Doug MacMillan
Senior Member
I like SmallRig products and they have been promising a lightweight matte box for months. Mine finally arrived and I'm very pleased.
I also have the Tilta Mini matte box and here's a comparison of the two.
Both have rings that allow you to attach them directly to your lens. They seem to be made of the same materials, a hard plastic case with a carbon fiber flag. Construction of both is good, with the quality of the SmallRig slightly better. I prefer the SmallRig clamp to attach the box to the ring, though both work fine.
Both will accept a 4x4 or 4x5.6 glass filter. The Tilta only accepts one filter, while you can use two with the SmallRig. For video I use both an ND and Black Pro Mist together, though in circular form. The matte box filters are crazy expensive.
Both offer a method to attach the box to rails and this is where SmallRig is head and shoulders better than Tilta. The Tilta system only attaches to one rail. I could never get the spacing right to use it, plus the design makes it hard to use. I bought the accessory rail mount for the SmallRig, which is much more robust. It has a quick release that attaches to two rails, with an adjustable center post to set the height. I have a SmallRig cage for my gripped Fuji X-H1and it was an easy setup.
Attaching the box to the rails is very important to me, since I use a variable ND filter when shooting video to be able to use a constant aperture plus a 180 degree shutter. There's no threads on the rim of the ND. With the SmallRig, I just use a slightly bigger ring and center the lens plus filter in the opening.
Both the SmallRig and the Tilta come with four rings to attach to lenses of various thread sizes.
Finally, the SmallRig is much bigger than the Tilta. The Tilta fits easily in my camera bag. I'll have to carry the SmallRig in a seperate bag.
The SmallRig is an amazing box for the price. I highly recommend the accessory rail mount if you have a cage. See the photos.
I also have the Tilta Mini matte box and here's a comparison of the two.
Both have rings that allow you to attach them directly to your lens. They seem to be made of the same materials, a hard plastic case with a carbon fiber flag. Construction of both is good, with the quality of the SmallRig slightly better. I prefer the SmallRig clamp to attach the box to the ring, though both work fine.
Both will accept a 4x4 or 4x5.6 glass filter. The Tilta only accepts one filter, while you can use two with the SmallRig. For video I use both an ND and Black Pro Mist together, though in circular form. The matte box filters are crazy expensive.
Both offer a method to attach the box to rails and this is where SmallRig is head and shoulders better than Tilta. The Tilta system only attaches to one rail. I could never get the spacing right to use it, plus the design makes it hard to use. I bought the accessory rail mount for the SmallRig, which is much more robust. It has a quick release that attaches to two rails, with an adjustable center post to set the height. I have a SmallRig cage for my gripped Fuji X-H1and it was an easy setup.
Attaching the box to the rails is very important to me, since I use a variable ND filter when shooting video to be able to use a constant aperture plus a 180 degree shutter. There's no threads on the rim of the ND. With the SmallRig, I just use a slightly bigger ring and center the lens plus filter in the opening.
Both the SmallRig and the Tilta come with four rings to attach to lenses of various thread sizes.
Finally, the SmallRig is much bigger than the Tilta. The Tilta fits easily in my camera bag. I'll have to carry the SmallRig in a seperate bag.
The SmallRig is an amazing box for the price. I highly recommend the accessory rail mount if you have a cage. See the photos.
