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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 :)

DRAGON: I like it...

David Battistella

David Battistella

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Ok,

This thread is for people who are working with the Dragon cameras, and want to share some practical advice, tips, strategies for creating images. Maybe share why you rate lower, what you are liking about the sensor.

Please make an effort to post examples and where possible R3D's.

This isn't intended to be a "love in" but a real resource full of practical ideas for getting the best out of the new sensor as we move forward.

I'll start with a few things I have been noticing.

1. Rating lower gives you outstandingly clean images and a better ability to push in post.
2. The images stays very clean even at 11:1 compression ratios.
3. Having stops in the highlights changes the strategy over MX, much more room to open up and push the image.
4. At 3-4 stops under exposed you will experience "textured" shadow areas. That will probably be there after the "fix" as well.
5. The image overall is much more elastic and can be stretch a lot more in post. (Dragon is more like Negative film/MX was more like shooting slide film where you had to nail exposure)
6. The dragon is more forgiving.
7. The images have a nice depth.
8. The colour fidelity is far superior.
9. At about 1.8 stops of ND I start to see a bit of green cast in some areas.
10. You actually do not need to blackshade as often on Dragon, just after a FW upgrade.

Don't be afraid to fill up the photo sites. It's amazing how far you can go before hitting the stop lights.


What I like in the BETA build

1. Store 4 black shading calibrations

To make suggestions on what you might want to see in future Dragon builds:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?119071-DRAGON-Improve-it



Battistella
 
Just guessing but I suspect your green tint at ND 1.8 is not camera related but a filter issue. I am in total agreement with you on your Dragon observations. The "textured" or noise in the shadows will probably only improve marginally specifically the Red channel sparkle and that people should not have too high an expectation from the FW upgrade.
 
I was looking at 100% crops from my nikon D700 shot at same ISO lighting and I have to say that the pattern (as a still frame) is not as pleasant as what I see on Dragon. Dragon is a motion camera and to me head to head with an excellent DSLR, Dragon wins.

But I really am sick of pixel peeping and looking at 100% crops. As I take in full frames and "whole images". I see a depth richness and texture to this sensor that is really beautiful.

Battistella

PS: the green tint is certainly from the ND, just only shows up after 1.5 stops of ND. Phil has already done some great IR tests.
 
Thanks for bringing sexy (positive) back.
 
I have both an EPIC DRAGON and a SCARLET DRAGON.

I love that the EPIC DRAGON does everything. For me, it is the benchmark camera.
I like the fact that SCARLET DRAGON can squeeze 5K resolution from a 29mm image circle. I don't feel as guilty cropping to smaller image circles as I would with the EPIC.

I love the fact that EPIC DRAGON's 6K format at REDCODE 6:1 just barely squeezes (118MB/s) into what a 1Gbps network can deliver (~ 120MB/s)
I like the fact that SCARLET DRAGON's 5K format at REDCODE 8:1 runs at 64MB/sec, easily fitting into 1Gbps network workflows.

I love that both DRAGONs deliver colors that have texture. Rich, organic, lovely textures.
I like the fact that both DRAGONs have cooling systems that are quieter than my ProIO module. (ProIO designers: WTF?!)

I like the fact that when clients see the cameras in the studio, they go "Hey, look! A RED Camera"
I love the fact that when they look closer, they say "Holy #$*&! It's a DRAGON!!"
 
Ooh yes. I forgot about how excellent the fan upgrade is. Pretty darn quiet. I only ever notice the fans when the camera boots.

Battistella
 
I haven't tried it yet (Redlink) while waiting for it to be put in a release build, but I'm looking forward to having the capability to control the Dragon using this tech. I'm surprised to see how many people are concentrating on one surmountable trait of the Dragon (unable to see in the dark without striking a match '-) rather than recognizing the total package (modules and other accessories) as one of the more complete image-capture tools available.
 
Speaking of the dreadfully loud ProIO unit, I am thrilled that it can do real-time SRC of a 96K AES input to be recorded at 48K in the R3D media file. That may not be specific to DRAGON, but I just thought I'd say "thanks!" to the audio guys who included that functionality.

Actually, perhaps I should yell "THANKS!" so they can hear me over those crazy-loud fans 8-P'
 
the amount of how quiet the fans are is pretty huge. this coming from someone who just had to EQ out MX fans from the audio in a recent film shot on the MX. even when not recording, the new fans on the Dragon are soooo much quieter.
 
Michael Tiemann said:
I have both an EPIC DRAGON and a SCARLET DRAGON.

I love that the EPIC DRAGON does everything. For me, it is the benchmark camera.
I like the fact that SCARLET DRAGON can squeeze 5K resolution from a 29mm image circle. I don't feel as guilty cropping to smaller image circles as I would with the EPIC.

I love the fact that EPIC DRAGON's 6K format at REDCODE 6:1 just barely squeezes (118MB/s) into what a 1Gbps network can deliver (~ 120MB/s)
I like the fact that SCARLET DRAGON's 5K format at REDCODE 8:1 runs at 64MB/sec, easily fitting into 1Gbps network workflows.

I love that both DRAGONs deliver colors that have texture. Rich, organic, lovely textures.
I like the fact that both DRAGONs have cooling systems that are quieter than my ProIO module. (ProIO designers: WTF?!)

I like the fact that when clients see the cameras in the studio, they go "Hey, look! A RED Camera"
I love the fact that when they look closer, they say "Holy #$*&! It's a DRAGON!!"
Click to expand...

+1 to all of this. I never really looked at it from a data rate perspective.

Do you have a full listing of REDcode dragon data rates you can share?

Battistella
 
Loved reading this about Dragons video HD-SDI output.

Rob Macey said:
Very important note is that Dragon's 1080 out is ultra clean and better than my Sony F cameras. This is my real world experience. 1080 out from Dragon is gorgeous and perfect for many network and cable productions as well as shoot and ship clients.
Click to expand...

battistella
 
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