RED ONE
VMI will be stocking and Supporting the new RED ONE Camera from Summer 08.
The RED ONE™ camera is the latest generation of Digial Film Cameras. This is a streamlined package specifically designed to maximize your shooting options. Matched with a 35mm PL lens mount, it allows you to take advantage of the world’s finest optics. Arriving Summer 08 with many lens options
For those of you waiting to shoot on the RED Camera, here is an update as of 1 August 08. The serial number of our first camera will be 2796 and is scheduled to ship mid August 08.
A full kit with lenses will probably cost around a comparable rate to an HDCAM cine style kit - around £800 per day including camcorder, lenses (Zeiss 18-85mm S/Speeds T1.3), monitor, matte box, follow focus, head, talls, shorts, high hat, filters etc. However, I am not convinced that this is necessarily the correct camera for many applications for which it is selected.
Fundamentally, although it does achieve a narrow DoF, it does so at the expense of having a limited range of tonal range, so the clipping of the highlights is always a problem. Also the software is still being developed, so shooting and posting with the RED is not always plain sailing. The camera is known for crashing in use and issues developing in post.
My advice is that unless you have experience of this camera or are working with others who also have expience of it, then consider other cameras which will have a comparable cost but ultimately higher specification in terms of dynamic latitude and perhaps consider the Pro35/Zeiss SuperSpeed prime lens combination to achieve the same DoF as the RED.
Also, don't be persuaded that the 2K and 4K resolution of the RED is much better than HDCAM - it does shoot very high resolution using single chip technology and then loses a huge amount of resolution when the image passes through a Beyer filter to separate the Red, Green and Blue images, so the end result is not really much better than 1920x1080. The slow-motion ramping though is a real bonus feature of the RED but so are massive file sizes and data workflow challenges!
Our feelings about the RED are one of mixed expectations and salutory testimonials - so we have decided to stock the RED camera shortly but will not be sending it out until we have tested it properly and are confident of being able to support it effectively. Saying that though, I am confident that we will have a system ready for hire by mid/late September 08.