FD Times: Jarred Komodo Interview

[Phil Holland]

Didn't see this posted yet, but Jon Fauer of Film and Digital Times interviewed Jarred recently regarding Komodo.

Nice quick informative read:

https://www.fdtimes.com/2020/10/02/jarred-land-komodo/

 

[Phil Holland]

How have you been using Komodo lately Phil? Last I saw you were making Large format landscapes with Monstros I believe.

Yes, if you're following my instagram I wrapped 6 weeks of 3X Monstro array work. Actually using Komodo tomorrow "for a thing". Working on the rig right now actually.

 

[Phil Holland]

It is a bitchin' looking camera Thats for sure. What happens if you unscrew the Antenna? Does it have a passcode lock screen? Is is good for long from work yet? I heard the file sizes are quite large... Tho I know you were doing some MQ LQ tests I believe.

Nothing happens if you unscrew the antenna other than drastically reducing WiFi range.

Passcode lock screen, no.

Yes, it's good for long form. There's an episodic using it now multi-cam that I know of. There's a few hundred Komodos out there in the wild now from what I can tell via the various groups online.

Data Rates as of now, camera is still in beta, it looks like this:

REDCODE RAW - HQ, MQ, and now LQ

RED added LQ to this build, again it's beta, so maybe more tweaking. But it appears all three have been tweaked further. Some have been looking for more ratio support as HQ and MQ were only in camera for a long while for the early beta releases. But to give you some idea of the range.

On my 1TB Angelbird CFast 2.0 cards at 6K 24p:
- HQ = 1 hour
- MQ = 1 hour, 37 minutes
- LQ = 2 hours, 35 minutes

Did some quick tests when that firmware dropped. I am mostly a HQ or MQ sort of fellow. Now that LQ is in there most of the people who were looking for really long roll times or just really small data footprints seems to have been pleased. We only had HQ and MQ for a while until that firmware dropped.

Ive seen you on FB but working so much lately normal job not cinema. I see Curtis Boggs using his Helium a lot and you on Monster... wonder if the Big Dogs here are over Komodo...

Giant screen array filming is not what I would say a normal job is, but okay. One is targeted for theatrical exhibition, the other is something opening on the east coast.

Monstro is still the best sensor out there IMO and my array shoots were structured that way, though I did a quick test and still likely might go with Komodo for a different sync shoot because of the benefits of global shutter.

I wouldn't say I'm "over Komodo" at all. It's actually with me literally all the time. Super portable. I can't speak for Curtis, but generally we use the tools we feel best fit the shoot. At the moment I see Komodo being used a bunch as A-Cam for a lot of the newer owners. On productions I see them being used 50 different ways from Sunday. Lots of action cam oriented stuff.

 

[Phil Holland]

THEN

I've said it elsewhere here on REDuser and certainly in other internet and real world circles. Cameras are becoming much more than just a "what's on the sticker" concept.

It's 2020, nearly 2021. Smartphones "do 8K". But is that 8K comparable to a RED Monstro or Helium camera when it comes to image quality? Is it ideal for a practical shoot or a professional tool? Want RAW? Etc.

To put the flipside to that, you can shoot an entire film on a phone and you can shoot rather carefully to make them look very impressive in a side by side. For instance, if you asked me to make a smartphone look good I'd light flat as hell within 6-7 stops and you'd likely would have a very flexible image off that capture system.

I'm curious to thoroughly test the BMD 12K and I have about a TB of images here off it. I think it's a hell of a price point and hard to argue with, but professionally based on even what early reviewers on YouTube are discovering it 100% needs an OLPF for professional work. And I'm certain, as we've seen before, a 3rd party option will come. And in many ways I think that camera is all about 4K and perhaps 8K image making. Sort of like Komodo being ideal for a 6K to 4K workflow. It's also early days for that camera and there's a few things they are certainly working on. Which seems to be par for the course in these rapidly moving times.

We've seen a wild year in the camera space all in the last 365 days. RED Komodo, Canon C70, Sony FX6, BMD 12K, Canon C500, Sony FX9, Canon C300 MK II etc. Not to mention the mirrorless stuff like the Canon R5 and Sony A7sIII. More cameras than I'd expect during a year like this worldwide, but many things are obviously in development long before a pandemic hits the scene. It does hurt manufacturing and supply for sure.

The only thing that is worth looking at is which of these cameras fit your needs. Some people truly get it. Some people don't. Since Komodo's early adopter release I've seen people switch over to Komodo as a platform with several bodies. Saw one guy go with the C70 after the announcement. Saw another buy a Komodo after the C70 announcement. Interesting to see and hear all that.

Though I often reference Komodo as a Utility Camera, I think a lot of people don't grasp what I mean by that. Mainly I think it can be used as an A-Cam, but due to it's size, power requirements, and Global Shutter I think it inspires much more freedom where a small camera that can do those things really can flex. Apparently that's sort of why it was invented in the first place. Mounting a Ranger on a hood with a gimbal is one thing, Komodo requires far less rigging for a similar setup and you won't cry when your camera falls off the hood. Perhaps I should say you won't cry as much.

I view cameras as marketed towards pricing tiers and ideally their performance makes up for their price point. Generally speaking I'd say to date most cameras released "make sense" as to where their release price has been towards what they offer. There's a few out there that I remember going "that's about $1200-$8000" too much or whatever, but generally all have been in the ballpark. As to whether they inspire a purchase or captivate filmmakers to use them, that's a more interesting proposition. Some cameras have had a really hard time breaking into certain segments. Other's have become defacto standards now.

To that point given the wild releases in the sub-$5K arena, the $5K-$10K world, and the $10K-$20K stuff we've seen that I've listed. I'm wondering mostly what premium cameras will look like in the future and what they will offer. For instance the Arri S35 coming around the corner. Where and how that is priced will be interesting and certainly the camera will rent. And then there's whatever DSMC3 shapes up to be.

Back to Komodo, I think the biggest shockers to me is how small, quiet, and low power the thing is. Not to mention I like the images off of it. If I had to go film a remote documentary in the middle of nowhere tomorrow I'd pack up 4 Komodos and not give it a second thought.

 

[Nathaniel Haban]

Reading the article, one of Jarred's comments stuck out to me, especially in light of much of the talk on the FB Komodo Users lately about low-light noise. I wonder if this is the situation a lot of people are experiencing. The Komodo/Gemini/Helium tests that Tim Daust posted certainly don't indicate a "noisy" camera.

"On LQ setting, a high ISO setting in very underexposed situations with tons of detail, the noise is a bit more pronounced. The same situation with an HQ setting would result in some noise that is noticeably better than normal. So, you can get the best of both worlds if you give it the bandwidth."

 

[Jiri Vrozina]

This is good.
https://youtu.be/YLuZjpxmsZQ

 

[M Harvey]

much of the talk on the FB Komodo Users lately about low-light noise

Broadly speaking, I don't find these discussions about low light performance to be especially useful. What's good performance, what's acceptable noise? There isn't a common standard. So someone asks, "does this unlit clip of my friend's band in a basement shot at 3200 look amazing?" And the issue is really that there's no particular shape to the light (or contrast) that is available, and no camera would make it look great-- but it's ascribed to the poor low-light capabilities of camera X.

 

[Nathaniel Haban]

Broadly speaking, I don't find these discussions about low light performance to be especially useful. What's good performance, what's acceptable noise? There isn't a common standard. So someone asks, "does this unlit clip of my friend's band in a basement shot at 3200 look amazing?" And the issue is really that there's no particular shape to the light (or contrast) that is available, and no camera would make it look great-- but it's ascribed to the poor low-light capabilities of camera X.

Or worse yet, no .R3D's are provided, so the community can dig into the footage and see what's happening. Too often, "why is my footage noisy" comes up. A thousand people reply "did you black shade?", followed by a "well... no. I'll try that." So on a fundamental level, some are skipping steps or hamstringing themselves. The RED Tech video series is fantastic; it'll be nice to see proper low-light shooting demystified for those new to the RED ecosystem.

 

[Jeremy Torrie]

Jarred professed his love for the Ranger design along with Komodo...which makes me wonder when DSMC3 will come to unlock Global Shutter at 8K along with the internal wireless video...although makes me wonder if it will ship as RF or PL, or if we will have options to choose.

Love my Ranger and love my Stormtrooper, but I can’t help but wonder what’s next.

 

[Rakesh Malik]

What's next will probably be a Ranger + Komodo lineup. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the DSMC3 line used an evolved Komodo sensor and design similar to the Ranger's.