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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 :)

I know I shouldn't be allowed to buy this camera, but I will

I assume you have spare cash in your bank account. Then I say go for it.

But start with as little as possible. That's my advice. One 35 or 50mm Nikon lens. A decent tripod that can handle the weight and then some (because you'll grow your camera package with time). As you get to know more, you'll add stuff. If you decide to keep the camera, you'll get addicted and start scouring the internet for more and more expensive lenses. It's worse than being hooked on junk.
Sean,

Thanks for the advice.
 
Just discovered that the reason i don't know about aperture specification is that my Nikkon (G mount) lense does not have a manual dial on the lens to manipulate the aperture. It's apperantly not compatible with the Red camera. Now I really need to buy a real motion picture lense.
 
A guess shooting film is quite different from taking still pictures. And if I'm not misstaking, with that kind of resolution, I might even choose to shoot a wider angle than I need to and then do some precise cropping in post production. That I do with the still camera (allthough my D2H has less pixels than does the Red camera!!!). Or am I missing something here?

Could any kind soul rate the lenses at Red in order the order of "should have" to "unnecesary"?
 
A guess shooting film is quite different from taking still pictures. And if I'm not misstaking, with that kind of resolution, I might even choose to shoot a wider angle than I need to and then do some precise cropping in post production. That I do with the still camera (allthough my D2H has less pixels than does the Red camera!!!). Or am I missing something here?

Could any kind soul rate the lenses at Red in order the order of "should have" to "unnecesary"?

It's going to be important for you to read as many of the posts on this site as you can, in order to ensure you understand the technical issues involved in working with the Red. Because the image quality is so high, if you haven't taken care to ensure your workflow can accommodate what you shoot, it may be difficult for you to produce the finished product.

Also, as you're reading the posts, you will want to ensure you clear up any terms that you don't understand. Use wikipedia.org or Google searches to find explanations for things like f-numbers. There are many sites that provide in-depth explanations for these things. I would come to this site for specific questions about the Red rather than fundamentals that are covered in many other places.

Good luck to you and congratulations on following your dream!

Mike
 
but I can't see how I as a programmer would differentiate between artifacts and image details.
Check out
http://www.motiondsp.com

If you average information over time, you can get rid of noise. Obviously this doesn't work if the image is moving, so you need to do motion compensation too. I don't think there is anything that does this on the desktop side that is affordable... though there are some manufacturers that make motion compensated noise reduction (e.g. digital vision I believe does that).

In practice, it is clearly best to start off with light/no compression and a noise-free sensor. Red definitely fits this bill.

Aesthetically, some people will sometimes prefer film for certain projects since it gives a different aesthetic. It has its own look. Sort of like how Holga/Lomo cameras have their own look for 35mm still work (these are really cheap cameras that are charming due to their crappy lenses, vignetting, etc.). But film has some technical advantages to it like more exposure latitude.

2- You still need talent, experience, and a good story.

If you want Hollywood production values, you still need lighting gear, a competent crew, an art department, (VFX), etc. etc. So Red doesn't change that. The gear + crew allows you more control over your image... but you don't necessarily need it to produce good imagery... just look at still photography. But in stills you can afford to sit around and wait for beautiful light (e.g. magic hour), which Hollywood usually can't.

But anyways, production values usually aren't anywhere as important as your content/story.
 
Jack, I thought I was late to the party, but I'm months ahead of you doing much the same thing, unless you've been monitoring this forum for awhile. If you haven't, I would suggest you find posts by people who sound like they know what they are talking about, then click on their name and look for "other posts" by them.

There's always the usual suspects like Gibby, Evin Grant, David Mullen, Jeff Kilgroe and others whose posts are usually no-nonsense (unlike many of my oun) and whose answers will gradually bring focus to not only using the camera, but movie-making itself.

As far as telling the wife, you could 1. put it away until her birthday and tell her it was for her, 2. tell her you bought it to take nude footage of her while she is at her most beautiful, so the two of you can pop it into the hologram viewer in 40 or 50 years and remember her when she was perfect, or 3. if the first two don't work, after she packs and leaves, put doun a deposit on a second RED.

edit: Oh yeah... tell a good story!
 
Jack, I can see you have a lot (and I mean a lot) of reading and studying up to do. It's obvious that the question that will follow from you have already been answered here and on other similar sites like Dvxuser.com, Dvinfo.net, and so on. I suggest you use the "search" function everytime you want to find out about technical stuff on cinematography and phototgraphy. You're obviously way behind us on many topics, so do yourself a favor and catch up by reading older posts that have already answered your questions. You'll find what you need to know.

I for one vote to close this thread 'cause it gets to a point where one feels like we're wasting our time trying to help the fashionably late kid catch up on the day of the exam.
 
I know nothing about film. I have no experience with either video or analogue film. So this will possibly upset someone, but I will get the Red One as my first camera. I think it'll be a great way for me to learn about the art of filmmaking. I know some will tell me that I should learn to crawl before I can walk. But that does not matter to me, because I'll get one anyway.

I'm a computer programmer and a painter, so at least I have some skills that could come handy???

What lenses will I need and why?

Thanks

Joachim "Jack" Wester

Stockholm, Sweden

Well people will say what they will about you, but you've got balls!

And truth be told, watching 10 movies a week, reading reading reading, doing a lot of filming, and taking a night course in marketing will get you a lot further than any film school...
 
Yes, but you make no connections playing with yourself at home....
Film and TV is what I have made a living from for 27 years and
I have a degree in Nuclear Physics.... go figure.
 
Hi Jack

One of the best things about buying a RedOne camera is that as a beginner you can learn using professional gear without the typically hefty price of equipment and other associated costs such as filmstock and processing. So good choice!

Best of luck!

Paul
 
Yes, but you make no connections playing with yourself at home....
Film and TV is what I have made a living from for 27 years and
I have a degree in Nuclear Physics.... go figure.

How did you get into film and tv from nuclear physics btw?
 
Yes, but you make no connections playing with yourself at home....
Film and TV is what I have made a living from for 27 years and
I have a degree in Nuclear Physics.... go figure.
Congratulations. Film and TV sounds much more fun than nuclear physics. I would trade Stephen Hawkins company for Ettore Scolas any day of the week.

My idea to learn something would be to lend the camera and equipment for free in return for some joining and watching. I've never had the patience for any classroom work. I barely managed the mandatory shool when I was a child, let alone the nuclear physics.
 
Congratulations. Film and TV sounds much more fun than nuclear physics. I would trade Stephen Hawkins company for Ettore Scolas any day of the week.

Hey man... dont dis hawkins. As soon as Jim gets that RED mouth controllor add-on developed, Prof Hawkins will be leavin all us suckers for dust! Albeit, leaving us rather slowly in dust.
 
Wow, there are going to be a lot of 'hardly used' and 'as new' Reds for sale on ebay in a year or so.


_mike

So true... I think I'm going to hold off purchasing for a year to see just how many come back onto the second hand market.
 
My idea to learn something would be to lend the camera and equipment for free in return for some joining and watching. I've never had the patience for any classroom work.
You could also volunteer your labour for free (or work) as a production assistant... it's how most people in production break in. At the very least, you see what happens on professional sets (e.g. long hours, lots of equipment you can't afford, etc.). Definitely cheaper and better than film school.

If you want to get some experience in post, you can try to find an internship at a post facility. Or you can look at getting into matte painting, though I don't know the best avenue for that.
 
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