Matte Box for GY-HM700

[Jon Leyse]

Charlie,

I just shot someone welding in a machine shop with the JVC HM-GY700. I kept my distance and used a tripod/Fuji 17x lens to get the tighter shots. I have a Formatt FOCUV82 82mm Ultraviolet Clear Hi Def Glass Filter in front of the lens. I tried to shoot through plexiglass before and had trouble with reflections. I was a the top of an observation tower enclosed by plexiglass so I wasn’t the cleanest.

Let me know if you find something that works well.

Thanks

Jon

Jon Leyse
Crash 31, LLC
http://www.crash31.com

[Charlie Cogar]

Hi Jon,

Thank you for your very helpful response. I just ordered a Universal Matte Box from Image West in Las Vegas. With the 82mm lens adapter total cost is $189 plus shipping. It holds 4X5″ filters and the welding instructor has some that size. My goal is to experiment with those, and check the availability of Clear UV filter from Tiffen or Lee. I’ll follow up with my results.

Kindly,

Charlie Cogar

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Hi Charlie.. I have your same camera and I wanted to buy a matte box from Image West as it was suggested to you.
How is the Matte Box… Works all ok?

This is what I asked them…

Does a matte box have to hook on a rail or on the thread of the lenses? (mine is 82mm)
Do I need a rail anyway? i know that only ZACUTO produces a rail for my camera….
How many filters can I use at the same time?
Is your mattebox standard (that is for rail attachment or for filter size) ?
Sometimes I see matte box with rotation (for gradient filters or polarizers). Does your matte box filter slot rotate?
Would you have a bigger model to use with my wideangle adapters (roughly around 100mm) ?

Can you help me?

All the best,

MM

[Charlie Cogar]

Hi Marcello,

I bought the matte box from Image West and it completely meets my needs.

The 82mm lens adapter ring screws into the cam lens (we have the Fujinon 17X which is an enormous improvement for us), and then the matte box attaches which a thumb screw. It can hold 2 square filters.

It doesn’t use rails and is truly a poor man’s way to put filters in front of the lens. It cannot rotate polarizers etc.,

My application was to shoot welding demonstrations. I tested several welder’s filters (those used in welding helmets) to see which best showed the process. The 4 1/2″ X 5 1/4″ filter had to be ground down about 1/18″ to easily slide in and out of the matte box. I tested apertures etc., and it all worked fine.

If you’re work is cinematography which may require unique filtrations you might need a unit with more features, but they sure are expensive.

By the way, do you transfer from the cam via USB to FCP? Can one drag ‘n drop into an FCP project bin, or do you always have to transfer to a drive and then into FCP?

What size and brand cards are you using; did you do the firmware upgrade?

Feel free to call.

402.515.7934

Charlie Cogar

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Hi. I prefer to write but if you want you can find me on Skype. Account is “siroma_marcello”.
I do corporate videos so I am half way through between weddings and cinematography I think. I think to rotate polarizers or gradients could be usefull.. still this Matte Box is quite cheap and adaptable also to my Z1 so I think I’ll buy it also with a 72mm adapter for the Z1 and then we’ll see.
I copy footage to the hard drive though I could work directly from the SDHC card.
I do this because I continuosly delete cards and reuse for other jobs so I prefer to copy on disk. Also, once footage is on disk I make a blueray-Rom copy of all the footage and “put it in the safe”. Finally after editing (sometimes is months afterwards) I make a compacted version of the project (remove unused footage and keep only used clips with a few seconds handles) and also archive this on a Blueray-Rom (not BR Video) disk. This is my workflow.

I bought various brands and the only ones that are giving me no problems are Transcend. To speak truth the problems I had with the others were all mechanical. The phisically broke apart, specially the protection plastic tag, so footage was always retrivable.

I did the first Firmware upgrade (end of July if I am correct). Cannot do this one because my camera is Version 1.05 and this firware works only from 1.06. JVC said that a Firmware upgrade for older camera with the same functions (MP4 unblocked) will be available soon. Let’s see

Hope it helps.

M

[Marcello Mazzilli]

I think I’ll get it any way also with an adapter for my Sony Z1.. so if I have to get a new one for my HM700 it’ll do ok on the Sony.

My workflow with HM700 is….

Copy footage on disks (I could edit from the cards but I reuse cards and don’t want to risk loosing footage)
Archive from Hard Drive to blueray just the raw footage (note: Not video Blueray but data.. use br just for space)
Afetr editing I convert the project in a compressed version (remove unused footage and trim clips with a few seconds handles) and save again to br data archive.

I did the 1st firmware upgrade (class10 cards) but I cannot do the second one (MP4) because I have an old (version 1.05) camera. I’ve been told from JVC that soon it will be out a firmware upgrade also for old models.

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Charlie Cogar]

Hi Marcello,

I too have the same situation with the firmware upgrade on one of our two 700s. JVC said that particular cam was in the early production run and needs to go to JVC in NJ for the upgrade.

I may have mentioned that we bought 2 16 GB Panasonic SDHC cards and 2 RiData cards which are cheaper. We’ve had no probs with either.

I try to keep up with both the COW JVC forum and the forum JVC has for the 700. There’s a great deal of very helpful information is shared, and I really appreciate the ability to communicate with folks like you. It becomes a “Tips ‘n Tricks” forum too.

Thanks, and stay in touch.

Charlie Cogar

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Sure… Where can I find the JVC forum on HM700?
M

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Charlie Cogar]

It should be this:

https://www.usjvc.com/faq/index.php?action=show&cat=16

Charlie Cogar

[Andrew Bird]

Hey all i’m in the UK and was one of the first with the almost lovely Hm700.
So i’m looking for feedback from other users.

It’s an awesome machine, i’ve named mine” Jessica” but I have a few queries of HM700 brethren.

Filters.
Is anyone using filters with the stock fuji lens? How does it perform in low light?
Noise starts at +3db gain.

Buttons:
Within weeks the Slot Select button has already started to be a problem. Has anyone else noticed the amount of really cheap buttons on the HM700? This camera will definitely not stand being pulled up Mt.Kilimanjaro or serious ENG work the way DVCAM has done for decades. It’s a serious design fault that most used buttons are breakable and seldom used (like “status”) are made from weatherproof long-life buttons. Very annoying.

Memory Cards!
There is a supplier here who I thought I’d let you know has an overstock of 16Gb kingston SDHC cards going at half price £25 each. They are around £54-£60 in London so email him while you can. big_memory@live.co.uk Nothing to do with me and my business.