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Super 8 Matte Box Completed.


Matthew W. Phillips

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I got my sander and my paint gun. It is done...finally. The last issues I had, which are now solved, were:

 

- Needed Seamless matte box look

FIX: used drill press and 1/16 bit to make tiny incisions into corners of box pieces about 1/2" deep. Put 18 gauge 3/4" finishing nails into the holes and gave a pound with the hammer. Makes the nails go in perfect with no nails going awry and no splitting the wood.

 

- Camera mount block used hex bolt, thus requiring tools to mount camera

FIX: I finally managed to locate 2" long thumb screws. This way, you can mount your camera on the rails system using your fingers, just like you do with a tripod plate.

 

- Camera rotated on 360 degree axis, even while bolt was tightened.

FIX: Found 1 1/2" diameter rubber washers. Gives Camera sturdy grip to camera railblock. Same goes for vertical adjustment piece.

 

- Interchangable box system requires tools to switch box.

FIX: Used wingnuts instead of nut to connect box to the vertical adjustment piece.

 

Anyhow, the box is done, all the tools are here, and I'm ready to launch my site soon which will sell these boxes and will accept payment through Paypal. For a heads up, here is the basic feature info which will be on the site:

 

This is a Super 8 Matte box (also works for smaller miniDV cameras) system that contains rails, camera mount, tripod mount, vertical and horizontal adjustment for each individual camera, and an interchangeable box system for using different aspect ratios. The rails are not standard 35mm rails which are made of 15mm aluminum rods. These are 1/4" thick threaded rods that are 1 foot in length.

 

What's unique about the system is: 1) It's tailored to the proportional size of Super 8 cameras. 2) It has an interchangable box system for different aspect ratios. 3) It is far cheaper than any other new setup in existence.

 

Here is the price list:

 

Rails Kit with No Box - $45.00 USD

 

Standard 1.33:1 Box Only - $40.00 USD

 

Widescreen 16:9 Box Only - $55.00 USD

 

Anamorphic 2.35:1 Box Only - $65.00 USD

 

Standard 1.33:1 Box with Rails Kit - $75.00 USD

 

Widescreen 16:9 Box with Rails Kit - $90.00 USD

 

Anamorphic 2.35:1 Box with Rails Kit - $100.00 USD

 

Complete Kit with Rails, Standard, Widescreen,

and Anamorphic Boxes - $175.00 USD

 

Okay, enough marketing, here are my crude digi-cam pics with blown out highlights. I'll try to take better ones later. Also, next time I won't be in such a hurry as to still have traces of sawdust on the matte box... :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I've been working on it the last few days and finally I have implemented a low cost filter holder solution. In fact, i don't understand why I never came up with this idea before. Anyhow, the Matte Box design WILL be able to hold filters, but the standard I decided on was Cokin "A" Series filters because they are low cost and are about the right height dimension of my box design.

 

The "A" series is 66 x 72mm and my filter holders will only support this filter size. Most Cokin "A" Series filters can be picked up for between $8.00 - $30.00 making this a very economical setup. The system will hold 2 filters and will be top loading. It won't have the fancy slide-in rotating filter holders that go into any angle. It is a basic filter holder setup where the filter itself slides into the top of the filter holder just like if you used a Cokin filter holder.

 

For the time being, I will not change the prices stated even though I now have a filter holder. It honestly was not that expensive to implement. Hopefully I'll have a site up within a week to start selling these boxes to interested parties.

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Wow, that looks great! When I get a hold of a little more money, I'll be your customer!

 

Btw, since I live in Norway, postage from other countries does highten the costs, so I would, and I'm sure some other people would too, be interested in buy a "complete" package from you that also included filters, just to save the postage/trouble/time/andsoon buying stuff from two places.

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  • 4 years later...

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