The Reality of $4,000 for 4k

[Dan Frenkel]

I did the R1 BT deal as well, the specs are great with a few add ons like the frame rate of 120 etc. as people said above. It is in my opinion as well a better built more robust body design and built the way a real cinema camera should be. Im a strong guy and like to know I have a mans camera in my hand!! I love the way the RED ONE looks fully loaded!!!! I will most likely own an EPIC in the future but another thing is the DRAGON wont be available right away for the SCARLET, ONLY THE EPIC. And with maybe if enough of us that own RED ONES create a high enough demand for RED ONE products, they will most likely be willing to keep producing stuff and create upgrades for the future!!!

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

Keep in mind I have no experience with RED cameras, but...

1. Drives, not SSDs or Compact Flash. Not saying they're needless, but they're expensive.
2. Off-brand LCD, quick way to cover your ass.
3. Yes, Nikon glass is a savor, even if you're not a Nikon user. You can get some cheep, non-AI lenses.
4. Off brand rail components. Not cheep and crappy, I just used 15mm rod accessories to save money.
5. Get a nice, but not super nice matte box. Something to put filters in and protect from weird lens-flares.
6. Follow focus. Invest, but don't spend three grand on it. You're driving photography lenses, a two hundred dollar follow focus isn't going to look much worse than a two thousand dollar follow focus. These lenses are rough in the focus ring, they get better but not perfect.
7. I skipped over battery for right now. Not permanent, but AC power does the job, and extension cords are cheeper than Bricks.

So, is my way perfect, no. But if the idea is to shoot 4K for cheap, this is how you do it.

I don't know much about pulling focus, but from what I do know, there is no way that I'd want to pull focus with still lenses, no matter how good the FF. The only exception would be if the lens was wide and the aperture narrow. I do believe that there is or was a $50 FF which operated via a friction band as opposed to a gear. Is that what you're using?

Surely there has to be a fairly inexpensive third party solution to the power question? You sure don't want your camera tethered to a power source! In any case I really like your thinking - proof that you don't need all the luxuries to have a usable system.

I'd take a R1MX over a Scarlet any day

Personally I'm looking at a Scarlet, but I'm a photographer not a DP.

they will most likely be willing to keep producing stuff and create upgrades for the future!!!

I was tempted to say "You're dreaming," but this is RED we're talking about...

 

[Mikko Suomalainen]

Keep in mind I have no experience with RED cameras, but...

I don't know much about pulling focus, but from what I do know, there is no way that I'd want to pull focus with still lenses, no matter how good the FF.

What still lenses are you talking about? The new autofocus-lenses without any focus hard stops and really short focus throw?
There are other still lenses too, almost all older manual focus lenses have at least 180 degree focus throw and with decent focusing gear they are good to go.