I bought a Red Rock Micro deluxe matte box package a few weeks ago and it just arrived. I also bought a follow focus system with focus assist whips to improve my rack focusing with the Letus Extreme and my Nikon Nikkor lenses.

I am very happy with the matte box. The design is well thought out and it is built with quality. It works with my existing Letus version 1 rail system with little modification.

The follow focus kit from Red Rock is also a great bit of gear. There is no play in the wheel and the gear system works well with my Nikon lenses. I feel much more confident pulling focus with this. Now that I own the new Nikon mount for my Letus, I am not concerned with “focus pull lens wobble”.

In addition to the matte box, I also bought three 4×5.65 glass filters. I purchased the polariser, .6 grad nd and the .6 nd filters. The filters come in small travel pouches to protect them and they are made with very high quality glass and coatings. They are easily breakable. If you buy this matte box, be sure to place your hand under the box assembly while sliding the filter holder (and filter) in place. If you are not careful, the filter holder and fragile glass filter will fall to the earth with great speed! Trust me. I damaged my polariser already! Be sure the screws are tightened that hold the filter cages in place!!!

Today, I shot with the matte box for the first time. I decided to go to Ashland State Park in Massachusetts to test it out during golden hour. I only used the polariser.

The rig is now very heavy and I found it quite difficult to travel with it down the narrow path to the lake. I will have to figure out the best way to carry this awkward contraption before I hike it deep into the wilderness of New Hampshire!

The sun was very low in the sky and it was cold. There was a stiff breeze. I found that with moderate breeze, the camera wobbles as the matte box catches the wind like a sail. This could be my semi-cheap Vinten Vision 3 tripod. I may need to invest in a beefier and more expensive tripod now that my camera has more than doubled in weight.

If you look closely you can see the damaged polariser. I dropped it through the matte box and it fell to the ground. There is a two inch hairline crack running through it from the right side. It did not really effect my shooting today, but it will get bigger. Red Rock will be sending me a replacement (not sure how much it will cost yet) in the next few days, I hope.

There are huge advantages to owning a matte box and the first is the “wow” factor. I never really liked impressing my clients with big cameras and big lights. I just do my thing with whatever I have at my disposal. I believe that the most important part is at delivery when the project exceeds the client’s expectations. But now, with this crazy contraption, my camera looks like a big, bad and expensive film camera. Finally, the physical look of the gear matches the look of my footage!

I am really excited about the follow focus. The gears are super smooth and responsive and the device is built to last. I will use this all the time with the Letus and the EX1, even when I leave the bulky matte box at home. The main reason I love the follow focus setup is because I can fine tune, while recording, and dial in my focus. I can even put a pencil mark on the white collar to set my focus points to be sure when I preform a rack, I hit it spot on.

I will post the new film I shot, called “Golden Hour” late tonight.
The film is located here.