Red Epic for Wildlife - how telephoto can you get?

[Pete Barden]

Thanks Mark. I guess for the moment the 2k can be cropped to the right aspect and then upscaled to 1080P. Not ideal. Out of interest what compressions do people find that they are shooting at for wildlife most of the time? I've budgeted for four 256GB SSDs but even then shooting at 5:1 or 2:1 at higher resolutions seems to eat media. I'm guessing I'm either going to have to have a laptop with me in the field, constantly backing up SSDs (not ideal with all the kit I already have to carry) or shoot at higher compression rates.

Cheers all for your advice,

Pete

 

[Ken Corben]

So I guess overall do people think a full-frame Red is a viable option for me or am I being unrealistic and should I go for a smaller sensor camera? Any feedback much appreciated.

Not sure what people think either?
Should be interesting.

IMHO

Left Brain Standpoint, combine the low cost of acquisition for a turn key EPIC system to shoot the TV deliverable coupled with owning a 5K master for re-licensing, theatrical release, IMAX stock footage, etc. then the RED Digital Cinema business model wins every time.

Right Brain Standpoint, this is the coolest fr*#kn' camera I have ever used.

I always test then practice with new tools.
Photo is the R1 in Botswana in the early days.

Here is a link to testing the Canon 150-600mm configured for wildlife shooting at 96 fps on an EPIC-X:
http://vimeo.com/31242797

Sharky

 

[Pete Barden]

The motion looks great at 96fps. 50fps is the highest framerate I've shot with. Filming at higher framerates will dramatically alter things. You're right the 5K master is a great thing for future proofing. I keep sitting down and looking at the costs of storage and backup on high shooting ratio shoots for 5K. High quality comes at a price and if you get a bargain on the camera body, ultimately you'll pay the price on media/storage down the line. Storage was starting to get quite affordable for video until Red upped the game!