Stay with RedVolts or go Red Bricks?

[Glen Powell]

I suppose if I were an insurance salesman in Tasmania I probably would not use Anton Bauer. Likewise, if I will absolutely only ever use my own RED on every job, forever, I'd feel the same way - indeed, the new DIY, camera-guy-does-every-job-on-set ethos that RED appears to brought us supports this.

For my own use, I went with AB because I work in professional film and television and I've only ever been exposed to AB - I wanted to be as standard and compatible as I could, not show up to set with a largely unknown, proprietary powering option.

Really - you want to go there? Fine...

I've worked in a professional film environment for 20++ years (actually 25++) years and over my career I've worked in Canada, U.S., Prague, Budapest, South Africa, Australia, China, Everest Base Camp, Caribbean, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka - and in the last 12 months Mexico, Costa Rica, Iceland, Japan, and here at home.

I have encountered on these pro sets, everything from cells linked together in a plywood box (sri Lanka - powering an ARRI 435) to AB, V-mount, battery belts, cells linked together in ammo boxes. All of these from reputable rental houses (ever heard of Panavision? Whites, SIM, and more…) Panavision has sent out lots of cells linked in ammo boxes.

Never once has anyone on set (producer, AC's, client, ad agency, PM) ever given a rats ass what batteries were powering the camera; whatever camera we happened to be using - the only thing that matters is that I ordered enough batteries to get us through the day: one on cam, one ready to go, and 3-4 on charge.

End of story is: use what you can afford, and concentrate on the image… and don't worry about what's 'Pro' - Pro is an attitude of let's get this shit done on time on budget and creatively.

 

[Arnold F.]

Clearly, my view is generating a fair amount of anger, for which I apologize. I'll try to put it another way.

Unlike many folks here, I don't have luxury of not caring what gear I bring to set, at least when I'm working for someone else (I can bring what I want when it's my shoot). While it's true I've never had a PM or producer specify how I power my gear, they are, to varying degrees, savvy and knowledgable about gear in general and the quality of gear does register with many of them in ways we might not give them credit for. Some of the producers I work with were shooters themselves years prior.

I could, technically, light an interview with clip on lamps, record it with a Rode mic on top of the camera, and power the camera with Ever-ready batteries taped together. Apart from the mic on the camera (which a few poor souls feel is the correct way to record sound), these are things no conscientious crew person would ever do. The point is that there is an expectation from producers and even other crew to operate with the right gear, and to work in a professional environment I seek to comply.

Another consideration is the possibility of equipment failure - not only do I want it to be reliable, I want to have gear that is easily replaced from a rental house, even one in a smaller market. Having gear fail is bad enough, but I don't also want to tell a producer or PM that I've chosen a non-popular standard (of any type of gear) and that our shoot is held up because it's hard to get.

Lastly, I want to be compatible with other shooters. I shoot with other platforms as well as RED.

I do have two Redvolts because I have a Side Handle and it came with the Scarlet package, but I chose my main powering to be Anton Bauer because:
- it's a professional standard
- it's reliable
- easy to get
- recognizable as professional by production and crew

These are the types of things I must consider when choosing gear because of the production world I operate in and, to be honest, it's never bothered me (apart from the cost of some of this stuff!).

Really - you want to go there? Fine...

I've worked in a professional film environment for 20++ years (actually 25++) years and over my career I've worked in Canada, U.S., Prague, Budapest, South Africa, Australia, China, Everest Base Camp, Caribbean, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka - and in the last 12 months Mexico, Costa Rica, Iceland, Japan, and here at home.

I have encountered on these pro sets, everything from cells linked together in a plywood box (sri Lanka - powering an ARRI 435) to AB, V-mount, battery belts, cells linked together in ammo boxes. All of these from reputable rental houses (ever heard of Panavision? Whites, SIM, and more…) Panavision has sent out lots of cells linked in ammo boxes.

Never once has anyone on set (producer, AC's, client, ad agency, PM) ever given a rats ass what batteries were powering the camera; whatever camera we happened to be using - the only thing that matters is that I ordered enough batteries to get us through the day: one on cam, one ready to go, and 3-4 on charge.

End of story is: use what you can afford, and concentrate on the image… and don't worry about what's 'Pro' - Pro is an attitude of let's get this shit done on time on budget and creatively.

 

[Dominick Pietrzak]

Interesting to see both perspectives.

I think it's safe to say that everyone is going to have a different view on power solutions so there's no reason to prove whose way is better. Both solutions have their pros and cons, and are used differently under various circumstances.

Of course the image you are capturing is always the most important aspect in all this, which is why I just stuck with RedVolts and didn't care too much about it. Just going over the kit now, I'm looking for ways to make it better and more efficient.

 

[Noel R.]

Clearly, my view is generating a fair amount of anger, for which I apologize. I'll try to put it another way.

Unlike many folks here, I don't have luxury of not caring what gear I bring to set, at least when I'm working for someone else (I can bring what I want when it's my shoot). While it's true I've never had a PM or producer specify how I power my gear, they are, to varying degrees, savvy and knowledgable about gear in general and the quality of gear does register with many of them in ways we might not give them credit for. Some of the producers I work with were shooters themselves years prior.

I could, technically, light an interview with clip on lamps, record it with a Rode mic on top of the camera, and power the camera with Ever-ready batteries taped together. Apart from the mic on the camera (which a few poor souls feel is the correct way to record sound), these are things no conscientious crew person would ever do. The point is that there is an expectation from producers and even other crew to operate with the right gear, and to work in a professional environment I seek to comply.

Another consideration is the possibility of equipment failure - not only do I want it to be reliable, I want to have gear that is easily replaced from a rental house, even one in a smaller market. Having gear fail is bad enough, but I don't also want to tell a producer or PM that I've chosen a non-popular standard (of any type of gear) and that our shoot is held up because it's hard to get.

Lastly, I want to be compatible with other shooters. I shoot with other platforms as well as RED.

I do have two Redvolts because I have a Side Handle and it came with the Scarlet package, but I chose my main powering to be Anton Bauer because:
- it's a professional standard
- it's reliable
- easy to get
- recognizable as professional by production and crew

These are the types of things I must consider when choosing gear because of the production world I operate in and, to be honest, it's never bothered me (apart from the cost of some of this stuff!).

You lost me when you started talking about mics. You are comparing apples and oranges. The camera has an operating range for the input source power that it needs to operate. It doesn't care what batteries you use. There are hundreds of people using GMP batteries on here and I haven't heard a single complaint. If you are worried about battery failures on a set, what you do is take extra batteries. I've worked on sets with over $20,000 plus budget for a day in Miami not Tunisia. I would call that professional. All the producer wanted to know is if I had a charger, and if I had enough batteries to last through the day.

 

[Arnold F.]

I have no way or need to explain my reasons for choosing Anton Bauer any better - I did so very well! And, in any case, it's clear you're addressing different points, which is totally okay!

You lost me when you started talking about mics. You are comparing apples and oranges. The camera has an operating range for the input source power that it needs to operate. It doesn't care what batteries you use. There are hundreds of people using GMP batteries on here and I haven't heard a single complaint. If you are worried about battery failures on a set, what you do is take extra batteries. I've worked on sets with over $20,000 plus budget for a day in Miami not Tunisia. I would call that professional. All the producer wanted to know is if I had a charger, and if I had enough batteries to last through the day.

 

[Noel R.]

I have no way or need to explain my reasons for choosing Anton Bauer any better - I did so very well! And, in any case, it's clear you're addressing different points, which is totally okay!

Arnold, If you want to use Anton Bauer batteries, that's fine, no one us arguing that you shouldn't, but when you make analogies that using an off brand battery is akin to taping EverReady batteries to the top of a camera and only something that an insurance salesman working out of Tasmania would do, I take offense to that and so would a lot of other people. There are a lot of professionals that don't use Anton Bauer batteries and they are not insurance sales man.

 

[Dan Wang]

I have 3 RED Bricks and 2 REDVolts and I can run an entire 8-10 hour day with the camera on the whole time. With a Brick charger and a 2nd running it back and forth, you'll never have to use the RED Volts. I just leave them in the side handle as back up power and for hotswapping.

 

[Glen Powell]

Arnold, If you want to use Anton Bauer batteries, that's fine, no one us arguing that you shouldn't, but when you make analogies that using an off brand battery is akin to taping EverReady batteries to the top of a camera and only something that an insurance salesman working out of Tasmania would do, I take offense to that and so would a lot of other people. There are a lot of professionals that don't use Anton Bauer batteries and they are not insurance sales man.

Exactly - I was trying to make the point that on $300,000++ one day shoots for :30 second TV spots… no gives a care what batteries I use, as long as I have enough. The batteries you use are not a measure of your pro status. the O.P. should buy the best he can afford in order to have enough power to make it through a shoot day. He should also know what the local rental houses send out so he can augment when needed, & if the local Panavision rental house sends out linked cells in a plywood box...

 

[Mondo Ghulam]

Hey Dominick,

Just adding my config into the mix!

I have 2x Redvolts and 4x Redbrick providing up to 12 hours uninterrupted Scarlet shooting, in theory. The theory part comes from my not having shot 12 hours continuously yet. The bricks each give around 3hrs, the volts about 30-40 minutes. I can be anywhere with this config and if hand-held is required, I have the battery belt clip to keep the body light.

Aside from uninterrupted shooting, with a volt in the side handle, there's also enough capacity to black shade in-situ if necessary. I'm sure everything I've mentioned could be applied to volts too. I do recall part of what drove my decision to favour bricks was that £-per-watt/hr, the bricks represented better value and longer run times over volts. For the moment one Red charger and one travel charger works okay too.

Everyone's needs are different, this setup works beautifully for me.

Mondo

 

[Louis Maddalena]

Louis, did you get the second Scarlet from the super deal? If so, congrats! That's great to have two setups to cater to different needs.

.

I bought a Scarlet the day after they were announced, then I bought another one when they announced the super BT deal, and now I'm kinda eying up the epic at the price point they released it at.

 

[Arnold F.]

Subject well explained previously.

Arnold, If you want to use Anton Bauer batteries, that's fine, no one us arguing that you shouldn't, but when you make analogies that using an off brand battery is akin to taping EverReady batteries to the top of a camera and only something that an insurance salesman working out of Tasmania would do, I take offense to that and so would a lot of other people. There are a lot of professionals that don't use Anton Bauer batteries and they are not insurance sales man.

 

[Glen Powell]

Subject well explained previously.

How come Arnold F. doesn't have his full real name here? I thought this was a 'Real Name' forum - Am I mistaken?

 

[Dominick Pietrzak]

Hey Dominick,

Just adding my config into the mix!

I have 2x Redvolts and 4x Redbrick providing up to 12 hours uninterrupted Scarlet shooting, in theory. The theory part comes from my not having shot 12 hours continuously yet. The bricks each give around 3hrs, the volts about 30-40 minutes. I can be anywhere with this config and if hand-held is required, I have the battery belt clip to keep the body light.

Aside from uninterrupted shooting, with a volt in the side handle, there's also enough capacity to black shade in-situ if necessary. I'm sure everything I've mentioned could be applied to volts too. I do recall part of what drove my decision to favour bricks was that £-per-watt/hr, the bricks represented better value and longer run times over volts. For the moment one Red charger and one travel charger works okay too.

Everyone's needs are different, this setup works beautifully for me.

Mondo

Thanks for the input Mondo! That is the reason I was considering bricks - the really long run times and I kinda like the configuration more than the RedVolts.

I bought a Scarlet the day after they were announced, then I bought another one when they announced the super BT deal, and now I'm kinda eying up the epic at the price point they released it at.

I was gonna pick up an extra BT one as well, but I'm glad I didn't cause the Epic at this price seems like a great deal! I might go for it.

 

[Sandro Klopfstein]

I think you'd have to go for both versions (at least we will) as it sometimes more useful to be on the saver side with red bricks and sometimes you need a very light weight kit and could go for the redvolts.

 

[Matthew Wooten]

Are the RedVolts easier to travel with? Fewer restrictions on smaller batteries with lower lith-ion content? Bricks are classified the same as dynamite for freight purposes and can be highly problematic. Depending on if you fly with your camera or stay in the studio, RedVolts can make a lot of sense.

 

[Glen Powell]

Are the RedVolts easier to travel with? Fewer restrictions on smaller batteries with lower lith-ion content? Bricks are classified the same as dynamite for freight purposes and can be highly problematic. Depending on if you fly with your camera or stay in the studio, RedVolts can make a lot of sense.

I have both REDVolts & VMounts - neither are difficult to travel with if you know and follow the rules… I just bought a pile of PAGLOK's for travel jobs, because there are limited / no restrictions on flying and they are easier to charge.

 

[Samir Patel]

If you have both redvolts and redbricks is it possible to hot swap during a shoot to continue without powering down. Currently i have a redvolt in side handle and thinking of picking up redbrick with belt clip.

 

[Mondo Ghulam]

If you have both redvolts and redbricks is it possible to hot swap during a shoot to continue without powering down. Currently i have a redvolt in side handle and thinking of picking up redbrick with belt clip.

Hey Samir, this definitely works and is exactly the config I have.

I did have to return my side handle back to RED as it wasn't allowing this at first. It was fixed fast and now does this between Brick / AC - Volts and back again. Or any order for that matter.

Mondo

 

[Samir Patel]

Thanks Mondo.

 

[Troy Bakewell]

Is anyone else kinda surprised that we haven't seen generic Redvolts on ebay yet? I love my V mounts I purchased off ebay. Work great for a fraction of the cost.

I would expect that someday there will be $50 generic Redvolts and then buying them by the dozen would make the ultimate solution IMO