What kind of gear were you hoping to get, Powernewbie? I ask because there's a lot you can do with DIY and consumer gear to accomplish basically the same thing as high priced pro gear. Depending on how much money you have, it's all about spending it in the right place.
The examples you gave like external monitors and matt boxes are cool to have and make your rig look super-pro, but you can get by using alternatives.
Eternal monitor: Ultimately, these are really just so other people can see what the camera sees. You don't need an expensive external HD monitor for critical focus and exposure. That's what the eye piece (viewfinder) is for. Sure it would be nice to have a $700 external monitor but you don't need it. If it's just a reference monitor for the director or other important crew members, a portable DVD player with the right video inputs to connect to your camera will do the job. $60.
Matt box: Do you really need one? Really? What does a matt box do? It holds filters and shades the lens. Can your camera use treaded filters? Far cheaper and just as good. And the lens can be shaded in any number of ways that cost next to nothing (a PA and a piece of foam core comes to mind).
My point here is to think about where that money is really going to make the biggest impact on the success of the film. I have a simple set of rules I follow when I'm budgeting in preproduction.
Budget what you need in front of the camera first. That's what the audience sees. Wardrobe, props, set pieces, locations... Feed your cast and crew second. A well fed cast and crew is a happy cast and crew. Then sound. Then fun camera gear. Think of it this way: You can put rhinestones on a turd and shoot it with the RED, but it's still just a turd with rhinestones on it...
Get creative and find inexpensive alternatives to the high priced gear, because in the end, no one's going to care whether you used a $700 monitor or a $1200 matt box and filters. As long as the story is compelling and the audio is clean and the video is watchable, they'll watch it.
Hope you find this useful.
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