There aren't many cinema or prosumer cameras that are ready to shoot out of the box. You'll need lenses, storage media, filters, and possibly a cage to get your new piece of kit ready to shoot. For paid productions, this is even more important.
We dug through our Deals of the Week and found three accessories that can help you get your camera ready for a paid production environment.
Tiltaing Mini Matte Box
Tiltaing Mini Matte Box
- Compact, Lightweight Matte Box
- 4 x Adapter Rings, Carbon Fiber Top Flag
- Supports One 4 x 5.65" Filter, 77mm Hole
- 15mm Rod Clamp with 3.9" Rod
- 1/4"-20 and 3/8"-16 Threads, Shoe Mounts
A matte box isn't always necessary, especially in hectic fast-paced shooting environments. But when things slow down and filmmakers take control of their lighting, a matte box becomes almost a necessity. The Tiltaing Mini Matte Box is a steal even at full price.
While it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of more expensive matte boxes, it's a great solution for mirrorless and DSLR-sized cameras. It's super lightweight and fits one standard 4 x 5.65" filter without the use of a filter tray. It also includes four adapter rings to attach the matte box to any lens with a 62mm to 82mm thread. If you don't want to put that stress on your lens, you can even attach it to a pair of 15mm rods.
Tiltaing FF-T06 Mini Follow Focus
Tiltaing FF-T06 Mini Follow Focus
- Mounts on 15mm Rod, 2 x Hard Stops
- 0.8 MOD Gear, Removable Marking Disk
- Precision Fluid Dampening Control
- Hard-Shell Case Included
With our suggestions, it seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. But it could be that Tilta just had a lot of tricks up its sleeve.
With the Tiltaing FF-T06 Mini Follow Focus, any camera becomes more ergonomically friendly. Operators are able to pull focus without that awkward reach around, and camera assistants have an easier time controlling the focus or iris of a lens. The Mini Follow Focus mounts onto a 15mm rod and has two hard stops. Much like that Mini Mattebox, it's incredibly affordable even at full price.
Hollyland Mars Wireless Video
Hollyland Mars 400S & 300 PRO Wireless Video Systems
- 1080p60 Transmitter/Receiver (400S & 300 PRO)
- 400' Range; L-Series Battery Plates (400S)
- SDI/HDMI Input and Output (400S)
- 400' to RX, 300' to App Line-of-Sight (300 PRO)
- Transmitter: HDMI Input & HDMI Loop-Out (300 PRO)
- Receiver Has 2 x HDMI Outputs (300 PRO)
Any modern production just feels incomplete without a wireless video setup. Teradek transmitters have long been a gold standard but have always been expensive.
The Hollyland Mars 400S and 300 PRO aim to fix that by offering SDI and HDMI connectivity and long-distance transmission of your camera's video signal. It won't give you the zero-latency that Teradek claims, but it'll get you dang close. ACs can pull focus away from the camera, and video village can live hundreds of feet away. Both the 400S and 300 PRO are incredibly affordable as well in comparison to the Teradek.
