SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box Announced

Matte Boxes

by Jakub HanNovember 20^th, 2020

Smallrig’s Lightweight Matte Box can accommodate two standard 4×4” or 4×5.65″ filters and includes a carbon fiber top flag. It features a 114mm clamp to mount directly on cinema lenses and four adapter rings (67mm, 72mm, 77mm, and 82mm) for photo lenses. Optional accessories include a 95-114mm adapter ring and 15mm LWS Rod Support. The Matte Box can be pre-ordered now for $79.99.

SmallRig is known for reasonably priced camera accessories. The Chinese company produces virtually every rigging accessory for all popular cameras on the market. SmallRig has now announced a new, affordable Lightweight Matte Box. Let’s take a short look at it.

SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box

First, a short simplified explanation for those who might not know – a matte box, in general, is a useful accessory for mounting square filters in front of the lens and flagging out unwanted light coming from the sides, to prevent flares. For all their products, SmallRig uses a four-digit number that makes the search easier. In the case of this new Lightweight Matte Box, the part number is 2660.

As its name implies, the main selling point of this matte box is its lightweight design (and affordable price). Without the top flag, the Lightweight Matte Box weighs 238g. With the top flag in place, the total weight is 457g. The dimensions of the matte box are 228.5 x 166 x 72mm.

Smallrig’s Lightweight Matte Box features interchangeable mounting systems to suit both cinema and photo lenses. It comes with a 114mm clamp that allows users to mount it directly onto a 114mm cine lens. It also includes four adapters that can be screwed onto lenses with a 67mm, 72mm, 77mm, or 82mm front filter thread. Another adapter for 95mm lenses can be purchased separately (part number 2661).

The Matte Box supports up to two standard 4×4” or 4×5.65″ filters without the use of filter trays, and it features two independent thumbscrews to keep the filters in place. The filters can be easily pushed out from the side without leaving fingerprints on the filters by unscrewing the top thumbscrew.

Carbon Fiber Top Flag

With this matte box, SmallRig includes a carbon fiber top flag that helps to block veiling glare or bright reflections from reaching the lens. It can also act as a front cover for the matte box when folded down. The matte treatment of the matte box is anti-reflective to prevent internal reflections from strong light sources.

There are four 1/4″-20 threads on the top that allow mounting additional accessories. In its original configuration, the matte box is designed to be held by the lens itself. If it gets heavier with filters in place and few accessories mounted, SmallRig also offers an optional 15mm LWS Rod Clamp (part number 2663) to support the weight.

SmallRig’s Lightweight Matte Box is similarly priced as the Tilta Mini Matte Box released almost a year ago. When I compare these two products, the Tilta product is even smaller and twice as light as Smallrig’s, but it can only take one 4×5.65″ filter and one circular filter. They both offer several mounting points and include a top flag and adapter rings.

Price and Availability

The SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box (2660) can be purchased for a very friendly price of $99.90. Apart from the matte box with the top flag itself, the package also includes four adapter rings (67-114mm, 72-114mm, 77-114mm, and 82-114mm) and two Allen wrenches.

When it comes to optional accessories, the SmallRig 15mm LWS Rod Support for Matte Box (2663) can be pre-ordered for $29.90 and the SmallRig 95-114mm Threaded Adapter Ring for Matte Box (2661) can be pre-ordered for $11.90.

According to SmallRig, all these new products are planned to start shipping on December 18th, 2020.

What do you think about the new SmallRig Lightweight Matte Box? Are you using a matte box with filters for your work? Would you consider getting this one? Let us know in the comment section below.