Matte Box QUESTION

[Scott Bryant]

I'm on the market for my first matte box for my NPR. I did some searching around on the forums but still have some questions.

 

I want to use rods, but is the matte box still attached to the lens? If so what do you do for significantly varying lens diameters? Also if the matte box is attached to the lens, what do you do about lenses like the Angie 12-120 where the front element rotates to focus?

 

I'm pretty lost on the basics of the mattebox here.

[Chris Keth]

Most matteboxes don't actually attach to the lens. They attach to the rods, and they just fit close to the lens. To accommodate various diameter lenses, you use different inserts to keep light from slipping through the gap between mattebox and lens, they're called donuts. Sometimes they are plastic and sometimes they are neoprene.

[Scott Bryant]

Thank you, that clears up alot.

[Johnathan Holmes]

Some may also use a "mousepad" style donut, which is essentially a black mousepad that is cut in the shape of a donut with the inside diameter just smaller than the lens diameter, and the outside diameter just larger than the matte box opening.

 

This, of course, if you don't have the appropriately sized donut for your matte box. Common with many large-diameter zoom lenses. And cheap rental houses.