Matte Box or Screw on Filters
 

I'm looking to buy some Graduated Filters but whats the best option the Matte Box or just the screw on filter?

Ive got a Tiffen UV one at the moment; are Tiffen any good?

Any links to Graduated Filters UK or USA?

Thanks

David

See: http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/filters/index.htm

Also see the thread I just posted here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58525

The Century HDV Sunshade looks like a nice low cost alternative to expensive matteboxes. However I'm not sure whether it will work on the Z1 by itself, or only when using the Century lenses discussed in the thread above. When I receive mine in a few days I'll be able to answer that, or you could just call/e-mail Century with questions.

Formatt Filters
While I don´t like their (crappy) mattebox, they have pretty good filters
http://www.2filter.com/prices/products/format44.html

Schneider´s are more pricey, but personally I couldn´t find any difference in quality to formatt filters (speaking of 4"x4")

In Europe I don´t know what happens with Tiffen, but no good service here.

alex

Any links for UK? These are really hard to find..

David: please take a moment and click on the "controls" link in the menu bar, then edit your profile and fill in your city/country. It will help people understand the context of your questions in the future... and it's required for all DVinfo members.

Thanks!

Sorry done :) I'm close to Liverpool or Manchester if you know them?

David,

Though matte boxes can be pricey, I would advise you to work with non screw on filters for grad use. The purpose and beauty of a grad filter is to have precise control over just a certain area of the image. The use of a matte box with square filters will allow you to "dial in" just the right amount of grad, covering just the area you need or desire. With screw on filters, you won't be able to adjust the amount of the grad.

There are many quality filter manufacturers out there. I personally have been partial to Tiffen, Schneider and B+W filters.

Things to look for in filter quality are clarity and "even-ness". Glass filters are preferable to Resin filters for durable and long lasting use. But resin filters will often have a much more even tone or grad fall off than glass. The higher priced glass filters usually 1do have much greater clarity and even tone as well as even fall off from clear to grad.

PS: Alex, noticed you're in Innsbruck. I was in Innsbruck back in November shooting an episode of the travel show Any Given Latitude for the Fine Living Channel. Loved the glacier! And the Red Bull...

@John,

ahh, yes remember, a (d)jungle colleague has made the locationmanager. Another fellow of mine (normally works for me as cam assi but was nosey about your work) has made the (impatient!) driver, heard some nice storys...

Glacier and "Seegrube" are my favourites, I really love them...
Btw: RedBull Owner M. is a huge HDTV-Fan on productionside...

alex

The other reason to use a mattebox is that when you get a new camera, there's most likely a 4x4 filter attachment available for it and you'll be able to use all the 4x4 filters you aquire along the way.

So you would recommend matte box over screw in filters? I do a lot of motor sports and like the arty features they create.

Motor sports is fast, it's quicker to drop in a filter than screw one on.