Wooden Camera Zip Box Pro 4 x 5.65' Matte Box (87mm, Clamp-On)

This mattebox is great!! Super light and versatile. Great for stacking filters. My only complaint is that the clip on backs are so expensive. But other than that, it is a truly fantastic product. My camera was knocked over on set (by someone outside of the camera dept.) and the mattebox saved the camera from being destroyed.

The first thing you should know that you shouldn't be comparing this matte box to the new budget options that have come on the market in the last year or so from SmallRig and Tilta. Those cheaper matte boxes are good for the price but that don't have the same build quality as the Wooden Zip Box Pro. This one is more on the level with the options from folks like Bright Tangerine. This is a true professional grade piece of gear. Something you would see on run and gun rigs on commercial sets. Lets me honest here, this thing looks fantastic on your rig. Yes, having an elaborate rig can definitely impress a client and having Wooden Camera printed on the flag doesn't hurt either! The appearance is impressive to say the least. The build quality here is top notch as you might expect from Wooden. The flag is carbon fiber and not so thin that there is a lot of flex in the flag itself. Included with the matte box are numerous solid donuts for different lens sizes and for smaller lenses they included a cloth donut. Pretty much everything you need is here unlike Bright Tangerine that keeps having you buy things like the flag or the rail bracket separately. The filter system is quite unique. You can use up to 3 filters. Now this box doesn't use filter trays which for me was a positive. This enables me to use either 4x5.6 filters or the smaller 4x4 filters. What makes the filter mounting unique is that you can actually tilt the top of the filters back (you can only do this when using a maximum of 2 filters) which will help reduce any glare you might encounter. The filters stay in place with a rail system at the bottom of the matte box and a thumb clip at the top. I was a little concerned that this system might not fold my filters in place securely but I put in 2 filters and tilted my rig so the matte box was facing down and shook the camera side to side and the filters stayed in place just fine so no worries there. It mounts on a 15mm rail bracket and you can easily slide the matte box out of the way. There is a couple screws you can loosen and actually tilt the entire matte box if you needed to as well as lower or raise the matte box from the rail bracket. I am incredibly happy with the quality of this matte box. Yes, this isn't cheap. But this is the type of quality gear you are going to have for years to come. As the saying goes Buy cheap, buy twice. Buy once, cry once.

I have a Wooden Camera UMB-1 with all the bells whistles. That's great for the studio, but I've added this to my kit for more run gun compact traveling work. I like being able to tilt the filters to deal with reflections. The smallest insert donut that is included is 80mm. I wish they included smaller insert donuts than that, but the cloth boot can deal with smaller lenses.

This Matte Box is lite weight and easy to mount onto lens. The three slots for filters makes it quick to change. Takes a minute to change out lens if they are different sizes. I have a 95mm and a 114mm clamp-ons. I like the moveable sunshade that doubles as a lens protector when not in use. Good quality for the price and great for on the go equipment. May want to spend up to the rod mounted mattes for studio work.

The mattebox itself is excellent. The mechanics, the step-down rings, the weight, the hood, they're exceptional for the cost. That said, stacking filters, at least in my case, has resulted in extraordinarily bad reflections (ghosting). The ability to tilt the filters as well as the mattebox itself are forward-thinking options, but they don't fix the issue caused by the plastic spacers. When you seat a filter into the mattebox there are thin rows of plastic built into the bottom to keep each filter from sliding around. The gap this creates between filters, and the uneven distance the top of the filters (which are clamped down together) and the bottom (separated by the spacers), is a small issue but the effects severely limit its use. For the cost I'm not sure there's a better option, but if you're planning to buy this be wary of using more than one filter.

Let me start off by saying that Ive tried quite a few light weight matteboxes out there. Namely the Bright Tangerine Misfit Atom and the Tilta MB-T05 Swing Away. If youre looking at the Zip Box Pro then chances are, youre considering the other two Matte Boxes as well. Theres a few key reasons why I chose and STAYED with the Zip Box Pro vs the other two: 1. Its VERY VERY light weight, but doesnt feel flimsy. The Bright Tangerine is way too flimsy, and the Tilta MB-T05 still isnt solid (though it is more sturdy than the Bright Tangerine). 2. It uses 4x5.65 filters -- lower chance of vignetting when using wider focal lengths with your matte box. 3. Top/french flag is included (Bright Tangerine does not, you must buy it). 4. Versatility -- you can purchase the backplate that allows for Swing Away installation (which I tend to use if Im not on gimbal, as it provides more lens support) or screw on the clamp on back, so that the matte box installs directly around the outer diameter of the lens without the requirement of support rods. Quality design, premium feel (considering weight), very practical features, and ultra light weight and compact. Ill eventually picking up another one for my B-Cam!