The Tilta Mirage Pro Matte Box was first shown way back at Cine Gear 2024 as a prototype and it was officially announced a few weeks ago.
According to Tilta, this is a professional modular matte box that can be used by anyone from beginners all the way up to seasoned professionals. Like most Tilta products, it was designed to be affordable and accessible.
“The Mirage Pro Matte Box represents Tilta’s commitment to democratizing professional filmmaking tools,” says Yang Shao, president of Tilta Inc. “We designed this matte box to be both versatile and accessible, empowering creators at every stage of their journey to achieve stunning visuals and express their artistic vision. Designed for seasoned cinematographers or those just starting out, the Mirage Pro is engineered to elevate your craft.”
Yang Shao, president of Tilta Inc.
The Tilta Mirage Pro Matte Box looks to offer a lot of versatility, in a lightweight design, that is easy to use.
Key features
- CLAMP ON to Cine Lenses with Front Diameters Including 95mm, 110mm, 114mm and 134mm
- LWS ROD MOUNT: Compatible with Dual 15mm LWS Rods
- 4 x 5.65 FILTER TRAYS: Accommodates Three 4×5.65 Rectangular Filters
- TOP FLAG: Blocks Light and Controls Unwanted Flares
- VND FILTER: Covers 1 to 7 Stops of Neutral Density to Control Most Situations with a Single Filter (Only in VND Kit)
First Impressions
The Tilta Mirage Pro Matte Box VND Kit that I will be reviewing comes with a ton of accessories. I personally haven’t come across a matte box of this quality and at this price that comes with so many accessories, many of which, are normally optional items on other systems.
The Tilta Mirage Pro Matte Box VND Kit comes in a reasonably nice padded carrying case. Everything is nicely laid out and easy to access. My only slight complaint is that it is a pretty big case for a matte box, but given you get so many accessories, Tilta probably couldn’t have made it much smaller.
What I like is that Tilta even includes a bunch of cleaning accessories that you can use for wiping filters, etc. UPDATE: Unfortunately, it seems like this only comes in the first 100 units to ship.
Build Quality
The overall build quality of the Mirage Pro Matte Box is good. Everything is solidly made and works as advertised.
Despite being lightweight, there was nothing that overly concerned me, however, I haven’t been using it long enough to know how well it would stand the test of time.
The 15mm LWS Rod Mount and Swing Away Arm all attach nicely without any wobble or movement.
Size & Weight
The Mirage Pro Matte Box in its lightest configuration weighs 1.37lbs / 621.5g. The weight will obviously increase depending on what you add to it.
Its lightweight construction makes it a good solution for gimbals and any other weight-sensitive support system.
The magnetic clip-on front hood can be easily removed to further reduce weight without sacrificing filter capacity.
This is a nice feature to have and it certainly makes this matte box very versatile.
You can also take out additional filter stages (with an Allen key) if you want to make it even lighter and just run a single filter. It does take a few minutes to take out the additional stages and put the matte box back together as you need to undo quite a few screws. Arguably, it’s not something you would ideally want to do in the field if you were in a hurry.
You can also attach the 15mm LWS Rod Mount and Swing Away Arm and run this same configuration.
4 x 5.65 Filter Trays
The Mirage Pro supports industry-standard 4 x 5.65 filters. The matte box can accommodate up to three filters simultaneously. Now, I tried putting a Bright Tangerine Gripper tray in the Tilta matte box and it didn’t go in easily.
The filter tray’s depth accommodates filters ranging from 2mm to 4mm thick, making it compatible with various filter brands.
The filter trays are reasonably easy to use, but the release mechanism for putting a filter in or taking one out could potentially be better designed. I found it a little difficult to put in or take our filters.
It is nice that Tilta gives you three filter stages, and as I mentioned earlier in the review, you do have the ability to take stages out that you don’t need.
Lens Compatibility
The Mirage Pro works with a wide selection of glass, from cinema lenses to photography lenses. Its clamp-on design allows for direct mounting on cine lenses with front diameters including 95mm, 110mm, 114mm, and 134mm.
Above you can see the fulll frange of diameters it is compatible with when it comes to direct clamping.
Having the ability to direct clamp the matte box onto a variety of industry standard lens diameters is very handy. The clamp on backs are easy to install and change over.
It is also compatible with photography lenses using optional thread adapters. Tilta offers a wide range of adapters from 52mm all the way up to 95mm.
If you don’t want to do direct clamping, then you can also use the Rubber donut adapters that come in the following sizes:
- 80-95mm
- 95-114mm
- 114-136mm
I like to use these as often I am working with lenses that have different front diameters, so clamp-on solutions are not always the best choice.
According to Tilta, the matte box will work with lenses as wide as 16mm (on full frame cameras).
I decided to test this out. Now, yes, if you are running three filter stages then you can’t go any wider than a 16mm lens. However, if you are only running one filter stage, I found I could clamp on the matte box and I had no problem using a 12mm lens on a full frame camera.
Swing-away Adapter
Tilta offers a Swing-Away Adapter in the VND Kit (that needs to be used with rods) which is a handy addition if you need to frequently change lenses. Taking a matte box on and off can be time-consuming and impractical depending on what you are doing.
The Swing-away Adapter works really well and it doesn’t wobble around or not close correctly.
15mm LWS Rod Adapter
In both the VND and Basic Kits, Tilta includes a 15mm LWS Rod Adapter so you can mount the Mirage Pro Matte Box to 15mm rods. I personally prefer having two locking mechanisms on the sides of a LWS rod adapter, but because of the way the Mirage Pro Matte Box was designed, there is only a single locking mechanism in the middle.
Tilta also sells an optional 19mm Studio Rod Adapter for $35 USD.
Hard Matte Kit
Tilta includes hard mattes in 5 different sizes in the VND Kit. Again, this is something you rarely see offered or even included with ‘affordable’ matte boxes.
These simply snap into the front of the matte box.
Top Flag and optional side & bottom flags
The top flag provide flare and light spill management if you are working in challenging lighting conditions.
The flag is lightweight and it sits flat against the front of the matte box when closed.
You can lock the position of the top flag with a lever.
The top flag has two adjustable side wings for additional light control. These can be deployed without having to loosen anything. I was a little surprised that there was nothing to keep these in place as once a matte box starts to get some wear and tear, these may not stay in place.
1/4”-20 Threads With Locating Points
The mounting location for the top flag provides space for accessories when the flag is not in use.
Tilt & Height Adjustment
Something you don’t usually find in ‘affordable’ matte boxes is a tilt adjustment. The Tilta Mirage Pro features a flexible tilt adjustment mechanism so you can eliminate internal light reflections. This is very useful if you encounter this issue. What I found is that unless your matte box is clamped right toward the very end of 15mm rods, the down degree adjustment will be compromised as the matte box will hit the rails.
By utilizing the +25 Tilt Adjustment and/or +15 Height Adjustment you can physically angle or adjust the height of the matte box slightly.
It is easy to adjust the angle by simply rotating the large knob. Tilta also includes markings so it is easy to put it back to a completely neutral level.
To do this you do need the Swing Away Adapter, Rod Adapter, and Rubber Donut.
You can also adjust the height of the matte box which is very useful if you plan on using the matte box with different cameras.
Variable ND Filter (Included in VND Kit or available separately)
The flagship Mirage Pro VND Kit includes a 114mm Variable ND Filter that provides 1 to 7 stops of light reduction.
The VND offers a pretty good range and I like that Tilta has put markings ranging from 0.3 up to 2.1.
There’s a little geared wheel that you use to adjust the amount of ND.
For those who are wondering, yes, you can use the Tilta VND in any other matte box that accepts 4 x 5.65″ filter trays.
According to Tilta, unlike traditional VND, the Mirage Pro VND provides remarkably accurate colors without noticeable shifts when ND is applied. It effectively maintains the color temperature and DUV, resulting in a more precise white point.
Tilta claims that the 114mm VND uses high-accuracy optical coatings for precise color fidelity. They do, however, say that due to optical limitations, please be aware of potential cross-pattern artifacts when using stops between 1.8 and 2.1. Pairing this filter with a longer focal length lens can help avoid this issue.
So how does the VND actually perform? Well, let’s find out.
With a lot of VND filters companies tend to limit them to around 2-5 stop (ND4 – ND32). They do this to avoid cross-polarization. Cross-polarization happens with some variable ND filters that have a large range. It basically means that the front and rear pieces of glass reach a point where they cross each other in a sort of x pattern.
While making a VND with a more limited range avoids this, the caveat is that 5 stops aren’t quite enough when you are shooting outdoors on a sunny day. Tilta decided to go with 0.3 up to 2.1 (1-7 stops) for this very reason.
I set up a test where I white balanced a camera without any ND and then shot a color checker chart on a wall. This gave me a reference image that I could then check against the camera’s internal ND and when using the Tilta VND. I have purposely put the color checker chart on a wall that isn’t white so you can see any changes in color on both the chart and the wall. I did this on purpose, because my reference image isn’t going to be completely color neutral, but neither is the real world!
The Tilta VND filter is not completely color-neutral, but its performance is pretty good. At 0.3 up to 1.5 ND you would be hard pressed to pick the difference. Once you hit 1.8/ 2.1 ND there is a noticeable cool shift that is very evident. What you clearly need to remember is that very few (if any) VND filters remain neutral, especially at higher strengths. While the Tilta VND was reasonably accurate on scopes I found that the overall look of the image was slightly warmer from 0.3-1.5 ND, but not by any huge amount. There is a very, very slight magenta push, but this is something that can be easily corrected. At 1.8 and above the Tilta VND will start introducing more blue.
Reference Image (camera white balance) 
ARRI Internal ND 1.2 
Tilta VND 1.2 
ARRI Internal ND 1.8 
Tilta VND 1.8
Above you can see shots of the scopes when I zoomed all the way in to the main white strip on the color checker chart. What you ideally want is the scopes to reflect exactly the same values as your reference image.
I also used the Color Match feature in Resolve so you can see how easy it is to correct an image if there is a color shift when using a VND.
The Tilta VND performs well up to about 1.5 ND, and considering it comes in the VND kit, it offers good value for money. As I always say, if you want more neutral results then it is better to use fixed strength ND filters.
In 2025, there aren’t that many bad variable ND filters. Even cheaper options tend to produce good results. When choosing a variable ND filter, it really comes down to what strengths you need, the build quality, and the usability of that filter.
The VND Kit also features a rod adapter that is compatible with small wireless motors like the Tilta Nucleus Nano 2 Motor, enabling wireless, on-the-go ND adjustments. This is a handy addition and not something you usually find on ‘affordable matte boxes’.
Where is the eND?
Tilta has been showing variations of their variable eND filter for quite a long time, but it still isn’t ready for release. Tilta told me that they are still working on improving the eND.
I think this would be a very welcome addition and one that is likely to be widely adopted by those using mirrorless hybrids (if you don’t mind using a matte box).
Ease of use & set-up
Tilta has a nice straightforward video that shows you how to use the Mirage Pro.
I found the matte box to be very easy to use and there was nothing that frustrated me. I like the versatility of the kit because it allows you to configure the matte box in so many different ways depending on your requirements.
Tilta has thrown everything in except the kitchen sink and it’s refreshing that you don’t have to purchase a myriad of optional extras to get everything you need.
It has been well designed and thought out and it offers very good value for money given what you get in the kit. This is the first matte box I have come across other than an ARRI or Bright Tangerine that I would personally have no issue using on professional jobs.
Pricing & Availability
The Tilta Mirage Pro Matte Box is now available for purchase through authorized Tilta dealers and the official Tilta online store.
The Mirage Pro Matte Box is offered in three configurations:
- VND Kit
- Base Kit
- Single Backing Kit
Pricing starts at $299 USD for the Single Backing Kit. The Base Kit is $494 USD, and the VND Kit is $764 USD.
Below is what you get in the kits.
VND Kit
Basic Kit
Competition
There are quite a lot of matte boxes on the market. I will list some of the options that range from $500-$1,000 USD.
| PRICE | |
| SHAPE Swing-Away Matte Box | $597.52 USD |
| NiSi Cinema C5 Matte Box Cinema Kit | $699 USD |
| Kondor Blue 4×5 Matte Box System (Pro Kit) | $550 USD |
| Bright Tangerine Misfit Atom Matte Box with Top Flag, Donut & 15mm Rod Mount Accessories Kit | $654.39 USD |
| Wooden Camera Zip Box Pro 4 x 5.65″ Clamp-On Complete Matte Box Kit | $995 USD |
| Wooden Camera UMB-1 Universal Matte Box (Base) | $995 USD |
| ARRI Mini Matte Box MMB-2 Basic Module | $740 USD |
| Vocas MB-256 Matte Box Kit for Cameras with 15mm LW Support | $885.11 USD |
| LanParte UMB-Pro Universal Matte Box | $724.79 USD |
| PolarPro Basecamp Matte Box Kit with Variable ND 2-5 & Polarizer Filters | $649.99 USD |
| Movcam MM4 4 x 5.65″ Clip-On/15mm LWS Rod-Mounted Matte box | $599 USD |
Just to be clear, a lot of these options above don’t come with a VND or a lot of the accessories and adapters you get in the Mirage Pro Matte Box VND Kit.
The Mirage Pro Matte Box VND Kit offers very good value for money given what you get.
