Red One Canon 5D Video Test

[christopher witzke]

As an owner of 4 5d2's and a RED..... I can add the following:

The "baked" in settings are acceptable if your careful about your white balance and your exposure.... not much room for correction in post as it falls apart pretty easily. Also.... you'll get much better results if you create a "style" setting that pulls back on the contrast, sat, and sharpness.

My main problem with the 5d2's is the "alliasing" that appears... especially when shooting a scene with brick buildings..... If you shoot with a fast lens and have shallow DOF you will be able to hide it most of the time.

Another issue.... the rolling shutter makes it impossible to correct shaky with FCP's smoothcam.... just wont look good.

As for the RED.... fantastic! Obviously it's a bigger and heavier rig to work with.... but the imagery the RED creates is streets above the 5d2. I'm constantly impressed with the dynamic range of the footage.

[jbeale]

My Canon 50D doesn't record video, but it has an HDMI output which works in "live view" mode. Looking at the HDMI output, it appears to be 30 fps at 1/30 sec shutter, which is certainly not the same motion as a 180 degree shutter. Does the 5DII work that way as well?

[Rick Darge]

Thank you for doing this Richard. I must admit I was starting to eye that 5D and after this I am sticking with RED.

Out of curiosity, what was that test you did running towards the camera supposed to show?

Just wanted a body in motion outside. No reason.

[Andrew Walker]

Thanks for doing the test Richard. I still want to get a 5D2 but I've always wanted it just for night timelapse shots. I really have no interest if it shoots video. Seems cool and a nice tool to have in the bag. I'm more interested in the Nikon to Canon mount that your using to get these shots because the ZF glass that I bought for my Red would look cool on my 40D.

[David Swan]

No camera is set up correctly "out-of-the-box". I don't have a 5DII yet, but I do have a 5D, and find "Faithful" is a good starting point.
Another er..minor point....a working Red set-up is, what, 10x as much as a 5DII? And people are slating it for not being as good as a Red One? Get real!
Dave

[Tom Lowe]

Thanks for doing this test, Rick.

A couple of thoughts:

1) To be fair, this material should be presented at 1080p. 720p can hide a lot of resolution and other issues with the 5D2.

2) The color-correction work on the Red footage is very dull and flat. This is unfair, since the contrast, saturation, etc, are boosted through the roof on the 5D2.

3) The 5D2 seems to hold the sky a hell of a lot better than the R1. I don't know if this is a result of your lack-luster grading, though? I have heard people claiming that R1 has a clear "DR advantage" over the 5D2, but I never thought that was true. It has a million other advantages, for sure, but DR is not one of them, as far as I can tell.

[Rick Darge]

I would have put up a 1080 file but bandwidth issues. If someone wants to host it, I can send one over if people are interested. Just PM me. I kept the Red at defaults as well as the Canon. I'm using the STANDARD picture setting on the Canon so none of the SAT/CONTRAST levels are boosted. They're all zeroed out as far as I can tell. Once again, no s-curves applied to any of the Red or Canon footage. Rec709 has better dynamic range but I wanted to just get the imagery closer, gamma wise. I should do a retest when I have time to try and grade them both as best as they can be, rather than 'out of the box'

[Matt Gottshalk]

Glad I bought the 5DMKII. I can work within it's limitations and get some great footage at a fraction of the cost of a RED.

If I get some budgets that justify a RED I will certainly rent one.

Otherwise, my clients will more than love the look of the 5DMKII.

Check out this test with a Sigma 50mm 1.4:

http://www.theprogamer.com/daniel/si..._14-stream.mov

[Jonathan Stevenson]

Another er..minor point....a working Red set-up is, what, 10x as much as a 5DII? And people are slating it for not being as good as a Red One? Get real!
Dave

I think this is the biggest thing that is overlooked in the Red/5D battle. Yes, hands down, the Red is a superior camera- because it costs $30k to get it running. If you want a slick, great looking camera for under 5K, the 5D is an awesome option. But the Red will always be better. :)

[jimhare]

Yeah, same as when people like to compare the R1 to Genesis. The fact that you can even compare them is testament alone.

Difference here is the R1 can go against the Genesis feature by feature, and wins in many areas.

The 5D seems like it will always be a "if you get it exactly right on set and don't challenge it in post" scenario. A lot of pressure and extra time on set.

Still, a great thing to have in the kit, just don't know if it could ever be the main piece in your kit.

I think this is the biggest thing that is overlooked in the Red/5D battle. Yes, hands down, the Red is a superior camera- because it costs $30k to get it running. If you want a slick, great looking camera for under 5K, the 5D is an awesome option. But the Red will always be better. :)