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RED Weapon Monochrome to Congo to film Grauer's Gorillas-first time user needs help

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Grayson Fahrner

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My questions are:
-What lenses listed would convey the best "cinematic" effect? Are there lenses for PL or Nikon that would enhance the "cinematic" effect of my footage?
-Does the monochrome sensor give more limited dynamic range at lower iso ranges? In other words, should I avoid moving from ISO 2000 at all costs if depth of field is not a consideration in the scene?
-What are "acceptable" compression ratios to use at 8k, 6k, 5k, and 4k? I'm not likely to use VFX.
-Are there other considerations of the monochrome sensor I should be aware of, either in operation or in post-production that I should know before shooting?
-In a jungle environment with plunging shadows and bright light coming through the trees, would a use of filters to enhance contrast help? Which ones?
 
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Hi Grayson,

Great project and enjoyed our discussion the other day.

On Batteries - look at the HyperCore Primes (the are a 2-part battery with each half airline approved) - http://www.coreswx.com/product/hcprimes/

Biggest thing to avoid - under exposure!
 
Thank you! I already committed to A/Bs Gold Mount, forgot to mention. What cable would connect a battery on a sharkfin or mounted on the back of the shoulder rig to power another, separate weapon camera?
 
Nice with monocrome but I would picked helium and a monstro they make pretty colors. And I would only go 75 fps as large gorillas dont move around that fast, higher frame rates would risk being boring and you loose both sensor size resolution and bit rate per frame when going faster. Those cameras can film nice picture until the sun is gone, after that point I´m not sure I would like to sitt around a bunch of gorillas :)
 
If you´re shooting the monochrome be aware that you will not be able to alter color to greyscale conversion in post. The monochrome is a fantastic camera but I´d suggest to do in depth tests prior to your journey, you may want to use filters. Don´t underexpose, ISO 2000 will leave you with a very "thin" file. All the best!
 
Hi Grayson,

Sounds like a fascinating project. I don't have any experience with the monochrome, but I'd agree with Bjorn - are the B&W advantages of the monochrome worth it? Why not get a Monstro, then you can use the colour footage or desaturate for black and white?

You might struggle with the higher frame rates in the shadows of the jungle. If you stick to 75fps max, you can stay at maximum resolution and avoid underexposure. I also agree with Bjorn here - I've visited the gorillas in Uganda and they didn't move very quickly, so you may just be wasting space and compromising on light and compression by shooting at over 75fps.

I've shot in pretty hot and humid environments with my Weapon Magnesium. No problems so far. I think it does help to black shade at the higher temperature and increase your target temp in fan control.

Compression ratio is very much dependent on the amount of in focus detail in your scene. A wide shot of the forest with everything in focus, especially with movement may benefit from 6:1 compression, but a close up of a gorillas hand with a blurry background may only require 10:1. (my reference is 6K).

I usually carry some NDs but I find it's very seldom that I need them (especially when shooting at higher frame rates). If you are concerned about moisture in the variable ND, perhaps just bring along a 0.9 or 1.2 ND in case of emergency.

Good luck!

Rob
 
Monstro is nice but no Nikon Mount and many lenses vignette on that glass. Monochrome for +1.5 stop performance in low light and extra sharpness, so when using high frame rates should yield a nicer image than color Weapon desaturated. True gorillas don't move "fast" except when they do and to capture the expressions of the face, the way they play, would be a unique perspective that not many people capture when they're viewing these animals. Drop in bit rate @6,5, or 4k not the worst thing as the file sizes are less enormous and shooting in that location capacity and backup will be strained.
 
I would definitly go with Weapon color. Colors are definitly the thing in the forest.
Don't play with shutter speed to reduce the light, use ND filters (screw on or small matte box if the lense permit it) ND9 - 12 - 15 (or the Revolva if it's ready to ship)
You can fly as many Batteries as you want if you are <90wh, and 2 per person travelling with you up to <160wh but it has to be in cabin. I love the Paglink batteries, they are very small.
Tripod is the biggest thing if the gorillas are in trees (o'connor 1030D). I would also recomend a tilt wedge so your tripod head isn't fully tilted up and you can frame much better.
Don't over expose. Forest and sky is tricky to find the best compromise between highlights and shadows.
The experience I got by filming a lot in the Amazon is that close to 9 o'clock you'll be "flooded" with humidity. The cold lens from the night catches all the humidity coming from the forest. It's mainly due to the sun that awakes the trees. Take some microfibre lens tissue with you. You'll even have it on the back of your lens.
Do you have power to download you footage after your treck? I usually bring with me 2x 4TB USB3 WD Hard drives and a power bank for my MacBookPro so I can download and copy safe 1TB of footage to 2 harddrives.
Carnet ATA is also important for transit. And all countries are ok with ATA if you explain them how it works.
Put only things in the checked baggages that you could rent or find in another place if it dissapears. Bring all necessery things with you IN CABIN and also your camera body, all accessories and an all around "Master lens". Batteries do have to travel in cabin.

I envy you ;-)

Pat
 
Anything nature/wildlife-using pre record has totally helped conserve my mags and storage. So instead of recording everything in hopes that the animal would do something interesting. I’d just shoot exactly what I’d need with pre record.
And be sure to do a secure format before using the pre record option before.
 
Monochrome? Not a good mission for that camera
 
Monocrome is very limiteded when you grade as you can not isolate colors and grade them seperatly all you got is luminans to play with.
So even though monocrome is a nice camera you can usually get more interesting constrast grading BW from color.

Monstro at higher speeds gives you a larger sensor then helium at the same speed. Monstro also got better pixels so its a way better highspeed camera. And to me a way better to shot difficult to artisticly light BW scenarios with than monocrome. Monocrome you need to filter in camera to make it look as wanted so it is for sure not the easy hammer to hit the nail with on the conterary its seriously difficult.

Nikon mount works well on monstro you can ”cut it open” with a knife to make it cover.
Also if you shoot at your high framerates you will window in on the sensor so the glas will cover.
But again I would stay at 75fps and use HDRX if needed.If the shadow / direct sunlight ratios are that hard so learn how that works.
 
Björn Benckert said:
Monocrome is very limiteded when you grade as you can not isolate colors and grade them seperatly all you got is luminans to play with.
So even though monocrome is a nice camera you can usually get more interesting constrast grading BW from color.

Monstro at higher speeds gives you a larger sensor then helium at the same speed. Monstro also got better pixels so its a way better highspeed camera. And to me a way better to shot difficult to artisticly light BW scenarios with than monocrome. Monocrome you need to filter in camera to make it look as wanted so it is for sure not the easy hammer to hit the nail with on the conterary its seriously difficult.

Nikon mount works well on monstro you can ”cut it open” with a knife to make it cover.
Also if you shoot at your high framerates you will window in on the sensor so the glas will cover.
But again I would stay at 75fps and use HDRX if needed.If the shadow / direct sunlight ratios are that hard so learn how that works.
Click to expand...

I agree with Bjorn that grading a black and white image will be harder than going from color. It is worth a test though. you will of course get less noise and I would think increase sharpness with monochrome.
/Andreas
 
Questions, but first thank you for everybody who responded.

1)Do I want to shoot at 75 FPS instead of 60 fps?? I believe you lose vertical pixels shooting at 2.4:1, which would play an important role in stabilizing my shoulder-rig footage in post. I'd prefer to keep those vertical pixels to assist with framing and stabilization, hence the use of an 8k camera.

2) Cutting anything on an $80,000 camera makes me want to throw up? I was told Nikon mount didn't work on Monstro so I ruled it out entirely, but its an interesting "hack" I'll take into account if I upgrade the sensor some day.

3) Isn't jungle green distracting? B+W eliminates the "busy-ness" of vines and tangles and in my experience the jungle rarely isolates gorillas but frames them messily and chaotically.

4) +1.5 stops of light performance supersedes grading considerations? My understanding is that the monochrome gives me 1.5 stops of light improvement, which I can use against noise, shutter speed/fps, or increasing my depth of field with large, and possibly very close, subjects. I also expect to get better quality stills at 6/5/4k all else equal. This is where I'm more shaky as I don't have much experience grading but thank you all for making me aware of the "thin" profile of monochrome. If anyone has suggestions on color filters to bring to make gorillas in the jungle pop even more, I'm all ears and that could really improve the footage.

5) Slow-mo is the way to go? I want to shoot slow-motion because it's different and dramatic and given available light I can pull usable stills from the higher shutter speed footage at 6, 5, or 4k, which all else equal will look cleaner and sharper in monochrome than the color cameras with the same light. I'll possibly be renting a second color helium and if I do I'm happy to do comparisons for everyone after I upload the footage. Also windowing sensor gives my focal length range a big Mario mushroom which will help me bring out eyes, facial expressions, etc if I can keep the camera steady somehow...

Thank you. Happy to do comparisons if I end up with a twin Helium color/monochrome setup.
 
Chris Kennedy said:
Anything nature/wildlife-using pre record has totally helped conserve my mags and storage. So instead of recording everything in hopes that the animal would do something interesting. I’d just shoot exactly what I’d need with pre record.
And be sure to do a secure format before using the pre record option before.
Click to expand...

Amazing advice. 20 second max pre-roll is perfect, that should conserve my mags, thank you very much. I'll have 20-30TB on hand but should be ok.
 
Y cot out some flocking on the nikon mount so no harm to the actual camera.

Regarding speed, yes you are right shooting 60 fps somthing is giving you full ff height so go with that. I like 75 fps as its even devidable down to 25fps.

At high frame rates I would not worry so much about shutter speed even big ones work so if out of light shoot 360 shutter if heavy light and no nd filter at hand go on a tighter shutter.

as the djungle is green makes it easy to key on, separate and pull contrast and luminanase differently than the apes before making it BW that way you can treat them differently in terms of contrast etc. On monocrome its not like that.

And monstro is cleaner than every camera you ever seen except for the monocrome.
 
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