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Vocas vs. Chrosziel…Opinions?
I’m on the fence about which Sunshade/Matte Box to purchase for my F900 with Fujinon 4.5 HD wide lens. Anyone have experience with Vocas gear? My primary purpose for the sunshade is to be able to use a polarizer and grads. I’m trying to keep the weight down as much as possible since I do alot of hand held ENG style production. Any insights would be appreciated!
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7 Replies
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buy the biggest one – regular matteboxes will not allow the fujinon to go full wide…chrosziel works of course – it’s just expensive for what it is…
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I’ve owned/used both and I prefer the Chrosziel personally. Vocal are great matte boxes, but the Chrosziel just feel slightly better made and are ‘silkier’ in operation, very smooth rotating trays. Thay are also a bit lighter than the Vocas system. Chrosziel are a bit more expensive than Vocas, but not much.
I prefer the way the side-flags attach/work on Chrosziel system; better design and thought out. German engineering and design at it’s best; the Mercedes of matte boxes.
Try both and see which you are happy with. Chrosziel are the industry standard though; and for good reason in my opionion.
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Nigel,
That’s exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for……thanks for your insights!
bp -
I second Nigel’s comments on Chrosziel. I own three and am very happy with my selection, never had a problem with them. You should be able to find a fairly lightweight clamp on 4X5 matte box, if you want to go bare bones. Good luck and keep on shooting.
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Be careful of a 4×5 with a lens as wide as yours. No problem until you’re at or close to full wide and you rotate your polarizing filter 90 degress and suddenly your 5″ wide frame is only 4″ wide. Or at other angles corners will vignette. 5×5 or larger will probably work better.
By the way, there is a third high quality choice which is Petroff — well worth checking out their gear.
Tip McPartland
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I own a Petroff 4×5.
It gets the job done, but it is very clunky compared to the Chrosziel and Vocas models. The Petroff is made of plastic. The filter trays rotate, but unlike the Vocas and Chrosziels they are not smooth in operation. Certainly the Petroff is very tough, but it feels very cheap compared to the others.
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I used to have the 4×5 but it wouldn’t work with my wide lens. The 5×5 I have now is generally a more substantial piece. I don’t think either is exactly tough, but they are beautifully made and I wouldn’t agree that they look cheap, that is Cavision’s territory!
Tip
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