Point of weapon? Full Frame?

[Mike McMillin]

Hey Im just trying to see a real point for this weapon upgrade. For me the dragon is perfect, it fits on a gimbal its compact, light, and it seems like the design is pretty flawless. I feel like the simplicity of it is what is so nice about it, other than a couple things like sdi and hdmi are in a bad spot but I can deal with that in lou of keeping my old accessories. In the end to me this weapon thing just seems pointless unless the weapon is full frame or something with the picture changes. What else do we need? The ever progressing digital age is insane haha. Full frame 6k or 4k or whatever you want to call it would be the only way this camera would really make sense. I don't know maybe Im wrong and other people see a better reason for it. It will be interesting to see the specs and how it really pans out but to me all I see right now is the same picture with a different body design. Am I missing something?

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Patience... We'll get the point.

Pat

 

[Phil Holland]

Am I missing something?

As somebody who has seen it, I can say only one thing.

Wait 43 days. (Or sooner if Jarred get's too excited, and he really is excited)

 

[Mike McMillin]

Yea I understand. Im just anxious to find out what the real reason is. Im sure its a good one. Jim is obviously a brilliant dude, I personally just can't think of anything else I would need. I feel like I have it all in my hands already.

 

[Mike McMillin]

As somebody who has seen it, I can say only one thing.

Wait 43 days. (Or sooner if Jarred get's too excited, and he really is excited)

Well I definitly trust your judgement Phil. Its full frame I know it! haha

 

[Michael Lindsay]

... Surely it is the tool to unlock the power of the dragon and tidy up the not so perfect things about dragon body?

 

[Phil Holland]

Well I definitly trust your judgement Phil. Its full frame I know it! haha

The last thing I told Jarred when I left RSH last week was "I'm impressed". That takes a hell of a lot to get that out of me.

 

[Mike McMillin]

... Surely it is the tool to unlock the power of the dragon and tidy up the not so perfect things about dragon body?

By power of the dragon are you thinking even more fps?

 

[Mike McMillin]

The last thing I told Jarred when I left RSH last week was "I'm impressed". That takes a hell of a lot to get that out of me.

I understand, I know your one of the most active people on this forum and you chime in on even the smallest cinematography posts. The next 43 days are going to be very long for me

 

[Lakis Amarantithis]

I need higher frame rates, smaller lighter size, better color quality, 8k, 3D monitor, the 2 evf's are good, I can use 3, 4 xlr's, 8k capture but 1080p recording... Endless ways to improve no matter how "perfect" a camera is. It'll never end even if we will be in the nanotech time.

 

[Michael Lindsay]

By power of the dragon are you thinking even more fps?

Well there is a lot of impressed people and a new body with mini xlrs etc isn't really going to provoke that reaction alone?...

The problem with higher frame rates is that it is harder than people think so I am not expecting a miracle just a healthy bump..

Just my guess...

 

[Mike McMillin]

Well there is a lot of impressed people and a new body with mini xlrs etc isn't really going to provoke that reaction alone?...

The problem with higher frame rates is that it is harder than people think so I am not expecting a miracle just a healthy bump..

Just my guess...

Yea its hard to wrap my head around. Most of us have no idea what it takes to produce a camera like a dragon or what really goes into the engineering of the sensor and where tit could possibly go. Of course its never good enough and any camera could always be better. I am just interested to see if the leap from dragon to weapon will be greater than the leap from epic to dragon (picture wise).

 

[jake southard]

I need higher frame rates, smaller lighter size, better color quality, 8k, 3D monitor, the 2 evf's are good, I can use 3, 4 xlr's, 8k capture but 1080p recording... Endless ways to improve no matter how "perfect" a camera is. It'll never end even if we will be in the nanotech time.

Why in the world do you need 8K

 

[Joe Kleber]

Why in the world do you need 8K

I don't NEED any more resolution. Nevertheless... It has its advantages.

https://vimeo.com/119343870

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Why in the world do you need 8K

High resolution prints. And oh, look a bonus! I can pull them right from my video clips or set my FPS to whatever I want and fire off those high resolution stills at faster rates than my DSLRs can. Now that all cameras are digital for the most part, I find the "D" in DSLR usually stands for "Disappointment".

Never mind that 8K is the next eventual progression...

 

[Russ Fill]

Why in the world do you need 8K

That's kind of funny, that was the same words used by most of my DOP friends when I told them about my new Red One and how it had a 4k sensor.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Why in the world do you need 8K

Here are the two largest STILL frame sizes for the Canon 5DS:
Large: Approx. 50.3 Megapixels (8688 x 5792)
Medium 1: Approx. 39.3 Megapixels (7680 x 5120)

An 8K image may seem too much for motion (though it isn't) but it really is helpful for stills.

Remember that DSMC (the fundamental concept of the Red cameras, in addition to RAW) stand for Digital Stills and Motion Camera.

40 Megapixel frames (8K) is extremely beneficial in the world of print and large format.

Having more pixels (for print or motion) to downsample from will reduce noise and increase detail.

Ultra high resolution also adds lookaround for reframing a shot and adds detail that is helpful in VFX.

Will there ever be a resolution that is too high? Maybe. But 8K isn't it.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

I would be really impressed If the body is fanless
Pat

 

[Daniel Reed]

By power of the dragon are you thinking even more fps?

I'm thinking more FPS, even cleaner S:N ration, a way to unlock another 10% or more pixels, a way to carve out another stop of DR, and a better ergo body design.

I'd drop greenbacks just for candid photos of competitors as their jaws drop at the NAB Weapon unveiling.



I've already started herding by ducks into formation.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Instead of asking why we need 8K, or even 4K as many still do... Just ask yourself why it is that we don't need it. Typically all the arguments against 4K and 8K come from the peanut gallery of sorts and try to make claims like our eyes can't see all the detail or that our computers can't handle it and all sorts of things that are either just not true or are only temporary inconveniences as technology continues to evolve.

Weapon is not a sensor upgrade, it is an upgrade to the body. Just as the EPIC was a body upgrade around the MX sensor. It will be interesting to see what Weapon will bring to the table in terms of getting full use out of the Dragon sensor. It is possible that RED may offer larger cuts of the Dragon sensor. It in fact does not need to grow much at all in order to become a 35mm full frame size. It only has to grow a bit more than 5mm in width, but a good bit more in height. If Dragon were expanded to 35mm FF dimensions, it would be a 7200x4800 resolution sensor. Very much in line with most contemporary 35mm FF DSLR cameras. I would love to see this happen. ...I'd also love to see a '645' Medium Format sized option. But that would end up being around a 12K by 9K sensor when using Dragon pixels. Would definitely need a Rocket-X or two in order to grind through that.