I got the Smallrig and after I took out the VND circular component and re-oriented it, it turns very very smoothly. At first I didn’t have it in place all the way and turning was Indeed stiff. It after I re-seated it correctly it works extremely well and smooth.
Thank you very much. I think I'll just keep my PolarPro VND kit with both 2-5 stops and 6-9 stops for the Sony 200-600mm G (95mm filter thread with around 114mm outer diameter) and for ultra wide lenses. Tilta Mirage is possible to mount on the Sony 200-600mm G as they now have a 95mm extension tube (like 95mm to 95mm ring) and possible vignetting should be present, but filming in 4K@120fps in the a7sIII it crops in x1.1 so that might be enough to cut out any vignetting. No reviews on that yet, most people don't even know that Tilta made that extension ring that I've suggested them to have, and surprisingly they listened, same when I asked them to add a tray that you can rotate the special effects with the motor, and they did! So I respect Tilta for being a good listener and Vaxxis 95mm filter with Tilta Mirage are dirt-cheap compared to 4x4" and 4x5.6" filters needed for Smallrig, not to mention the proprietary PolarPro filters that are just paper weight outside that system. Also the CP on PolarPro had made bubbles and the copper paint quickly faded within the first 2-3 months! So don't get fooled by PolarPro's "assumed" quality, depsite I'm overall very happy of how the image quality looks with their VND/CP that you don't need to add any more digital LUT's to improve!
It’s not just you. My smallrig vnd is actually extremely stiff to turn to the point where it will not reach its min and max end points. I sent smallrig a video explaining this problem and told me that they didn’t understand my issue and that it seemed normal.
That's really disappointing, since they seem to be such a "for the people" company. Thanks for weighing in, this item in its current form really does seem to be a bust.
just bought the SmallRig and MAN, did my fingers get worn down trying to dial that thing in! Returning it in less than 24hrs. Just hope the green tint on the Mirage is manageable in post
I have the tilta mini mattebox and had the mirage for a day. both had similar rod mount issues the mini had a single sided rod mount, which is ok till you need to move it. why move it well some lenses will move the front element and having it lose enough to move is not a good experience. So I bought the mirage which doesn't include the rod mount and is out of stock most places and then i discovered it uses a 3mm thread to attach to the matte box so only tilta's fits Tilta germany was willing to sell me one for about 60 euro and 23 postage. I'm not waiting 6 weeks for a rod clamp that costs me 2/3rds of the cost of the basic mirage set up. So i have ordered the smallrig 3556 which is essentally a stripped down version of the 3645. I've also ordered the neewer rod clamp which worked out about the same cost as the postage for the tilta version. There are options when it comes to motorising an ND filter one of the simplist is to put a gear band on one half, if thats too thin well a metal lens hood can be a good mod too. Smallrigs VND kit for its mattebox runs about 165 euro , You also can use screw on filters too if you need something like an ir cut filter. using the rodclamp fixed and the lens clamp lose you can operate a regular nd filter by hand or motor and just let the lens adapter rotate in the mattebox housing. You can't help thinking sometimes that Tilta releases flawed products with the deliberate intention of up selling you to the next model up.
Bummer about the VND on the Smallrig. I wanted to get it, because I have the Tilta Mirage but I liked the larger size of the Smallrig that looks more professional than the dinky Mirage. It is nice to pack thought. Thanks.
Seems there are two versions of the smallrig matte box. One is 95mm second one is 114mm. And to remove VND smoothly you need 2 frames (at least what I've seen in other YT reviews). I wonder how bad VND in smallrig is ... cause Tilta one is quite bad :D. Got strong color cast and cross pattern starts quite fast.
I got the Smallrig and after I took out the VND circular component and re-oriented it, it turns very very smoothly. At first I didn’t have it in place all the way and turning was Indeed stiff. It after I re-seated it correctly it works extremely well and smooth.
What did you have to do to adjust it?
You need to do a video on this
Thank you very much. I think I'll just keep my PolarPro VND kit with both 2-5 stops and 6-9 stops for the Sony 200-600mm G (95mm filter thread with around 114mm outer diameter) and for ultra wide lenses. Tilta Mirage is possible to mount on the Sony 200-600mm G as they now have a 95mm extension tube (like 95mm to 95mm ring) and possible vignetting should be present, but filming in 4K@120fps in the a7sIII it crops in x1.1 so that might be enough to cut out any vignetting. No reviews on that yet, most people don't even know that Tilta made that extension ring that I've suggested them to have, and surprisingly they listened, same when I asked them to add a tray that you can rotate the special effects with the motor, and they did!
So I respect Tilta for being a good listener and Vaxxis 95mm filter with Tilta Mirage are dirt-cheap compared to 4x4" and 4x5.6" filters needed for Smallrig, not to mention the proprietary PolarPro filters that are just paper weight outside that system. Also the CP on PolarPro had made bubbles and the copper paint quickly faded within the first 2-3 months! So don't get fooled by PolarPro's "assumed" quality, depsite I'm overall very happy of how the image quality looks with their VND/CP that you don't need to add any more digital LUT's to improve!
It’s not just you. My smallrig vnd is actually extremely stiff to turn to the point where it will not reach its min and max end points. I sent smallrig a video explaining this problem and told me that they didn’t understand my issue and that it seemed normal.
That's really disappointing, since they seem to be such a "for the people" company. Thanks for weighing in, this item in its current form really does seem to be a bust.
just bought the SmallRig and MAN, did my fingers get worn down trying to dial that thing in! Returning it in less than 24hrs. Just hope the green tint on the Mirage is manageable in post
The tint is easily manageable, in fact I have lenses that have more of a tint than the Mirage.
I have the tilta mini mattebox and had the mirage for a day. both had similar rod mount issues the mini had a single sided rod mount, which is ok till you need to move it. why move it well some lenses will move the front element and having it lose enough to move is not a good experience. So I bought the mirage which doesn't include the rod mount and is out of stock most places and then i discovered it uses a 3mm thread to attach to the matte box so only tilta's fits Tilta germany was willing to sell me one for about 60 euro and 23 postage. I'm not waiting 6 weeks for a rod clamp that costs me 2/3rds of the cost of the basic mirage set up. So i have ordered the smallrig 3556 which is essentally a stripped down version of the 3645. I've also ordered the neewer rod clamp which worked out about the same cost as the postage for the tilta version. There are options when it comes to motorising an ND filter one of the simplist is to put a gear band on one half, if thats too thin well a metal lens hood can be a good mod too. Smallrigs VND kit for its mattebox runs about 165 euro , You also can use screw on filters too if you need something like an ir cut filter. using the rodclamp fixed and the lens clamp lose you can operate a regular nd filter by hand or motor and just let the lens adapter rotate in the mattebox housing.
You can't help thinking sometimes that Tilta releases flawed products with the deliberate intention of up selling you to the next model up.
Bummer about the VND on the Smallrig. I wanted to get it, because I have the Tilta Mirage but I liked the larger size of the Smallrig that looks more professional than the dinky Mirage. It is nice to pack thought. Thanks.
Honestly, once mounted they’re almost identical in size but the Mirage is lighter and more flexible.
Seems there are two versions of the smallrig matte box. One is 95mm second one is 114mm.
And to remove VND smoothly you need 2 frames (at least what I've seen in other YT reviews).
I wonder how bad VND in smallrig is ... cause Tilta one is quite bad :D. Got strong color cast and cross pattern starts quite fast.
What about the nisi though?
Haven’t used it, so I can’t say for sure.