Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

  • 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 :)

RED Weapon Forged CF #47 "Skully" - Los Angeles

  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #61
your not alone...i was directly inline to do the whole thing and reading the spec sheet its exactly that a epic dragon in a tuxedo that gives pro-res. I have too many jobs that still need DNXHd
and not only that but a DIT i love and would miss not seeing on set.

I guess we should ask Jarred/RED to see if DNXhd, or more accurately at this point, DNXhr is a potential possibility in Weapon.
 
Phil,

Did you take delivery of any of the Expander modules for I/O ? Are any expander modules on working cameras? Not sure a Weapon would be much use in my line of work without the ability to share the pictures.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #64
Hey Phil!

Congrats!!

Any chance you could share some Prores files with us at any point? Curious to take a look at those.

Thanks!

Going to shoot some samples this week. Current project wraps tomorrow "I hope" :)


Phil,

Did you take delivery of any of the Expander modules for I/O ? Are any expander modules on working cameras? Not sure a Weapon would be much use in my line of work without the ability to share the pictures.

Yep, if you look at this shot from Saturday's shoot:




I have the Base I/O Expander on there with the REDVOLT XL Module. I also have the Element Technical V-Lock Module, however, on this shoot I wanted to try out the REDVOLT XLs because they are new to me.

I plan to get the REDVOLT Module when that's released. I see that as being pretty handy for typical narrative shooting.

If I end up getting a *gasp* gimbal, I can see the Jetpack Expander in my future. I've been thinking about it for steadicam setups actually, but those are also rare for style of filming I do.


Power-wise, I do like the REDVOLT XLs actually a whole lot. They seem to be giving 1.5 hours of juice so far and they help keep the camera small, which I'm going to be all about for some shoots. My big old V-Lock Bricks (190Wh) also work great. They just are heavier than the camera it seems :) Can't beat them if you need to camera up and on all day long.
 
@Phil - you're getting 1.5 hrs out of a Redvolt XL on Weapon?? Is that shoot + standby time? Because if that's uptime shooting, I'm going to have to look at the Redvolt ecosystem again (never had XL but the standard Redvolts were never practical for us beyond using them for sidehandle hot swap)
 
@Phil - you're getting 1.5 hrs out of a Redvolt XL on Weapon?? Is that shoot + standby time? Because if that's uptime shooting, I'm going to have to look at the Redvolt ecosystem again (never had XL but the standard Redvolts were never practical for us beyond using them for sidehandle hot swap)

Yes that is a whole lot more than I ever got out of them when using them on dragon. Would be great to get a number on standby and constant recording.... and also if you got any issues with charger/XL as I think most people that had them on dragon got problems with them.

Also would be interesting to know if the camera eats battery life even when turned off etc.
 
Yes that is a whole lot more than I ever got out of them when using them on dragon.

There's some serious discrepancy going on here. Björn and a few others don't seem to want to touch the XL Volt with a long stick, and consensus says 45min of usage...

And then Phil seems pretty happy. Difference being Weapon?

I'm sure everyone's opinion is valid, but I'm hoping something has changed and Phil's experience is representative. Sure like to know more.
 
Correct. And I'm holding onto both of my mounts at the moment because I have no idea how the 8K upgrade is going to work with the PL Mounts, but I do know the 8K PL Mount will be "slightly different" in terms of the flocking and matte design.

IIRC the Mg PL mount on the CF Weapons has a larger throat to accomodate the 8K chip, as the current Ti PL would vignette. Are you saying there are actually 2 separate generations of Mg PL mounts for Weapon? One that has the larger throat and one that has the "standard" aperture?

Cheers - #19
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #70
IIRC the Mg PL mount on the CF Weapons has a larger throat to accomodate the 8K chip, as the current Ti PL would vignette. Are you saying there are actually 2 separate generations of Mg PL mounts for Weapon? One that has the larger throat and one that has the "standard" aperture?

All current PL Mounts are optimized for 6K and below shooting. At NAB 2015 you could see that there's a different shape to the "throat" to accommodate the larger projected image circle. When the 8K sensor is released I imagine that either A. RED will provide a new PL Mount or B. Modify existing PL Mounts to work with the larger sensor.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #73
What wallet colour chart is that again? I haven't gotten one yet, and it's something I should just keep in my bag.

EDit: oh and....Congrats!

Thanks Mike. That's the ColorChecker Passport.

If you guys are ever curious about what I've shot the most over the years, it's Checkerboards, Resolution Charts, and Color Charts. It's the only content I can say safely I've shot with every lens and camera I've ever had in front of me. That and a slate I guess.

Here's a shot while setting up a night shoot last night. Also did a bit of on camera work myself for a small project.


 
Thanks Phil (and Billy)... I've asked (and you answered) before, but obviously I diddle-daddled and forgot.

As for the last pic; have you been rockin' sans top-handle (and just pick-up by the rails/back-battery area)? Would you happen to know the approx weight as configured there?
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #76
The camera looks tiny...

Wait till you see it rigged with small glass.


Thanks Phil (and Billy)... I've asked (and you answered) before, but obviously I diddle-daddled and forgot.

As for the last pic; have you been rockin' sans top-handle (and just pick-up by the rails/back-battery area)? Would you happen to know the approx weight as configured there?

I can actually just palm the brain (that sounds weird doesn't it?) and lift it up. However, in this case it's just before the camera was fully built. Grabbed this shot before bolting on the LCD. With a REDVOLT XL attached you can be in the 8-10lb range real easily. I need to remove the LEMO adapter too, that can save some weight. At the moment I've been using it to mount my RED WMD, which I'll be using shortly.

The shoot Saturday was all 5.5K HD, REDCODE RAW 3:1, 24fps, ISO 800, with the Skin Tone - Highlight OLPF. I've since really looked at the footage and "futz" around with it a bit. I think many will be surprised if they are used to the images from Epic and Scarlet Dragon. There's subtle differences that in my mind are major improvements in image quality. I haven't even put the Low Light Optimized OLPF in yet. I will this week though for testing however. In the past I've demonstrated usable ISO 4000-6400 on Epic Dragon with the LLO OLPF. Very curious to see where I can stretch things now. And I'm not even "that low light guy" really.
 
So there is more thant Prores (and the other goodies).
If you could picture your findings about the improved image quality VS Epic Dragon it will make the key selling point to me and my partner to make the upgrade.

Thanks

Pat
 
Congratulations, Phil.
 
One thing I am really curious about, is a comparison between in-camera prores and post prores at similar and very challenging exposure settings. A diff-matte would kinda tell me more than most announced specs.
 
  • Thread starter
  • Moderator
  • #80
So there is more thant Prores (and the other goodies).
If you could picture your findings about the improved image quality VS Epic Dragon it will make the key selling point to me and my partner to make the upgrade.

Thanks

Pat

Everybody will have different reasons and needs when looking at Weapon (or any camera), but if you want a rundown of how it's "hitting me".

To be totally honest the improved Data Transfer Rates were reason alone for me to upgrade, it's one thing I "know" can improve image quality. The improved optical path and when Jarred said "0.5 stops cleaner in the shadows" was something I wasn't clear on until now, but it's certainly noticeable. The Auto Black Shade has been one that I've been using a surprising amount and I didn't think it would "effect me" too much, but it's damn useful.

ProRes was/is enticing for me. But for much of my work it wasn't even why I was looking at Weapon. However, for those jobs that want it, I've got it now. And I'll go ahead and say it, it's going to save me money on some types of productions for sure in the future. Big money.

3D LUT support is something I've been looking for and I haven't even scratched the surface yet, but yeah, haven't that all happen in camera is going to be wonderful. I have a large digital mountain of LUTs I use for all sorts of things. Now I can do that on the day, which is very cool.

Built in WiFi, yep that interests me. Happy it's in there. Already spent a day with Foolcontrol. Works as you'd imagine.

The newest Interchangeable OLPF design with it's single turn swap is going to be rad once I start swapping. I'm on what, day 6 with the camera? Once I have 100 or so OLPF swaps like I did with Epic Dragon I'm certain it will be good thing.

The new fans, or more appropriately, the new ventilation and cooling system is vastly improved. I can say that confidently without reaching for my dB meter, but I'll test that too.

Another thing I didn't thing I had a lot of interest in was the bolt on LCD tech, but literally after shooting with it a day you realize how useful that is. Camera is up and ready to shoot really, really fast now. The only thing I didn't have on camera in the case before Saturday's shoot was the LCD. Bolted that on and boom good to go. Digging not having any cables on my camera when it's on the tripod.

The Sidekick I'm honestly still getting used to. I was and am more of a Side Handle sort of fellow, but I have mapped A-D on the Sidekick to my focus tools, the buttons on the SSD Module I've mapped to Video Check and GIOSCOPE. So far that's been my whip. Once that Side Handle is ready for release it's going to jump onto my camera.
 
Back
Top