Gear Dear Matte box

[PaulClements]

Any of you ever seen this Matte Box (http://www.geardear.com/pictures.html)?

It's made by a guy called Gerhard Hirsch in Germany.

I've sent him details about the Red Zoom and whether he'd consider making a larger format (Say 5x5 or 5.65x5.65) to work with it. Hopefully I'll hear back from him sometime.

Nevertheless I think the design is interesting, it fits the Red mantra by being modular and coming in at a very good price, the 4x5.65 is only $337.50. It's typically used with the HVX by the looks of it. What do you think of the design?

[Zakaree Sandberg]

i have known about this for about 9 months now..apparently the material is just plastic... its still cool for 500... but i think the redrock will be a better buy.
I dont really like the boxyness of the geardear

[PaulClements]

Problem is it looks like the Redrock won't be large enough. It's only 4 x 5.65 and the zoom looks like it'll need a 5 x 5 minimum. I could be wrong on this, anyone care to jump in.

[Joe Vinson]

Most of the matte boxes I've seen have all been 4x4, but... the Red zoom is awfully wide, so who knows?

[Ken Willinger]

I was checking out the size of the RED zoom today and it looks like a 4X4 will be fine for that lens (phew, I have a lot of 4X4 glass).

[Brook Willard]

We had a 4x5.65 in the booth.

[feb31films]

Any of you ever seen this Matte Box (http://www.geardear.com/pictures.html)?

It's made by a guy called Gerhard Hirsch in Germany.

I've sent him details about the Red Zoom and whether he'd consider making a larger format (Say 5x5 or 5.65x5.65) to work with it. Hopefully I'll hear back from him sometime.

Nevertheless I think the design is interesting, it fits the Red mantra by being modular and coming in at a very good price, the 4x5.65 is only $337.50. It's typically used with the HVX by the looks of it. What do you think of the design?

I've actually used this box. We just shot a promo for a TV series using an HVX200, a Redrock Micro and this matte box. Link to the promo is www.oneofthegirls.tv (http://www.oneofthegirls.tv)
Check it out if you can. As for the matte box, it is plastic, but surprisingly sturdy. I was worried about it at first, but it performed very well. For users on a budget, it's a good investment. Just don't set it on the passenger seat in the transpo van. :)

[PaulClements]

We had a 4x5.65 in the booth.

Oh well that's reassuring then. I guess RedRocks would be fine in that case. As would this one from Gerhard in that respect.

[PaulClements]

Gerhard sent this reply to me, he sounds very accomodating:

Hi Paul,

thank you for your interest in our Geardear equipment.

It´s no problem to expand our mattebox to 5.65x5.65" filters or even wider to the more common 6x6".
And it will be compatible with the already existing matteboxes, because it is a modular concept.

The lens diameter will be 114mm, I guess, and the ring you can see is a reducer from 130mm to 114mm to attach the mattebox as a clamp-on.

The prices of the 6x6" will not be much higher than 4x4" or 4x5.65", maybe 20% because we would need more material.
We can have already developed some parts, and if there is demand, we can go further...

Hope to hear from you,
best wishes from Germany

Gerhard

[Zakaree Sandberg]

the redrock will work.. i was concerned but i checked it out in person.. it will work jsut fine.. It honestly looks like a arri box.. minus it being white (but thats just the prototype). i was also concerned with the material, because it was thinner than normal and not sturdy.. but the redrock guys told me that it was just the prototype and the real one will be made of a thicker material and much better.. it has 2 stag stages and one rotating.. which is fine by me i never use more than 3 anyways.. but you can add more if you want..
Not a swing away but they said they will be making one eventually.

[Justin O'Neill]

We use the geardear mattebox with our M2.

People coming from a 35mm background laugh when they see it but it definitely gets the job done. It is great for the price.