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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

300 FPS 1600 ASA low light test WOW!!!!!

Mark Toia

Mark Toia

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As you all know by now, I love to push the limits of the R3D's in our testing.
Why you ask... well, When the time comes when I'm in a sticky low light situation, or stuck with a lens that is not bright enough, i like to know that I can save the day.. actually I'll re-fraze that, I want to know if RED will save my day. :)

This is a quick test just on my desk, lights turned off in room, luminance from 4 monitors only, (hence the flicker you see from one of them)
At 300 frames per second, you run out of light quick. so I upped the ASA to 1600 and the image was still quite dark in the monitor. I shot for about 3 to 4 seconds and ended up with a 49 seconds of footage. (Mental note, Only press record when the shot is good or you will be going through lots of data and rushes)

Now what blew me away was the noise levels on shot were quite minimal, knowing that the image exposure was really pushed and also considering its a cropped sensor (2K)
I doubt ill ever put my self in this position to have to shoot 2k at 1600 asa again, but good to know if you have to, its certainly there to use.

Big thumbs up from my end, Overall it is a far superior image to the REDONE 2k crop @120fps

Please excuse my small compressed quicktime. I have not enough free data left to be putting up a 200meg file. so this is only 13meg.
http://www.zoomfilmtv.com.au/ftp/Dynamic_range/300fps_1600ASA.mov

Screen%20shot%202011-06-18%20at%201.54.25%20AM.png
 
Wow, That looks really good considering the lighting and exposure. I can't imagine those 4 monitors are that bright. Thanks for sharing the video Mark!
 
Hate to be a party pooper and don't get me wrong I LOVE THE EPIC's, but backlit fluid against bright background? It's not that representable to a low light condition ;). BUT it seems like the 1600 ASA level in 2K is very clean and not that noisy I have to say. That's very cool. Although it's very hard to judge from a compressed file on the internet. That's something that I'd like to explore together with more "murky" backgrounds.
 
Sam Eilertsen said:
300fps with a 1/200 shutter? How is that possible? Wouldn't that correspond to a >360 shutter angle?
Click to expand...

It isn't ... but some people actually using frame accumulation talk about it as equivalent shutter speed.

On my XL-1 camera you can set a "slow shutter" between 1/30s and 1/8s despite always shooting 60i on the camera. In that case 1/30 represents a two frame accumulation, 1/15 is a four frame accumulation and 1/8 is an 8 frame accumulation. Its a pretty cool effect actually- but usually looks wrong. I did a ballet of Dracula once with 1/15th in some dark scenes ... and it fit the mood really well, but that's pretty rare.

I'm sure David is right and that its a typo of some sort ... but its an interesting tidbit I thought.
 
Alexander Ibrahim said:
It isn't ... but some people actually using frame accumulation talk about it as equivalent shutter speed.

On my XL-1 camera you can set a "slow shutter" between 1/30s and 1/8s despite always shooting 60i on the camera. In that case 1/30 represents a two frame accumulation, 1/15 is a four frame accumulation and 1/8 is an 8 frame accumulation. Its a pretty cool effect actually- but usually looks wrong. I did a ballet of Dracula once with 1/15th in some dark scenes ... and it fit the mood really well, but that's pretty rare.

I'm sure David is right and that its a typo of some sort ... but its an interesting tidbit I thought.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've seen that feature on the XH-A1, I shot some neat footage of fireworks with it once. Didn't think RED would go for that sort of thing though.
 
Sam Eilertsen said:
Yeah, I've seen that feature on the XH-A1, I shot some neat footage of fireworks with it once. Didn't think RED would go for that sort of thing though.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to imply that RED would implement it, or that they had.

Frame accumulation also accumulates noise- which I think is anathema to the guys at Red.

Frankly I think the general concept is a process far better suited to post than in camera - you just have way more flexibility.

Nevertheless an interesting tidbit, and an interesting use of terminology.
 
Why are epic users so allergic to 720p/360fps? I mean, if it's for the sake of slowness why not, right? I forsee a lighter being lit at 360 + twixtor/AEpixelmotion to something equivalent to 720fps... 720p at 720fps... Should be more than doable.

EDIT - On Topic: That's insanely clean 1600asa... Anyone know of any 5k footage at ISO1600+ online? I know the "online" part kind of nullifies it - footage always looks cleaner when compressed for the weeeb - but it's still fun to look at.
 
Mike P. said:
Why are epic users so allergic to 720p/360fps?
Click to expand...
It's not a case of "allergy", it's simply the fact that most broadcast shows finish at 1080p and most theatrical at 2K+ - so 720p is really only a web or sports resolution these days (although - assuming US sports is still broadcast at 720p? - I would have thought the sports crowd would be interested in 720p framerates that are as high as possible). But most folk here shoot broadcast or theatrical, so 720p is less of an issue for the majority, hence the feeling that no-one cares about 720p. I doubt you are really alone in being excited about it!

Back to topic: That is lovely clean footage from a 2K crop - I'd love to see a version at full 2K res, if possible Mark? Thanks for posting mate, much appreciated...

Cheers,
Dom.
 
We all have to remember too..
Hardly any TV AD"s actually go to air in FULL HD...

They maybe mastered in HD, but go out to stations as 720 PAL or NTSC... then up rezzed to HD dimentsions from PAL or NTSC by the stations.. and compressed to hell.

Technically there is far more band width and resolution in YOU TUBE and VIMEO.. than what goes to air...

True!!
 
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