Newbie questions about initial setup.

[fsfilms]

Hello all,

I should preface this post by saying I'm not a professional videographer- my partners and I purchased the Red so that we could experiment, learn, and work our way up to using it in place of our Sony FX1 handycam.

With that said, we received Red #3306 this afternoon, and have spent the last few hours setting it up. I swapped out the PL-mount for the Nikon, following several how to videos to do so. I then mounted an AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 to the camera, and it clicked into place with no issue.

Feeling confident that I have set up the mount and lens with no issue, I deduce that my issue lies with lack of knowledge about the camera settings. Having booted up the camera and formatted the 8gb CF card, I set up a project at 2K 2:1, RC28, 24fps. I then removed the lens cap, and was greeted with a very dark image on the LCD. I began to experiment with white balance, shutter speed, gain, and sensitivity- only the gain appeared to adjust the image on the LCD, causing it to be brighter, but painfully grainy.

So, I appeal to the experienced users here- is this normal? Am I simply missing an obvious setting? I have attempted to search for similar experiences in the forum here, and haven't come across it. Thank you all!

 

[Noah Kadner]

Why 2K? Shoot 4K- that's the camera's best strength.

Noah

 

[fsfilms]

2K for the sake of experimenting- figured we'd deal with capturing/moving around some smaller files first.

 

[Simon Valderrama]

hard to say with the details you give.
maybe you could post an image from your footage and tell us what f-stop, settings, and other info (like light conditions) on what you shoot?

 

[Andrae Palmer]

How bright is your environment, what aperture is your lens set to and what shutter speed is your camera on?

 

[Harrison Diamond]

With that said, we received Red #3306 this afternoon, and have spent the last few hours setting it up. I swapped out the PL-mount for the Nikon, following several how to videos to do so. I then mounted an AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 to the camera, and it clicked into place with no issue.

Unfortunately you didn't do your homework on Nikon lenses hmy:

The 17-55 DX is a "G" lens, which means that the iris is controlled mechanically by the camera body in its usual configuration. The standard RED Nikon mount is designed for use with non-G lenses with an aperture control ring on the lens.

Since you tried to use the G lens on the standard mount, there was nothing to hold open the aperture lever so the iris closed down to f/22.

There is a solution, though. Doug Underdahl, who designed the current RED Nikon mount, if i'm not mistaken, makes a special version capable of controlling G lenses. Thankfully, part of the thing is you send him your RED nikon mount in the purchase, plus $295, so you don't duplicate the mount, just get the version capable of controlling the iris.

This will also allow you to use any DX nikkor lenses, as well as non-DX G lenses from Nikon like the 70-200/2.8, 200/2.0G, 300/2.8G, and the like.

The details are in Doug's Thread here.

 

[nice_guise]

Thank you for the help, Silentwave. We determined that it had to be the lens by comparing settings agonst other users' settings here. Thankfully, we haven't purchased our own lenses yet, and are experimenting with a borrowed one. I appreciate the prompt assistance.

Regards,

-The other half of fsfilms