Any recommendation for a matte box / rod system for HPX500
 

Not that I have any more money now that I spent some of my childrens inheritance on the HPX500, et. al. but does anyone know of a base and rod system that will work well with the tripod plate to enable use of a matte box? I personally have the Canon HD 20x Lens.

for rods you need to use front mount rods like the chrosziel lightweight rods for the varicam - I have them for the hvx - prob also want to buy 2 or 4 inch extensions for the rods

Are these the ones? http://www.abelcine.com/store/produc...cat=778&page=1

Where do you attach that short plate? Its not long enough to fit under the full tripod plate. Im new to this - obviously need help.

Yes, that is the correct plate - sort of... it replaces the stock front plate with the "V" for the tripod lock but was designed for the Varicam...

I highly recommend looking thru these posts for an earlier one that I placed re: my efforts to reinforce the intergrity of this Chrosziel plate when attached to the HPX500.. for the Varicam the larger center screw holes (in the "V") are also used for attachment, but not so on the 500... as a result it is very weak without some reinforcement.

Just like for the handheld market, Zacuto is also making an adjustable rod system for the 2/3" inch cameras:

http://www.zacuto.com/zacuto_lws.htm

This is what we'll be using on our HPX500 especially when we mount up the Pro-35 system. For those that already have the original system with the "red plate" all the rods and accessories will mount up to this system as well.

One of the major benefits of this system is that it's universal and will mount to any camera-plate type including the newer wedge-style tripod plates, no longer do you have one system for one camera. And because of the other Zacuto-mounts you can literally mount everything on the rod system, not on the camera itself allowing for better balancing and not making the entire rig top-heavy, which requires a lot more effort in counterbalancing for the tripod head.

How do you like the combo of the Pro-35 and the HPX?

We've used the Pro-35 on both Varicam and SDX900 quite a bit with amazingly gorgeous results, so I'm expecting similar performance. It will be a few weeks but I'll be posting results here for others to view; I'm still waiting for approval from our clients to publically share the footage, but if not I'll be shooting test footage anyway.

I just ordered the Zacuto plate you reference with an arm for my monitor. Great info! What would you recommend for a good Follow Focus unit?

I actually have a new full Zacuto system (Red Plate, not Z-LWS) with Petroff FF on Ebay right now. The FF unit you use for the 500 will depend on the lenses you use; the Mini Petroff will work with some of the ENG 2/3" inch lenses but others will like primes may be too wide for it.

FF selection should also depend on whether or not you want external, motorized control for focus; some of the lesser costly units don't interface with the motorized controllers. Chech with some of the forum sponsors such as Able Cine who specialize in the high-end lenses and setups for more help with this.

Thanks Robert. BTW I got the Z-LWS plate and it is great. Especially with the ZAmerican large arm. I never liked placing monitor on top of camera so I had been using a arm that connected to my tripod but it wasnt a solid solution like this.

It was very difficult to remove the screws holding the plate on my HPX500 to replace with the Z-LWS. In fact one of the four screws became stripped while I tried to unscrew. I drilled the head off and now I cant get the threaded male portion out. I tried to be very careful when I realized they were so tight but the one screw wasnt behaving. The plate seems pretty solid with just three screws but I am going to go back and try again to loosen the part of the screw that remains.

Darrin: I've actually had sleepless nights worrying about those little (M3) screws - remember, they're not just holding the mattebox onto the camera.. those eensy-weensy little screws are holding a 20+ pound camera on a tripod - because the forward, and most important, structural part of the V lock tripod mount is integrated into that plate.. scary to me..

I highly recommend strengthening it as much as possible, even if only replacing the screws with longer stainless steel (or grade 8 if you can find them) M3s.. and definitely try to get the broken one repaired.. I made simple little aluminum plates that press against the side of the camera which helps some.. I still worry though...

screws
 

Darrin,
I was not as adventurous as you in trying to remove those screws. They are in very tight and I stopped when I was on the verge of stripping them. I mentioned this when visiting AbelCine/NY last week. They have a special screwdriver that still requires much downward effort after applying some kind of solvent to loosen the loctite-like substance used on those screws.
Steve, how did you remove those screws?

I don't remember having a problem.. lucky I guess (although I do work on old cars alot and might have more experience fighting tight screws).

I repaired the broken one, just wanted to let you guys know that. :)

Thanks Robert...

I guess I should post in P & S... but since you've used it with the Varicam... since I've never worked with the Pro 35... I believe you can adjust the speed of the ground glass so that you won't see it spinning when shooting different frame rates...