Rick Burnett
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It's funny, I had the same thoughts recently till going through a Nikon D90 (which I hated for video) and now I own a 7D. My perspective is from someone who is still learning a lot about cinematography, but is VERY technical (as I have mentioned before, I am a chip designer during the day).
Two things stand out:
1) These cameras being sold now (7D, 5D, 1D) were designed quite a while ago, probably more than a year and a half I am guessing from when they were released minimum.
2) The use of the 5D for video as it is was a big shock to Canon from what I have read, they didn't expect people to use it as it is, or at least, not to the level it has been used. So now that they see what people are doing with them, you can bet they know other companies are seeing this and they are surely going to try and keep their products in the market. Of course, they have the problem of not obsoleting their other cameras that cost a whole lot more.
Having use my 7D quite extensively now and put it through a lot of tests and comparisons, I can honestly say, it has issues that annoy me to no end, but then, I paid $1.5k for this camera, and knowing that, it makes me absolutely happy with my investment. What I also realize is that the problems that plague this camera, if they were fixed, the camera would cost A LOT MORE than $1.5k without question, so I accept what I have.
Things like:
1) Down-sampling is pretty bad in the camera. The Debayer along with the line skipping can produce NASTY artifacting, and very colorful moire patterns. Given that the camera is a still camera first, they need to increase the processing power of the camera AT A MINIMUM so it can do a better downrez of the frame. This is my number one want.
2) While H.264 has it's issues, I could live with it if (1) were fixed, but I know a lot of people would just like to get the raw right out of it, and I agree, RED has made an excellent case why this is ultimate. Again, speed of the system.
3) Heat. If they did (1) I am sure the heat of the camera would increase A LOT. Not to mention the decrease in battery performance for all those calculations and updated Debayer algorithm. This would be no small feat to handle, but something that everyone seems to be dealing with. The D90 had heat issues as well.
4) Rolling shutter. The whole sensor needs to be faster, period. That's expensive and takes a lot of time.
These things, while trivial to identify, are not all easy to fix. This is what amazes me about RED and what they are producing. They've been battling these issues a lot longer and are further along. Just because these other companies see it, doesn't mean they have a solution for it, but you can guarantee that they are working on it!
I think the best thing I have read on these forums was this in regards to the 7D, paraphrased:
-Just remember, Canon/Nikon have made a stills camera that happens to shoot video. Red has created a video camera that happens to shoot stills.
This is a VERY important distinction on the engineering preferences at design times. Not only has RED identified a new market (Me, because I never considered a RED ONE because of cost), but Canon is now seeing how many people WANT products in this range with these capabilities.
So all that said, I don't think the competition is being lethargic, I think their engineers are working like mad scientists trying to not only guess what they need in features, but to reduce cost and improve performance to a point to compete with the Scarlet Fixed which has a great price point. Other companies are normally silent so they can spring it on you last minute!
Just my two stops anyways
Two things stand out:
1) These cameras being sold now (7D, 5D, 1D) were designed quite a while ago, probably more than a year and a half I am guessing from when they were released minimum.
2) The use of the 5D for video as it is was a big shock to Canon from what I have read, they didn't expect people to use it as it is, or at least, not to the level it has been used. So now that they see what people are doing with them, you can bet they know other companies are seeing this and they are surely going to try and keep their products in the market. Of course, they have the problem of not obsoleting their other cameras that cost a whole lot more.
Having use my 7D quite extensively now and put it through a lot of tests and comparisons, I can honestly say, it has issues that annoy me to no end, but then, I paid $1.5k for this camera, and knowing that, it makes me absolutely happy with my investment. What I also realize is that the problems that plague this camera, if they were fixed, the camera would cost A LOT MORE than $1.5k without question, so I accept what I have.
Things like:
1) Down-sampling is pretty bad in the camera. The Debayer along with the line skipping can produce NASTY artifacting, and very colorful moire patterns. Given that the camera is a still camera first, they need to increase the processing power of the camera AT A MINIMUM so it can do a better downrez of the frame. This is my number one want.
2) While H.264 has it's issues, I could live with it if (1) were fixed, but I know a lot of people would just like to get the raw right out of it, and I agree, RED has made an excellent case why this is ultimate. Again, speed of the system.
3) Heat. If they did (1) I am sure the heat of the camera would increase A LOT. Not to mention the decrease in battery performance for all those calculations and updated Debayer algorithm. This would be no small feat to handle, but something that everyone seems to be dealing with. The D90 had heat issues as well.
4) Rolling shutter. The whole sensor needs to be faster, period. That's expensive and takes a lot of time.
These things, while trivial to identify, are not all easy to fix. This is what amazes me about RED and what they are producing. They've been battling these issues a lot longer and are further along. Just because these other companies see it, doesn't mean they have a solution for it, but you can guarantee that they are working on it!
I think the best thing I have read on these forums was this in regards to the 7D, paraphrased:
-Just remember, Canon/Nikon have made a stills camera that happens to shoot video. Red has created a video camera that happens to shoot stills.
This is a VERY important distinction on the engineering preferences at design times. Not only has RED identified a new market (Me, because I never considered a RED ONE because of cost), but Canon is now seeing how many people WANT products in this range with these capabilities.
So all that said, I don't think the competition is being lethargic, I think their engineers are working like mad scientists trying to not only guess what they need in features, but to reduce cost and improve performance to a point to compete with the Scarlet Fixed which has a great price point. Other companies are normally silent so they can spring it on you last minute!
Just my two stops anyways
