Matte Box

Matte Box

Some Matte Boxes are designed to not only cut down incoming peripheral light but to also hold camera lens filters. When there are two trays or slots in the matte box that will allow the matte box to hold two different filter types in front of the camera lens at the same time, the matte box is referred to as a two-stage matte box. The stage numbers are an indication of how many filter trays, holders or slots are available. There are many designs of multi-staged matte boxes. In the past, 2-stage, 3-stage and even 4-stages or more were used to implement the many filters that may have been required to control various camera concerns. In the celluloid film emulsion days, in was common to use a color corrector, an ND filter or two and a polarizer all at the same time. Now in digital camera implications, there is a strong opinion that really only two filters types are technically needed to be installed into a Matte Box. ND filters are required in order for the camera to be able to shoot at a wide open f-stop such as an f-2.8. This is the only way to physically achieve a Shallow Depth of Field when shooting in bright lighting conditions or slow shutter situations. A Polarizer is also another physical filter requirement that cut down a bit of light but more importantly, will cause some reflections or glare visible in windows or reflective surfaces to disappear when recorded on camera. This helpful photography trick is not possible to create or apply in a postproduction environment, it must be performed during the live shoot. In the opinion of many digital photographers, all other filtration efforts can easily created in post production and afford you the luxury of changing your mind about a gradient position or color temperature setting. This is the reason that 2-stage matte boxes are such popular models for digital cameras, one stage holds an ND and one stage holds a polarizer. Another popular option is to have at least one of the stages rotate with a minimum of 45 degrees of rotation. This way a polarizer can be installed and rotated as you look through the camera lens or monitor to set the amount of polarization to your taste