Matte box and follow focus system for Optura XI?
 

Do you think there'd be a market for a 2 or 3 stage matte box for the Optura XI that attached via the lens hood thread instead of the filter threads?

Do you think an XI follow focus system would be of interest to the market?

I'm just doing a little research. ;)

Did you ever see the movie "Field of Dreams" -- you don't have to like baseball to get it -- in short, Xander, if you build it, they will come.

Why on earth would I spend thousands of dollars to have an engineer design and manufacturer the matte box and follow focus attachments if no one will buy it? I mean, the XI isn't marketed as a "professional" camcorder (regardless how much I preach that it is with a minor handicap... dcr-vx700 anyone?).

My question is: does a "consumer" want stuff like this? Would I get my investment back? I mean, I don't want to sell a $3100 accessory for a camera that's only $1000 just to recoup my money. I think maybe $300 would be a fair price for both items for a "consumer"... like a Steadicam Jr. ($500 vs. $6000 for the Mini). It's ridiculous how much Chroziel and Century Optics sells their attachments for; and from reading all these boards on dvinfo.net, it seems people want them more for vanity reasons than pro reasons (why else would people be demanding pictures of others' setups?).

The cost per piece would come down significantly if I could order more than 100 of them knowing I will sell them.

Also, the follow focus would have to attach on the right side of the camera to enable users to access the all-so-important a/m focus button and exposure wheel and have the LCD flipped open. So that means the follow focus can only be used on a tripod. Is this a problem?

I think there's a market for a low cost matte box and follow focus. It would be nice if you had adapters for different camcorders. I like the idea of using the lens hood thread on the Xi.

Your closest competitor would be the Cinetactics Matteblox product. I wrote them awhile back, here's their response regarding the Optura XI:

Re: Matte box and follow focus system for Optura XI?
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Xander Christ : Do you think there'd be a market for a 2 or 3 stage matte box for the Optura XI that attached via the lens hood thread instead of the filter threads?

Do you think an XI follow focus system would be of interest to the market?

I'm just doing a little research. ;) -->>>Well, the same type of people that put $1000 rims on a $500 car might be interested :)

I think it would be quite funny to see someone using a follow focus with an Xi.

I was doing a shot with a focus pull and when I saw the footage projected on a 6' screen, I noticed that I jiggled the camera which annoyed me (footage on a 9" monitor wasn't noticable). That, and when I pull focus, I usually have a nasty habit of going slightly over my mark and then pull back... looks kinda like I left the camera on auto-focus.

I agree that a smaller format camera with a follow focus does look kinda strange, but if a follow focus attachment existed, people might start taking this camera as a serious tool. The XI does kinda resemble a Sony DSR-PDX10.

-->>>Well, the same type of people that put $1000 rims on a $500 car might be interested :) <<<--

I doubt those pimping their ride are out buying video gear. They have different priorities with their money. ;)

<<<-- Originally posted by Michael Wisniewski : I think there's a market for a low cost matte box and follow focus. It would be nice if you had adapters for different camcorders. I like the idea of using the lens hood thread on the Xi.

Your closest competitor would be the Cinetactics Matteblox product. I wrote them awhile back, here's their response regarding the Optura XI: -->>>

If you purchase the wide angle kit from cinetactics ithe matte blox will fit on the xi. no 72 mm ring or any other ring is needed . i have one. however, the matte blox easily loses its squareness and can cause vignetting, and it can also move a little on the wide angle lens. i think they have to do better at correcting this.
earon

Xander,

I'm in. I would love to see more pro accessories for the Xi. I kind of thought that by this time there might be more than there are now.

I've considered building my own matte box as well as some other attachments but haven't put scribe to metal yet.