Matte Box for XH-A1
 

Anyone tried a matte box with the XH-A1?
I know the chroziel is highly regarded but how about the cavision or the century optics? If anyone has tried on let me know.
Ryan Flesher
XH-A1
FCP 5.1.2
Fig Rig

Images of my kit here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=752&c=51

Looks nice Peter.

Gerhard at www.geardear.com is making a mattebox that works with the IAF sensor on the A1. I just got pic of the plate that allows this function. I don't think his website is up to date as this all just occured during the past week. e-mail him.


Jay

Thanks Steve.

Jay, Gerhard would be the first to address the sensor as everything out there would block it. His boxes look very robust. However, I was looking for lighter materials for handheld use, and the cavasion was the right balance. Metal frame supporting the filters and rods, the rods made of carbon, and ABS on the end of the bellows. (I did remove the french flap, it wobbled too much).

I don't care about IAF as I rely on a good LCD and manual focus, (and occasionally ride the AF button). The model I've shown is for the DVX, but it has room to adjust/accomodate the A1/G1.

A friend of mine has that same Cavision setup on a Z1 and likes it a lot.

Matte Box
 

Peter,
Do you know the weight of your camera with the monitor and the matte box/rods and the wireless transmitter. I use a fig rig and wonder how long it would take to burn my arms off.

Hi Peter. I think the Push AF button actually activates the IAF, so a matte box that blocks the IAF sensor should cause problems when you hit the button.

Richard

Are you sure? It's seems to work as intended.

Ryan, that b----- is heavy for a monopod. You need uncle Ahhhnold to hold it for you. I haven't placed it on a scale, and I'm on vacation until after the new years hang-over. The camera is about 8lbs, the Marshall is another 7lbs, the cavision is about 3lbs. My best guess is to pick up a 25lb weight, (15lb without the external LCD) and hold that out with both hands and see what it's like.

This is why I picked up a three-point varizoom rig with a counter weight and belt. I've already carried it for about an hour before getting sore (walking around the facility and bragging). Most of my shoots are in the OR's, and they rarely go longer than twenty minutes a procedure (I wanted a kit that had everything on it. Not much room for tripods, not to mention time to make tripod adjustments).

I would be concerned about using it in a wedding or long form without a tripod.

Not from personal experience, but the manual says so (page 34 in the PAL camera English manual).

I switched off the IAF selection too, because the first time I tried IAF I was chasing my cat around for close up shots, and there was a noticeable parallax problem due to the sensor not being in line with the lens. The focus kept drifting off the subject and I found it to be pretty useless. Might be OK for normal distances I suppose.

Richard

I'm surprised you can safely hang that weight off of the hot shoe.

It's a rigid hold. However, I understand that flexation adds 4 to 8x the stress to the handle due to hanging that 7lbs out on an arm. That maybe ok for static or slow movement on a tripod. Not so for walking around and giving it some bounce. I've removed the hot shoe attachment and screwed the arm into an available 3/8" threaded hole on the underside of the mattebox plate. Much better. The metal there is four times as think to handle any shearing forces.

Any thoughts on this 'generic' no-name-mentioned mattebox?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...7789&rd=1&rd=1

I like the Sony-Style (tm) shutters vs lens caps. Nothing to lose.

Incidentally.... Gerhard's units are just look heavy, they're foamcore laminate.

Hi Jay. Looks a bit flimsy to me, but I suppose you get what you pay for. If you do buy one, please let us know how it works out.

Richard

It's a bollywood special that looks like a knockoff of the discontinued Tiffen Proflex or Action Mx-5000. Here's more ad copy: http://206.188.208.159/index.asp?Pag...PROD&ProdID=55

Vendor claims aluminum baseplate and housing. Hmmm....