Wooden Camera Zip Box Line Extended – Ultra Lightweight Mattebox

News

by Tim FokJanuary 18^th, 2017

Last year, Wooden Camera announced the Zip Box, a lightweight mattebox-style solution that clips to the front of your lens for 4X4 and 4X5.65 filters. They have now extended their lineup to include 138mm round filters, a dual filter version and clip-on flags.

The new 138mm Round Zip Box comes in 4 sizes- 110-115mm, 100-105mm, 90-95mm and 80-85mm. These measurements relate to the front diameter of your lens, the varying size is reserved for cine lenses. If you’re a stills lens shooter then you’ll want the smallest 80-85mm Zip Box, and step all your lenses up to the same front diameter with adaptor rings.

The new 138mm round filters that the Zip Box lightweight mattebox now supports is great news for compact anamorphic shooters seeking a good solution for conventional diopters.

Another newcomer to the line-up is the Zip Box Double, which, as its name implies, will hold two filters. The Zip Box Double are available for 4X4 and 4×5.65 filters, and again each respective Zip Box is available in 4 diameter sizes.

The final new announcement is the Zip Box Flag Set. This shows Wooden Camera’s clear intentions of having the Zip Box compete in the lightweight mattebox market.

The flag set comes as a set of 3, one top and two sides. They work with all three types of Zip Box – 4X4, 4X5.65 and 138mm round. They are tool-less and made of lightweight plastic.

Here are the dimensions of the flags:

Side Flag:
Weight: 18g (0.04 lbs.)
Dimensions: 203.2 x 101.6 x 2.54 mm (8 x 4 x 0.1 in)

Top Flag:
Weight: 24g (0.05 lbs.)
Dimensions: 254 x 114.3 x 2.54 mm (10 x 4.5 x 0.1 in)

All:
Weight: 70g (0.155 lbs.)
Dimensions: 25.4 x 177.8 x 330.2 mm (1 x 7 x 13 in)

The Zip Box concept is a clever design that enables you to use filters otherwise reserved for more conventional and usually bulky mattebox solutions, adding very little weight and footprint to your rig. Wooden Camera initially announced the 4X4 and 4X5.65 Zip Box back in September, and these new additions to their line-up are certainly a welcome expansion.

Why Would I Want A Wooden Camera Zip Box?

There are two main audiences the Zip Box will target. The first is seasoned professionals that seek a very lightweight mattebox solution for their filtration. They have a large filter collection in industry-standard sizing and are looking for something that will work with a weight-conscious rig, such as for a gimbal setup or drone camera.

The second is the filmmaker advancing from either screw-on style filters such as fader NDs or ND sets for photography, or a camera that doesn’t have in-built ND, or both. These are filmmakers that perhaps aren’t looking for the other advantages of a true mattebox system and would benefit from keeping their rig small.

The Zip Box will allow filmmakers like this to advance to professional filtration, without the added bulk of a full mattebox. It’s a smart move: if you buy the right filters in these sizes you really won’t outgrow them.

Pricing varies according to what package you go for. The nice thing with these is that you can buy them in sets to ensure you filters work on every type of lens.

PRICING & AVAILABILITY:

Wooden Camera Zip Box Round

Wooden Camera Zip Box Double

Zip Box Flag Set

What’s your favourite lightweight mattebox solution? Let us know in the comments below.