DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Kolari introduces Atlas – The lightest matte box in the industry

Mar 27, 2023 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Kolari Vision – yes, those folks who make camera filters and love tearing apart cameras – have released Atlas. They’re calling it “the lightest matte box system in the industry”, and well, yeah, it certainly seems to be. But it’s more than just a matte box. It’s a whole modular filter mounting system that can be utilised for both photography and filmmaking, adapting to each as you need it to.

Kolari Atlas is essentially a filter holder system that allows you to stack filters and effects using magnets. You can also attach one or multiple flags to the sides of the system, allowing you to block light from just about any angle. Weighing in at only 179g at its minimum configuration with a single filter, it will have minimal impact on the balance of your rig or how heavy your camera bag is.

Matte boxes are incredibly useful for filmmakers. When constantly moving the camera around while shooting, having precise control over blocking light from entering the lens is important. With photography, you only need to stop the light from hitting it for one frame at a time, in a single position. For filmmakers, however, you’re doing it for hundreds or thousands of frames at a time. Many matte boxes can be quite large and clunky, though.

This one from Kolari could also be potentially quite large and clunky if you want it to be, with a full complement of flags on it. But when you only need a flag to block light from one direction, you can remove the others to save weight. It’s also very slim, lacking the typical “hood” over the end of the lens to which you attach flags. This means the actual mounting system is also lightweight and small enough to easily slip into your camera bag – or potentially even a large pocket.

As a modular system with easily removable flags and a magnetic attachment system, you’re also able to go back down to the bare minimum setup just for photography. Take off those flags when you don’t need them and just use it like you would a regular filter holder for shooting landscapes or whatever you’d normally use your filters for. No longer do you need a separate matte box and square filter holder system. You can have them both in one with Kolari’s new Atlas. That is, assuming Kolari makes the filters you need.

This doesn’t appear to accept any real standard filters, like 100mm square, 4×5.65″. You can, of course, screw its adapter on top of a regular screw-on filter but other than that, all of the filters are Kolari’s own. So, it’s a closed system and you’re relying on Kolari to keep giving you the filters you want. If you still need to use filters from competitors, you’ll need to get a matte box or filter holder that’s a little more industry-standard.

Despite being limited to Kolari’s filters, though, they do have quite the range available for Atlas, right off the bat. We’ve got the usual circular polarizer, neutral density and variable ND filter. Actually, we’ve got multiple versions of some. There are neutral density filters available with either 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 stop options, as well as variable NDs in the 2-5 and 6-9 stop ranges. There’s also the ever-popular Mist Diffusion (sometimes called “Black Mist” or “Pro Mist” filter), as well as anamorphic-like streaks and the usual array of infrared filters in 550nm, 590nm, 665nm, 720nm, 850nm, Blue IR and Hot Mirror flavours.

At the moment, the Kolari Atlas filter system is available to pre-order from the Kolari Vision website with prices ranging from $549 up to $1,999, depending on the package you wish to purchase. At each end of the price range, we’ve got the Basic Kit and the Titan Kit. In the middle, we’ve got the Creator’s Kit for $1,499.

I’m not a massive fan of proprietary filter systems like this, although this appears to be one of the most thought-out options I’ve seen. Whereas most companies just try to replicate only the functionality of existing devices – just adding their own proprietary flavour for the sake of locking customers into their brand – this one at least add new modular functionality and tries to appeal to and be more useful to a wider range of camera owners and use cases.

A decent-looking system, if a little on the pricey side!

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

The Matte Box IQ is Irix’s take on a lightweight matte box that uses their magnetic filters SmallRig releases yet another matte box system – 5th time lucky? This compact mini matte box is 3D printable at home and holds 4×5.65″ cinema filters Tilta’s new Matte Box and Follow Focus combo make a killer rig for under $200

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: Gear Announcement, Kolari Atlas, Kolari Vision, magnetic filter, Matte Box

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« This epic timelapse shows the glory of the “blood moon” lunar eclipse
This jaw-dropping image of tornado on the Sun took nearly 100,000 photos to create »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Aputure’s F14 Fresnel Lens is motorised for remote focus control
  • The Aputure Electro Storm XT26 is a 2600 watts bi color beast LED light
  • Aputure Electro Storm CS15 is an IP65 rated 1500 Watt RGBWW LED light
  • Samsung acknowledges blurry Galaxy S23/S23+ photos – Fix on the way
  • Sony unveils two huge new 960GB and 1920GB Tough CFexpress cards

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy