at various mattebox options. I've had a nose through the usual suspects - Chrosziel (Phew!!!), Redrock, Genus etc and have seen a lot of Indian and Chinese kit on eBay. When looking for some of the Chinese kit - which IMO seems to look far better engineered than the Indian stuff, i've been led to your site which has some interesting points of view.

Anyway. I am in the market for a Mattbox, Rails and Baseplate and Follow focus.

I've looked at the LanParTe, Cinematics, Wondlan and Wieldy producs as well as some others which look a bit too cheap (and on further inspection the seem to built to that price as well).

I have a need for a mattebox with a rear opening of at least 105mm as i intend to use the box with a Century wide angle lens on a Z5 (which is that wide). I also need quite a wide box so that i don't get any vignetting with this lens.

You guys seem to have a lot of experience with these products. I quite like the look of the LPT stuff, especially the follow focus, but maybe you have different ideas.

I would be most grateful for any advice you may have on this.

Many Thanks!!

O

Bayonet Mount to Micro 4/3

djhessler — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:13:32 +0000

Does anyone know if there is a mount from Bayonet Mount to Micro 4/3, if there is one, where can I find one?

Adapter with Adjustable ND filter?

stoney — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:10:01 +0000

Is there such thing?

B4 to m43 cheap adapters

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:45:23 +0000

Anyone interested in cheap (< $100 shipped) B4 to m43 adapters?

With lens support (but it is not top notch, same as onnew breed of Chinese m43 adapters).
For guys who do not understand that is this B4 is about, it is mount used for 2/3" leses for ENG cameras.

Best C/Y to MFT adapter?

rockroadpix — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:57:59 +0000

I'm getting conflicting results. I just bought a manual Contax Zeiss lens. I don't need the focusing mechanism on the adapter, I'm guessing. So, what is the most solid for the $?

Project Blue Light - does this make sense to you?

Meierhans — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 04:34:47 +0000

Args.. I am a afraid to start a new tread! Have mercy! ;)

http://www.fourseasonshd.com/cgi-bin/csvsearch.pl?db=db1&tp=tp4&search=bluelight1

Basicly he is putting a color filter in front of the lense to move the exposure of red and blue channel up some stops. Then in post he is trying to fix the tint. Does this make sense? Wouldn´t setting a "wrong" white balance have the same effect?

Variable ND filter Issue Solution / possible alternative

LiamOwen — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:21:08 +0000

I Purchased a Variable ND LCW MK2 Filter and have recently noticed some hazy reflection i have tried a lens hood to see if this would resolve but no luck soon as direct sunlight hits the ND i get a smear appear in my footage. both lens and ND are crystal clear so the only assumption i have is the reflective coating isn't up to scratch.

Im open to Solutions of suggestion for possible replacements around the £100 Mark if anyone has had experience with any other brand. just want to get my options before i go buy another filter and realise i was missing a simple solution :)

Much appreciation in advance.

Time Tessive filter

Brian202020 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:55:59 +0000

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. I came from a film background and the shutter characteristics are one the things I hate the most about video. I can't seem to find a price on the site tho.

EDIT: found the price; $7900

http://www.tessive.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GCkO3sSm8cI

Mattebox height adjustment part?

JackBayer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:13:05 +0000

Hi,

So I´ve got my Trusmt MB and realized, that I will need some kind of variable height adjustment to have it working on all my lenses on my Ginirig. I found only this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Height-Riser-rail-systems-follow-focus-mattebox-/190353971566 but that one comes from India and due to bad experiences I´d like to avoid to buy from there.

Does anyone know a store which offers something variable? Or how do you deal with the heights of you rigs when it comes to Matteboxes?

Thanks!

Canon EF to NEX Conurus Adapter

ace_rimmer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:14:22 +0000

Don't know if there are any Sony FS-100/NEX-5N enthusiasts on here, but just saw this user-submitted video review of the new adapter that promises electronic aperture control for EOS lenses. They are still making firmware tweaks to these, so the next batch should be a lot more vetted.

Universal Donut

Tommyboy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:30:31 +0000

I'm tired of fixing different size donuts in my Trustmt MB. Does anyone know where to get something like Zacuto Z-UD Universal Donut but way cheaper ?

DIY stuff.....How to make a matte box and Dead cat....easy and professional looking.

wedphoto — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:29:19 +0000

Ok, I made a quick tutorial on how to make a Matte Box that looks semi-professional. I know alot of you like to buy the high dollar items but for those who dont mind building one for about $ 2 dollars here is a good option and no this isnt using some sort of plastic bottle. Also included a tutorial i did for the dead cat which is the easiest ive seen on the internet and the best looking ..IMHO.

Choosing best budget matte box

flyguy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:12:34 +0000

Hello, i am in the midst of choosing a matte box and am on the budget. So far, Indian made matte box are the cheapest. I know its not up to par with the best brands out there, but hey at least it is something. Problem is there are a few types of Indian matte box out there. For your experience, which of these are the best?

http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/Filmcity-Matte-Box-sunshade-Canon-5D-MK-II-7D-GH1-GH2-60D-550D-camera-/370570280785?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5647b5bf51#ht_2158wt_1139 (Filmcity's one)

http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/Matte-Box-XL1-XL2-HVX200-EX1-EX3-GH1-5D-MK-II-7D-/130625323343?pt=UK_Photography_DigitalCamAccess_RL&hash=item1e69e0414f#ht_2532wt_1239
( This matte box does not have a 15mm support. But i've seen tutorials that drills two holes on the box and attached a 15mm support > http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/alben/07/6672007/400_6335666232633463.jpg < Does anyone know where can i get this? )

http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/Veedion-Matte-Box-Canon-5D-MK-II-7D-GH1-GH2-60D-15mm-Connector-/130622979080?pt=DE_Kamera_Foto_Zubeh%C3%B6r_Mikrofone&hash=item1e69bc7c08#ht_3209wt_1139 ( Veedion matte box )

http://www.ebay.com.my/itm/Jumbo-Wide-Angle-Matte-Box-Canon-5D-7D-GH1-Rebel-T2i-d60-dslr-camera-Lens-/220923482300?pt=DE_Kamera_Foto_Zubeh%C3%B6r_Zubeh%C3%B6rpakete&hash=item337010d0bc#ht_6511wt_1139 ( Pro aim matte box )

I am not well verse with cokin filters and 4x4 filters and etc, so just wondering which of these are the best? Its pretty cheap and decent from the looks of it. Thanks in advance.

Canon, no aperture control?

rchaney — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:21:39 +0000

Been reading about Canon lenses (not FDs) and that you can't adjust aperture when used on GH2... True... why's that?

Thank,
R.

Idea for a custom M4/3 adapter for video.

Gabel — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:49:51 +0000

One of the issues with still lenses is that they are in many ways not well suited for film, but I have some ideas on what to improve them! Most of this comes not from improving the lenses, but the adapter between them. My ideas so far would be an adapter like this:

1. Mounted sideways: This way the focus mark and aperature all end up mounted sideways, like a cine-lens. Makes life for your focus puller easier.

2. Extra tight lock: As we saw in another thread, adapters tend to be a bit loose at times. While there are ways to improve it, I would not mind and extra lock screw.

3. Ability to set flange to focal distance (shimming more or less): This might not work in practice, but this would be to make sure the focus marks are on, but as they might be off on the lens, this might be rendered moot.

And if possible a back that has a bokeh filter holder added, for getting anamorphic bokeh at a wide-angle.

Do you think this would be doable? Because an adapter like this could help a lot for us that use a focus puller and to adapt still lenses for better work for video!

ND filters and IR pollution

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:47:05 +0000

This is widely known problem, espesially visible if you are using 8 stops filters.