Dusty conditions. RED don't care.

[Matt Johnston]

I shoot a lot in really dusty conditions. Sometimes so dusty you can't see your own hands. My scarlet has been with me on a few hundred of these shoots now an I always crack up when dust clouds emit from my top fan vent. This is far from the worst example too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdOyOtqkXq0

So if your ever concerned about dusty conditions (or wet or mud) don't worry about it.

 

[Julio Quintana]

Good to know.

 

[Christopher Mills]

I couldn't tell which lens you were using.. what do you find holds up under that kind of treatment? Canon Ls with a filter? Other?
or do you just go for it and have them serviced and cleaned regularly?

 

[Matt Johnston]

There I was using a push pull contax I think, or maybe the Tokina 11-16. Sometimes the push pulls get gritty, but I blow them out every day and all is well.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

Matt is the "Rally-Master"...he shoots motorsports events all over the globe.

 

[Dominik Muench]

I hear you Matt.

A week after I first received my EPIC I hired it out to do some aerial octacopter work on a Jackie Chan feature in Vanuatu on top of a volcano.
Things went wrong and the rig crashed....I have a 5 minute take where I can briefly see Jackie Chan and then for the next few minutes my camera is rolling down the volcano inside the octacopter rig....the rig was smashed to bits.
The canon prime used for the shot was smashed to bits and my EPIC....not a scratch. Covered in dust, volcanic ash and sand I took it to Panavision, they gave the body and lens mount a good clean and that was it.
Been using the camera several times a week since and hasn't failed me once.

 

[Tom Gleeson]

Dominik,

Thats a great story. My camera fell into a volcano! Working in Australia I have spent months at a time working in the desert with talcum powder red "bull" dust being blown everywhere. Helicopters in these enviroments can blow up huge volumes of dust. I have found it's not the cameras but the lenses that eventually fail. If the lens is not sealed the dust eventually gets into the lubricated components and slowly but surely they grind to a halt. I have never had a lens destroyed but they have had to be dismantled and cleaned by a tech.

 

[Dominik Muench]

Haha believe me I wasn't that impressed when I first got the call from the production office...week old EPIC. For environments like this the rokinon cine primes really come in handy, cheap glass but great quality.

 

[Tom Gleeson]

I can just imagine filling out the insurance claim form " My camera got dropped into a volvano....." Once had to explain how a camera was destroyed by a charging Killer Whale when on an iceberg. I bet in the fineprint of most insurance contracts both volcanos and killer whales are not covered.