New to RED - Necessary Skill to work with a RED camera.

[paulherrin]

you know, some people say it's an unhealthy habit to obsessively insist that our way is the only right way. but that's just what i heard.

the fact is, somebody here knows the most about your aspirations and abilities - and what that may have to do with a RED in the future. that person is not me, nor any of these. that leaves one person. so do what you will, and trust your gut. if it's a feasible decision, don't let your lack of experience or confidence hold you back. on the other hand (pardon the approaching pun), if you're getting it just to have it on hand, maybe you should think about it more carefully.

so my real advice for you is to explore what it is you really want to pursue... and, well pursue that. if you want to be a camera op, pursue that. if you want to be a 1st AC, focus in on that. if you want to be a director... if you aspire to be a DP... you get the point. then consider how a RED or any other tool will or will not help you achieve your goals.

 

[Lauri Kettunen]

Having read this thread... -
I basically think both the advice trends here are good.

... maybe its the familiar scandinavian mental attitude or whatever but nevertheless I always like to read your posts Gunleik. This one is especially cultivated.

 

[Steve Das]

Just wondering, would those who have experience recommend multiple lenses or is a single 18-55mm lens enough to begin with? Considering I have little experience yet. The alternative is getting the twin pack, 18-55 and 55-25mm. Cheers

For sure you will learn more by getting some kind of zoom combination
that covers the full range of about 20-200mm. There are some
companies that make single zooms that cover that range although
there is some quality compromise in doing so. Or you can get 2
zooms one from about 20-70mm and a 70-200mm. Just use the zooms
as you would a prime and try to think in terms of single lenses as opposed
to just looking and zooming to the frame.

Try to note your favorite sizes so later you can move to prime lenses with confidence.

 

[Erich Ocean]

For sure you will learn more by getting some kind of zoom combination
that covers the full range of about 20-200mm. There are some
companies that make single zooms that cover that range although
there is some quality compromise in doing so. Or you can get 2
zooms one from about 20-70mm and a 70-200mm. Just use the zooms
as you would a prime and try to think in terms of single lenses as opposed
to just looking and zooming to the frame.

Try to note your favorite sizes so later you can move to prime lenses with confidence.

On the flip side, I got a lot out of a single 32mm prime lens (basically a "normal" lens for Super35mm). The key thing is to shoot, early and often.

 

[Gunleik Groven]

... and the prime will be a lot lighter and easier to handle than a big zoom...

 

[Steve Das]

On the flip side, I got a lot out of a single 32mm prime lens (basically a "normal" lens for Super35mm). The key thing is to shoot, early and often.

Yes..was also gonna say..you could go the other way and just try
to use one lens. Entire features have been shot this way..or with
just 3 prime lenses.

But if one wanted to learn quickly about focal lengths and what they
do..think zooms is the cheaper way to go about it. But we are
talking about still photo zooms here..not PL monster weight zooms.

 

[Gunleik Groven]

Does this mean you'll be a master cinematographer? Absolutely not.

Does it mean you'll be able to get really good images right out of the box? Absolutely.

Stephen

Yup!

 

[joshua csehak]

I got my 7D with the 18-135mm EF-S zoom. Its f/3.5-5.6 ramping. Its a pretty crummy lens, and that's typical for a kit lens.

If I had it to do over, I'd still get that crappy 7D kit. That is a great walking around lens- at least for daytime exterior shooting. I can live with a f/5.6 aperture outdoors, and I can hold that constant over the entire zoom range. Its good for stills (again daytime exteriors!) and not so good for video- but you can work with it.

I (begrudgingly, I was trying to save purchasing for the scarlet, but it just made better business sense) opted for the body only, and picked up the 17-55/2.8 ef-s lens. Josef, I recommend that highly as a solid, cheap (around $1k) all-around lens. It's as sharp as an L, zooming during a shot is really nice to be able to do, and the IS function lets you shoot handheld (without it, it looks like ass). I have a Nikkor 35-105 that I'd used to shoot stills forever, so I use that for when I need longer-end stuff. If I didn't have that, I'd have gone Alexander's route. It's only an extra $100, and it's basically like having cheap 55-135 primes on hand for when you need them. And like he says, it's a great walk-around lens. Especially b/c if you're taking your camera to a bar or something, and the lens gets dropped or whatever, it's nice your good one's at home.

I need to pick up that Tokina 11-16 you mentioned, Alex, but do I get the Canon mount, or the Nikon mount, or spring for the Duclos conversion? Or one of the formers, and get the Duclos conversion later? I was gonna go the Nikon route, but now Jarred's all showing off AF on the epic/scarlet with the canon lenses. Man, decisions.

One neat feature of that zoom (and other low end lenses I am told) is that the manual focus ring moves during autofocus. That can be a huge time saver. What I will do to set marks is flip the camera to stills mode and get marks with the AF (which is very accurate) That moves the follow focus handwheel, and my AC just marks it and then uses the marks as normal during taking.

ooo, that is nice. I wish mine did that. Does yours stop at the end? Mine keeps turning even after you've hit either end, so your marks get all messed up. AF is worthless in video mode, even if you're not recording; much prefer renting manual lenses at this point, Superspeeds, or Nikkors. Although, usually, if there's a budget for lens rental, there's a budget for Red rental...

 

[joshua csehak]

Yes..was also gonna say..you could go the other way and just try
to use one lens. Entire features have been shot this way..or with
just 3 prime lenses.

Yeah, I've found I'm almost always at 17, 24, or 50. (On an S35-size sensor.) Pretty standard, I think. Portrait photogs usually stay around 80 (FF-size sensor), and walk-around Cartier-Bresson guys with 35, and 24 is really handy for the wide shot. But then, I tend to shy away from close-ups, cause they can be really artsy-fartsy. But when the action's really intimate, an 85, 105 or even 135 is good to have, so it doesn't get all fish-eyed cause the camera's too close.

I guess when I say the Red is easy to use, I kind of take it as a given that people know about basic photography. I mean, who hasn't taken Photo 101 in high school and learned about apertures and focal lengths and stuff? Isn't that kind of a given? Certainly for anyone going to school for film, they must make you walk around with a still camera in manual mode snapping shots all the time?