FOTGA DP3000 M3 DSLR swing away matte box Matte Box Kit with Universal Lens Donut Set for All Camera Rigs with 15mm Rod Systems

This matte box is awesome. The build quality is excellent - a durable mixture of ABS and what feels like aluminium and everything is bolted together very firmly. The swing-away mechanism is smooth and locks shut with the twist of a little thumb screw. It has two 4x4 filter trays, one fixed, one rotatable (ideal for polarising filters or graduated filters for you arty types). The filter trays are plastic but very solid and slide in smoothly (giving a satisfying 'click' when they lock into place). It's height adjustable by about 2cm, making it compatible with most DSLRs and camcorders, and again, locks firmly into your desired position with the turn of two thumb screws. The overall weight is about 1 kg, which makes my NX70 a little front heavy, but those of you with larger cameras/rigs won't find this a problem. Actually the weight just helps it feel more solid and dependable and I think it would be hard to break something of this build quality, even in the clumsiest of hands (like mine). The top flag (French flag) and side flags are a good size, constructed from aluminium (I think) and attach easily. Their position/angle is fully adjustable and an Allen key is provided for this. It comes with four foam donuts of differing apertures for a snug seal against your camera's lens and these are easily interchanged. Overall it's hard to see how this product could be improved and I'm absolutely chuffed to bits with it.I would definitely recommend this matte box to beginners but I also think pro' and prosumers would find their light control needs met by this product.Postage was super fast too. It arrived all the way from Hong Kong in six days - and one of those days was Christmas Day!! Very impressive.

Absolutely fantastic matte box for the price, top and side flags are all aluminium with aluminium screws. The frame of the box itself is aluminium while the 'bellows' bit is plastic but does not seem inferior. The item arrived well packaged in bubble wrap with no bends or kinks in the flags as some people have described - that may be down to courier handling. There are some minor scuffs and scratches to the product but nothing major or very noticable. Included are two 15mm threaded female to female 20cm rods (I wasn't sure if these were going to arrive with the item). You also get two plastic filter trays (one rotatable) with aluminium tightening screws on the top and a selection of donuts.It loses one star due to three blue plastic M5 screws and a large blue plastic side screw which looks like a bicycle quick-release clamp (see picture). These are easily replaced for better ones though. The product picture shows a large round alloy blue side screw which is incorrect. Other than that, as a first matte box, I am more than happy with the quality.

A bargain budget Matte Box, hopefully it lasts, but it feels good. Sturdy, solid. Initial problem with it being too high for lens, but added some camvate brackets to lower extra 15mm rods ...... had no problems aligning it. 100mm ND filters fitted perfectly. Super value for under £100.

Pros:- cheap price in general (especially this one) and does the job- the swing-away works well and won't move much when secured (even if it's done with a tiny bolt)- height can be adjusted- the 2 lateral rods are secured very tightly and won't move (even if I have yet to get the C-shaped bracket)Cons:- two pieces to unscrew to change the donuts (unless I'm mistaken, it's the only way to access them)- donut diameter of about 5 inches, makes it hard to find a universal one that fits- can't be adjusted left and right- the bolts allowing to move the french-flags need to be looked after, to ensure they don't get too loose and fall- cheap packaging, everything just wrapped in plastic film (you can say it fits the price and makes it lower), probably responsible for the next point- one french flags was scratched, another a little embossed (it could be only my set and I don't really care nor want to deal with a return just for this)ISSUES ENCOUTERED- Once closed, the mattebox wasn't aligned with the lens:The swing away is made by a metal plate (you can see a bit of it on the first picture, the part with 2 holes, on the right of the filter trays) that was bent a little, preventing the box from being perfectly perpendicular to the lens. I had to disassemble it to bent it the right way (it is done by removing 6 little screws fixed on the outside [the front] of the box). It doesn't take long.I did this to fix the issue without having to deal with returning the item.- light coming from the back of the rig:The donuts don't do a perfect job on my rig, the lens is almost at the right height (Y axis) but not in the centre on the X axis (left-right). I'm looking for a universal donut that would fit the mattebox, but they seem to be all cut for smaller openings (105mm while this one is about 125). Their price are almost half of this mattebox so it's best to do some research before buying one.TIPThe 2 bolts on the top french-flag are fixed from the outside (front) of the mattebox, but if you reverse their positions, the bar door can then be fully lowered to cover the lens when not used. (Like on more expensive matteboxes.)Finally, it's cheap and it does the job, but if you're serious about filming, you'll probably want get a better one some day. The design isn't the much convenient (apart for the swing away), so a few things (might) need to be adjusted, and universal donuts seem mandatory (to better block the light but also because it takes long to change one).I wonder if the M2 isn't better actually. It would be sturdier and from what I've seen of 'Behind the scenes' docu, this is the more common style and it doesn't that long to move it to change lens or anything else.RECOMMENDATIONI'm still happy with my purchase but if a single filter tray is enough for you (or if you use circular ones), look for the Kamerar version that can be found around here: its design seems to address many of the flows depicted here and it comes with a universal donut.

The product is really fragile and is simply a waste of money, if you actually need a mattebox don't go for this one, it is poorly built feels like it's going to break into my hand, the body itself is cheap plastic and most knobs are made of of the same. The flags are decent, but would probably not last too much in an actual production environment. The only reason I could see somebody getting this is to "look professional". I tried to return it when I got it 6 months ago and I still haven't got my money back.

I am beginner so I loved this product of fotga . Most of its parts are build of solid metal rest is very hard plastic. It arrived in two days in good packing by amazon. I am. From India where mate box are more then 500 GBP and fotga is not available there for me fotga rocks I wish them all the best