What Makes RED Cameras special to you?

[Jamie_Guy]

Hello REDUSER,

I am working on a way for our department to buy a RED Camera. I am just looking for some help that cannot be explained any better than from a RED User. I have been browsing these forums for a while now and am blown away but what a great community this is.

I am wondering is a few things:

What makes RED cameras so special to you?

What have RED cameras allowed you to accomplish that no other camera can?

Why RED?

Edit: If you had to explain the Advantages of RED over say a DSLR in common terms that a non Tech person would understand what would you say?


Answers can be technical, heartfelt, or both.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Bob Gundu]

I really hope this thread stays positive as I know there are some great stories out there.

RED is one of those cameras that really does demand a lot from you, but not any differently that a film camera would. I've always been an admire of the RED One ever since it's conception but it took me while before jumping in until the Scarlet came along. It doesn't take long from the firm time you shoot your first test, the advantages of shooting 4K or 5K. It's not like any camera as it requires you to unlearn certain conventions with digital cinema. My of the misunderstandings are from cameraman that conduct tests over a weekend. That simply is not enough time to squeeze out the best from the MX sensor. Shooting RAW is remarkable, but it also requires a good understanding of color grading in post too. Everything eventually becomes second nature and it will show through your work... but it will take time. The ability to do slight reframing is a life saver when you need it. Trust me as there is always at least one shot! Stabilization requires more resolution too. I'm just wrapped on the food spot that I couldn't have done in anything less than 4K.

Password: burgers

https://vimeo.com/61549226

 

[Martin Stevens]

My Epic-X is the Best Camera at the Best Price.

And because of it I no longer have to worry about 35mm mag changes etc. etc.

My Epic-X allows me to shoot imagery as good as PROMETHEUS etc. etc.

Oh, and when I upgrade to the new DRAGON sensor I will be in Dynamic Range HEAVEN!!!

 

[Kwan Khan]

As a fresh Out of College 2006, It was easier to press a "Buy It Now" button instead of dreaming and agreement (lol).

Thanks GOD I was dropped-out AKA No Student loan scam (lol)

 

[Gunleik Groven]

RED changed my life in most concievable ways... Mostly for good.

Being able to pack it in the luggage (for a solo gig) or rig it for a huge production based on the same cam, and as easilly adapt it for one typoe of production as the other, has been a major boon to me. The stills/video combo as well.

Flexibility, mostly for the better, is the key.

And also that you can scale types of use and workflows depending on production needs and budget.

It is very possible to be "realistic" with an Epic...

And you cabn shoot Prometheus, as others have mentioned...

Slomo - to me - is a side effect. I think it is far too much slomo going on anyway...

 

[Jamie_Guy]

Thanks for the responses so far, i'll edit the OP too, But if you had to explain the Advantages of RED over say a DSLR in common terms that a non Tech person would understand what would you say?

 

[Gunleik Groven]

OUch, comparing to DSLR footy is allmost sacrilege...



But I'll let others do it.

Simple way is with images:

Side by side show:

Moire
Rolling shutter
How they burn out


And with the cams:
Show how much more easy the RED is to set up for different kinds of shoots (even both might look like Mecanocams before they are ready...)

 

[Bobby Farokhzad]

Before Red I was shooting mostly Panasonic AVC-Intra. Moving to the Epic opened a world of creative possibilities for me that simply didn't exist before. Is the camera perfect? I'd be the first to say no. However, I learned time and time again that as a company RED is dedicated to all of us professionals who make their living capturing images. The cameras are continuously getting better and RED always welcomes feedback on what works and what doesn't. The icing on the cake for me is Reduser. This is the greatest online forum I have come across and the wealth of information I found here is amazing to me.

 

[Gunleik Groven]

Codec is the key thing, though... Flexibility in post from simple "shoot-and-deliver" to very flexible VFX and grading sessions, all in the same cam.

I would pull one of those side-by-sides into resolve and try to grade a bit...

 

[Gunleik Groven]

Generally I think it is a better idea to show images than talk about them...

 

[Jamie_Guy]

Generally I think it is a better idea to show images than talk about them...

Will do I Have a 5k R3d file I'll show one full frame then the same image at a 1080p punch in - just to show the Resolution flexibility.

 

[Jamie_Guy]

Bump for the evening crowd.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

The R1, give me a new spike of hope were there was little to none left for very specific reasons...

The EPIC literally changed my life, taking it for the ride I had been waiting my entire life!

As far as why I like it as a camera in it self for the qualities of its images that can produce, I think as little as it is for now, my work can speak for itself, and what I have done with it around the world to share the love, also speaks for itself.


There is just TOO much to write about it, but in my recent Interview article with Digital Photography Pro I did share more of my toughs in detail, so no need to copy paste them here, but that is why I made sure to include it not only for the filming of my first movie, but making it also one of the stars in front of the camera in the movie it self...

 

[Mathias Erichsen]

Sadly I'm not a great photographer (yet) and have screwed up my white balance on more than one occation. With DSLR I've had to re-shoot, with RED I'm saved by the RAW

 

[Jett He]

The presence of having a RED changes my whole mindset on shooting. I pay a lot more attention to detail and lighting plays a big part in my shots.

BUT most importantly, RED RAW is almost idiot proof

 

[Phil Holland]

Off the top of my head:

- 4K/5K in an extremely compact and modular system
- REDCODE, Redcine-X Pro and 3rd party support as well
- Built tough
- One camera, any lens
- Great customer support
- Free firmware upgrades

Can't stress enough how important REDCODE is. Being able to edit natively in NLE programs is a joy. REDCODE Raw is also a pretty meaty format and you can push it around a bunch. Smaller than an uncompressed stream. Essentially visually lossless at 3:1 and pretty damn great at 5:1-8:1 (where I shoot at 99% of the time).

 

[Asif Limbada]

REDCODE is to me what I think makes RED unique.

And the fact because they believe in digital cinema at the same time believe in RAW.

Resolution and slo-mos are secondary

I think Phil covered almost every important aspect about this.

This camera excites cinematography in me. I like to go handheld, slo-mo, with a small fast lens and see where can I take this.

The size is small.

so many little things that makes this the right choice.

 

[Peter Stelzhammer]

this may sound awkward now, but;
you actually have to put in some brainpower and time to build different rigs for different purposes!
this usually also means you learn a lot by trying out different things (by trial and error) -> it sure does also mean it's sometimes not "ready to shoot" in a minute if you've got your rig in part's and not as a pre-built set (like with just a side-handle with a red-volt) but you can really customize you rig and in my experience over time you'll learn some tricks, limitations, workarounds… and so on. So the possibilities are sheer endless (also the time and effort you can put into building a good or "perfect" rig).

it's not only a benefit - sometimes it hurts as you need certain tools to strip-down or change your setup in field (depending on the setup); but it's all there and the better you know all the little (spare) part's of your setup the better you can work with it!

sometimes it's a love-hate relationship (I understand people going the "easy" route of like Alexa which has the ENG-mode "built in") but sometimes it's gold when you can strip down the EPIC to just the brain with a lens on it, monitoring with a longer cable, power with a longer cabel -> putting the camera in narrow corner where an (fully) Alexa would just not fit… it's multi-purpose! By no means "perfect" for a certain specific purpose out of the box but with some effort you can always get there!

 

[Wil Wong]

I always wanted to make Hollywood quality movies.

Digital Video tapes were a good start (but not quite there). Solid state cards made things really digital (with digital files but images of a P2 cameras were still being honed). Early DSLRs gave it that fabulous film look but had restrictions that video cameras didn't.

Red however focused on what I wanted. They created a camera (not for prosumers/hobbyists) meant to take on Hollywood film (which I would never be able to afford or own).

Film was an expensive elitist professional world that mostly only studios could afford. Those companies played that game for decades (if not the dawn of the film industry). Red came along and after a long hard war, showed the world that film wasn't the cheapest and best game in town and their quality could be replicated via digital.

No expensive Sony with multiple models. No Arri or panavision with their rentals only or over expensive equipment that no individual alone could afford. Hell, Arri and Sony stuff (although great quality) is still overpriced. My opinion.

Red slash prices when any normal corporation would bleed their market dry before forced to do that.

In my opinion, I wouldn't be shooting Hollywood quality films had Red not come along. I'd be shooting a pro-sumer quality but not a professional high end film. This is why I like Red. They didn't just say the market is expensive and we want to be in that world. They said, we want digital. We want hollywood quality. We want affordability (or at least affordable by comparison to the competition). That's why I liked them. They weren't greedy for the sake that they could be.

Yes. Bit of a rant. Think where were we 10 years ago. How many digital films were done and the cost of those cameras?

 

[Jamie_Guy]

Thank You all for some awesome responses, I really appreciate all the feedback. Hoping I can join the RED Club soon and create amazing content.