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  • 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 :)

The Raven, 2 years later

Ramasses H

Ramasses H

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Now that the Raven has been in the wild for a couple years I was wondering how everyone is feeling about it? I’ve had mine for 14 months after an 11 month wait, and I’m still very happy with it. I’ll be shooting a feature with it this summer. Since the raven’s release a lot of other cameras have been released from red and other manufacturers. Most of what I ready about the Raven these days is about how it has no upgrade paths and a smaller than S35 sensor. I’ve only owne one other RED camera and that was a used RED ONE. I’ve seen some beautiful work done with the Raven and Scarlet-W. I guess I’m just starting this thread to hear other positive stories from Raven owners.
 
It's a perfect way into higher end gear tbh, loving how much I can push/pull colour compared to other formats.

Just like 4K, I'll be in long wait for 8K to the point where computation is cheap to manage it.
I am hopeful the 4.5K will keep me going to the next 2 years and onwards!

:)
 
#61 chiming in here. Got nearly 600 hours of rec time on her, got a few battle scars, but it's been all over the country and creating outstanding images all along the way. Have zero interest in upgrading to Scarlet-W or Gemini. Love that 4.5K WS 120fps.
 
I see more amazing images coming off Raven brains than all the other DSMC2 compatible brains combined -- mostly because the guys I know who run-and-gun with the Raven are out filming every day, while the guys with $150,000 rigs and a crew of 7 might be lucky to release 1 feature a year and maybe 5 music videos and 15 industrial interviews.

There's something to be said about the Raven price point: it's capturing light beautifully at a price that solo indie directors can afford to run daily. There's no competition out there that lets you start at this price point and grow slowly over time by adding accessories and then upgrading the brain if you want higher resolution or dual ISO.

If I was doing short films or low budget features, I would prefer 2 Ravens over 1 Gemini so I could do A/B with fewer takes. Or 3 Ravens over 1 Helium!
 
Adam Brian Dada said:
I see more amazing images coming off Raven brains than all the other DSMC2 compatible brains combined -- mostly because the guys I know who run-and-gun with the Raven are out filming every day, while the guys with $150,000 rigs and a crew of 7 might be lucky to release 1 feature a year and maybe 5 music videos and 15 industrial interviews.

There's something to be said about the Raven price point: it's capturing light beautifully at a price that solo indie directors can afford to run daily. There's no competition out there that lets you start at this price point and grow slowly over time by adding accessories and then upgrading the brain if you want higher resolution or dual ISO.

If I was doing short films or low budget features, I would prefer 2 Ravens over 1 Gemini so I could do A/B with fewer takes. Or 3 Ravens over 1 Helium!
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I shoot 3 times a week usually 12 hours each day, all back to back, all "run and gun" and I would have to say that when Red lent me a Raven when I was going to buy one after owning the EW for a little over a year it was underwhelming, not that it isn't a kick ass camera but it doesn't live in the same place as other red cameras for me at least in terms of flexibility. There is no upgrade paths from Raven to any other Red cameras that was part of the reason it was priced the way it was, I don't think that has changed. Also the lack of interchangeable lens mounts makes and no interchangable olpfs (right?) separates it also. I wouldn't buy a Raven at this point new, picking up a used one, thats another story

I don't do short films or low budget features so I can't comment on that

steve
 
Steve DiMaggio said:
I shoot 3 times a week usually 12 hours each day, all back to back, all "run and gun" and I would have to say that when Red lent me a Raven when I was going to buy one after owning the EW for a little over a year it was underwhelming, not that it isn't a kick ass camera but it doesn't live in the same place as other red cameras for me at least in terms of flexibility. There is no upgrade paths from Raven to any other Red cameras that was part of the reason it was priced the way it was, I don't think that has changed. Also the lack of interchangeable lens mounts makes and no interchangable olpfs (right?) separates it also. I wouldn't buy a Raven at this point new, picking up a used one, thats another story

I don't do short films or low budget features so I can't comment on that

steve
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Yeah if you have a budget, you're not going to low ball your camera for sure. With the Raven's price point, once you add $10,000 in DSMC2 accessories, you can sell the Raven and buy a DSMC2 brain and 100% of those add-ons carry-over. Let's say someone buys a Raven for $10K and all the add-ons for another $10K and then 2 years later wants to move to a different DSMC2 brain -- they're out maybe $4000 or so for 2 years of filming 4.5K. Not a bad value.

The reason I don't see a lot of footage from others might be because they're not mentioning what rig they're shooting films with -- or those films aren't crossing my desktop for whatever reason. If I see something I like, I'll usually dig in to see if technical details are shared somewhere. Many films just don't advertise what their gear is.

I bought the Scarlet-W because I wanted to get out of the Blackmagic point for once and I could afford it but couldn't afford the $7000 difference for the next model. But for the next year or so? I'd have been fine with a Raven or two -- allowing me to add-on the DSMC2 accessories for a later "sell and upgrade" brain change. Red provides for this path even if the brain itself can't be upgraded directly through them.

Many of the run and gun indies I know are fine with an EF mount.
 
yeah I don't do films so I can't comment on set life and what it entails, I shoot all nikonm glass so that was another strike for me personal. I wanted a scarlet actually had 2 on order and switched it to the Epic when they did that special upgrade price of 20k. I do own the Scarlet-W now and find it to be a great camera, admittedly I didn't spend much more that 50 hours or so shooting the raven, it just didn't cut well with my Epic-W.

Your absolutely correct about adding on the modules, I was talking about brain upgrades. It's all good man!

Oh and I hear you loud and clear on the black magic thing! I did product demos with 2 4K and a pocket cam for 3 years

steve
 
I love my Raven and use it almost weekly. I was an early adopter and do not regret it.
I WOULD however like to see some sort of upgrade path from RED to move further along inside the ecosystem.
 
The Raven is the best RED camera for the independent shooter in my opinion, i purposely bought it for my personal work so i didnt get back into PL mount glass. Though professionally i say i use Arri 90 percent of the time, but the times ive used red on some shows, i put the raven on as a b camera and made my money back quickly.
so, with so little of an investment, im not hurt by anything red chooses to do. though i think we were misled about 4k for all, and get into red and you will alwasy be taken care of, and now no upgrade path. they said they always said that, but no, not until it got back ordered, before release it was join the family!
i also think it has one of the best sensor sizes for higher speeds and much less to go wrong technically, no mount issues, no olpf issues, etc.
just keep it simple and shoot! so i personally wouldnt upgrade, id sell once my 3 year warranty runs out.
i have to say i also have never upgraded my firmware since pro res was introduced and have had no technical issues except an occasional screen tear after magnifying focus. ill take that!
 
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I filmed a Nat Geo wildlife show called 'Dino Bird' on the Raven. Worked really well. Great camera for lower end wildlife or if you're starting out in that field.

Unfortunately, if clients are hiring gear then the price difference between raven and helium isn't that great so they prefer to hire a helium. Plus having a PL mount for long cine glass is pretty critical. So we upgraded one of our ravens to an Epic W and the raven never gets used anymore and will probably be sold. Still a great little camera though!
 
Edward Saltau said:
I filmed a Nat Geo wildlife show called 'Dino Bird' on the Raven. Worked really well. Great camera for lower end wildlife or if you're starting out in that field.

Unfortunately, if clients are hiring gear then the price difference between raven and helium isn't that great so they prefer to hire a helium. Plus having a PL mount for long cine glass is pretty critical. So we upgraded one of our ravens to an Epic W and the raven never gets used anymore and will probably be sold. Still a great little camera though!
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funny i have not one time been asked what kind of red i was using, and the one producer i told because he was a friend was like, what's that? i also use all optimo zooms on mine on real jobs with a pl adapter, never had a problem, long lenses with a short PL work too, like the century nikon and canons.
 
I just cant recomend it enough. I use it on a daily basis on all kind of projects including mostly TVCs but with music videos and corporate stuff also.


I intercut it with Phantom Flex with no problems, nobody is commenting on camera because to them its just new RED. Clients are happy, so am I.
I just have to add that as a cinematographer and producer in same person I'm feeling very confident in my chosen tools. I was an early adopter, ordered within minutes since release and just now i feel its time to upgrade to Gemini.
 
jordan levy said:
funny i have not one time been asked what kind of red i was using, and the one producer i told because he was a friend was like, what's that? i also use all optimo zooms on mine on real jobs with a pl adapter, never had a problem, long lenses with a short PL work too, like the century nikon and canons.
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Yea I guess wildlife is just one of those genres where resolution matters more than others. Everything is finished in 4k now, and usually the specs ask us to shoot in 7kHD and only go down to 4k if frame rates are essential. Having said that, I did shoot a whole bunch of movi stuff for a BBC landmark on the Raven last year because the Epic W was being used for a long lens setup. I think it just matters to them in the planning stage, once they get all the footage back, they're more than happy with the quality of the Raven.
 
Love my Raven. Hate the idea of not being able to upgrade. The 5K Scarlet-W image v.s. 4.5K Raven image is so minimal it wasn't worth the money for me. The standard OPLF is great and if you want Skin Hilight fix just get a nice Tiffen filter on your lens and get same effect. I have friends with EPIC W's and I'm killing there projects. People forget its all the same Dragon sensor. Until you spend over 20K on body alone. Which for indie filmmaker like myself isn't realistic.
 
its my first Red and probably gonna keep it till it breaks down i love the Dragon Sensor and the RedDragon Colors. it looks amazing with just a lil work. i love RAW but i’m not a colorist so the RedGamma and RedColor makes it alot easier for me. but i def wanna buy the s35 Gemini in the near future for that low light
 
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