Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Apr 11, 2022 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

H&Y Filters, the company behind the Revoring magnetic filter system are releasing a new “Swift” modular magnetic filter system that they say works for both photographers and filmmakers. They even have a magnetic matte box! They’re claiming it to be a world’s first system that targets both types of user, which is probably accurate as most only seem to focus on photographers, but I think some video guys are going to need some convincing.

The system isn’t available just yet and is launching on Kickstarter later this month, but they’ve already put up the promo video for it, along with a few bits of information (not much, though). So, here’s what we know about it so far. Like I said, not much. We’ve got a rough idea of what’s included in the ecosystem, but there are no specific details yet and no prices.

The company has said that the campaign will be going live on April 20th, so all the details will be ready then, and there’s a page on their website where you can sign up for notifications to be able to catch that super early bird discount if it’s something you’re interested in. Other than the signup form, though, there’s no information other than the video above.

We can see from the video and a couple of the images what might be included, though. And it looks like we’ve got the base that screws onto the filter thread of your lens to provide the magnetic attachment point along with a square filter holder, what looks like a lens hood, a matte box for the video shooters along with a number of actual filters – including magnetic round ones as well as square and rectangular ones for the matte box and landscape shooters.

Magnetic filters are nothing new, although they’ve historically only been targeted toward photographers. Perhaps this is simply because most photographers don’t usually have to place a lot of weight on the end of their lens and the relatively small magnets can hold them just fine. I’ve not really seen them targeted towards filmmakers before – although, one could argue that all variable ND filters are targeted towards video people and not photographers.

But a magnetic matte box?

It’s an interesting concept, but I can see from the photograph that it’s not going to be the matte box that many might be hoping for. It doesn’t look very deep and it has no flags on it. The lack of flags might be down to weight issues and how much of it the magnets can actually hold but they’re a pretty essential part of a matte box for most filmmakers. At least a top flag, even if it doesn’t have side flags. And if it’s got a couple of expensive and heavy glass 4×5.65″ cine filters in there (assuming it actually holds those, too), that’s going to be a lot of weight relying on those magnets.

It does look like there’s a slot for a flag on top that can clamp down, but it’s interesting that they’re not showing it off in a product shot containing what looks like an 8K RED Helium camera. You’d think they’d know better, especially in the apparently bright conditions under which some of these images were shot. Still, I don’t want to judge them too harshly, too soon. They might turn out to be pretty awesome. I guess only time will tell.

If you want to be notified when the campaign goes live on April 20th, head on over to the H&Y website and sign up to their list.

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: Filters, Gear Announcement, H&Y, magnetic filter, REVORING

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs people in the wild and animals in the studio. You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs people in the wild and animals in the studio. You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.

Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.

Alex is a commercial photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She mostly shoots people and loves anything to do with the outdoors. You can see her work on her website and follow her Spanish landscape adventures on instagram.

Adam Frimer is a Guinness World Record holder, producer, and DOP based in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Adam owns a production company that specializes in corporate marketing and brand strategy. His videos have collectively hit over a quarter billion views

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