I love the weapon bundles ...

[PatrickFaith]

I've seen a couple of threads on the bundles, I also wasn't so sure about the weapon woven bundle, but I'm really happy with it now that I've been able to "get" what Red is doing with the weapon. [Also negative comments on the bundles]

For example I've seen the XL modules being sold, I also had my doubts on the red xl modules for weapon since i had just horrible luck with the red volts - but so far the XL batteries and module has been PERFECT for me. Now I'm mostly doing studio work, a bit of use with a Movi 15, but what I'm finding is I'm always now keeping the XL battery connected and even run power through it when I'm on AC so don't have problems in dodgy power(it seems all power on low budget shoots is dodgy). So on the XL front, I can see people's mis-givings on it, but I was wrong about it and I think RED has gotten it right. (I have been recharging the XL through the XL module, not the old ac battery charger, so I still feel a bit iffy on the old battery charger).

Another thing that has just been awesome is the weapon top handle, again I wouldn't have boughten it as an aside - but I'm so glad I got the package becuase I use that top handle constantly now. I see some threads where people do not liking the new top handle because it's different mind set on how their epic rigged worked, but for me it has been awesome and if I was new to RED I woudn't put to much mind into people that don't like it. I also love the record start button on the top of that handle.

The new sidewinder is beyond impressive, again I was a side handle person and wanted a new side handle vs the sidewinder. But I'm completly cut over to the sidewinder as being superior, I probably won't get the side handle (especially since I now am in love with the XL module). Also the adapters and stuff are just awesome with the bundle I use that all the time.

I've seen some people whine back and forth on the 5 and 7 inch monitors, I can kind of see thier point from a "how epic worked on my rig" - but again as I've rethought my rig (and actually copied what the big guys are doing because that's were RED got a lot of thier design comments from), I'm really liking the new touch concepts (lmao ... if people are going to sell thier 5 inch monitor because it doesn't "twist" ... I'm going to be in the line to purchase it). Also the new monitors shouldn't be thought of has handles, the red handle is for that, and the screws on the adapters are not meant for the display to be a handle.

Anyway, a lot of people read the comments on reduser, everyone's comment is important ... yet I've found RED has put a ton of brain energy into the new modules and I for one am leveraging the heck out of the cinematographers that gave RED input and the RED engineers that have designed the weapon system which I think are best represented in the various weapon bundles. If I was new to the RED eco system, i'd kind of ignore most of the negative comments on the bundles, as they mostly relate to specific configurations based on peoples experience with epic/dragon, which I have found personally I have needed to rethink a bunch of things.

 

[Elsie N]

I've seen a couple of threads on the bundles, I also wasn't so sure about the weapon woven bundle, but I'm really happy with it now that I've been able to "get" what Red is doing with the weapon. [Also negative comments on the bundles]

For example I've seen the XL modules being sold, I also had my doubts on the red XL modules for weapon since i had just horrible luck with the red volts - but so far the XL batteries and module has been PERFECT for me. Now I'm mostly doing studio work, a bit of use with a Movi 15, but what I'm finding is I'm always now keeping the XL battery connected and even run power through it when I'm on AC so don't have problems in dodgy power(it seems all power on low budget shoots is dodgy). So on the XL front, I can see people's misgivings on it, but I was wrong about it and I think RED has gotten it right. (I have been recharging the XL through the XL module, not the old ac battery charger, so I still feel a bit iffy on the old battery charger).

Another thing that has just been awesome is the weapon top handle, again I wouldn't have bought it as an aside - but I'm so glad I got the package because I use that top handle constantly now. I see some threads where people do not liking the new top handle because it's different mind set on how their epic rigged worked, but for me it has been awesome and if I was new to RED I wouldn't put to much mind into people that don't like it. I also love the record start button on the top of that handle.

The new sidewinder is beyond impressive, again I was a side handle person and wanted a new side handle vs the sidewinder. But I'm completely cut over to the sidewinder as being superior, I probably won't get the side handle (especially since I now am in love with the XL module). Also the adapters and stuff are just awesome with the bundle I use that all the time.

I've seen some people whine back and forth on the 4.5 and 7 inch monitors, I can kind of see their point from a "how epic worked on my rig" - but again as I've rethought my rig (and actually copied what the big guys are doing because that's were RED got a lot of their design comments from), I'm really liking the new touch concepts (lmao ... if people are going to sell their 4.5 inch monitor because it doesn't "twist" ... I'm going to be in the line to purchase it). Also the new monitors shouldn't be thought of has handles, the red handle is for that, and the screws on the adapters are not meant for the display to be a handle.

Anyway, a lot of people read the comments on reduser, everyone's comment is important ... yet I've found RED has put a ton of brain energy into the new modules and I for one am leveraging the heck out of the cinematographers that gave RED input and the RED engineers that have designed the weapon system which I think are best represented in the various weapon bundles. If I was new to the RED eco system, I'd kind of ignore most of the negative comments on the bundles, as they mostly relate to specific configurations based on peoples experience with epic/dragon, which I have found personally I have needed to rethink a bunch of things.

Happy to hear this Patrick. Once I get the 8k sensor installed and on 8k shoots I don't see my camera being anything other than locked off. I may (probably will) get a side handle for my RAVEN. I think it will be very comfortable for hand held use.

 

[PatrickFaith]

Happy to hear this Patrick. Once I get the 8k sensor installed and on 8k shoots I don't see my camera being anything other than locked off. I may (probably will) get a side handle for my RAVEN. I think it will be very comfortable for hand held use.

For sure, it's hard to even use 6k of pixels hand held, but for "stills" mode the side handle is great. I basically started copying the setups of some ASC types on shoots I liked: now mostly on sticks, then jibs/motion control, then movi.

 

[Jarek Zabczynski]

I like my handles on quick releases so it's a bit worthless to me.

 

[Brian Merlen]

For my business model some of the parts can be sold... Gotta kit it particularly

 

[Elsie N]

For my business model some of the parts can be sold... Gotta kit it particularly

It will be interesting to see the amount of supply and demand from bundles. But one of the perks of bundling is that scarce modules are allocated to bundles first, it seems.

 

[Brian Merlen]

It will be interesting to see the amount of supply and demand from bundles. But one of the perks of bundling is that scarce modules are allocated to bundles first, it seems.

Yet ironically all the wooden camera parts and element technica parts I do need are also scarce lol? I'm going to be trading all over RU!

 

[PatrickFaith]

I like my handles on quick releases so it's a bit worthless to me.

I spoke too generally, for specific configs I can see not all the pieces used.

For my business model some of the parts can be sold... Gotta kit it particularly

Agreed, and I can see rental houses just ordering the brains. On the other hand my feeling is people new the RED eco system should get the bundle.

It will be interesting to see the amount of supply and demand from bundles. But one of the perks of bundling is that scarce modules are allocated to bundles first, it seems.

I totally didn't understand the red ordering system and timelines that really don't make obvious what is alpha/beta/full_production_volume. Often the timeline announced is somewhere between this alpha/beta/full_volume_production, so RED newbs can get frustrated. People that have been around RED for years get this, so the bundles aren't as critical. I still think even old timer RED people get a lot of benifit for the bundles, in that there is a lot of rethinking going on in each major version (red one -> epic -> dragon -> weapon). A huge change from dragon to weapon that changed a lot of my thinking, which I dont think is obvious on the weapon, is I use to shoot 4k r3d to get a solid 1080p for the web (so I needed aprox 4 r3d "pixels" for every 1 final pixel). With weapon it's more 1 to 1, I can shoot for 1080p at 2k r3d without needing 4k r3d to average/sum/mask out the noise.

So this rethinking is net giving me an almost a 4x improvement on the weapon over the dragon (i use natural light and practical lights so milage can vary). But to me the weapon is dramatically a different camera then the dragon so "the package" is helping me to change how I do things and learn the new camera system - breaking away from my preconceptions. I think this is also valid for people that have used the RED system in the past and didn't like it for valid reasons, even experience cinematographers I think would benifit from testing a weapon with a standard package so they can understand all the improvements made to the system.