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randy@rleffingwell.com · 05/08/08, 02:49 AM

The RED camera has tantalized still shooters since the company first announced it would show prototypes at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas in 2006. This year, with working RED ONE cameras on hand to, umm, handle, the potential is closer to reality. The EPIC with 5K resolution will come close to what still shooters need for two-page magazine spreads at 300dpi. According to RED, the EPIC should be available by this time in 2009.The EPIC, like the ONE, will shoot in RAW code.

Two things will keep these cameras from most people's hands: First a RED ONE (4K resolution) with a COOKE 18-100mm T3.0 lens, a couple of batteries, a "viewfinder," and some kind of medium onto which you will record your images will cost you more than $100,000 US. The RED ONE camera (only, no finder) sells for just about $18,000.

From what RED staff told me at the RED booth at NAB this year, the body on the 6-pound RED EPIC alone is $55,000. (That is why they are offering full trade-in allowance on your "old RED ONE" if you pre-order an EPIC.) That same Cooke 18-100 that will not even cover the sensor at full wide zoom, and it sells for another $45K. RED is producing its own lenses, and Cooke and others are manufacturing lenses as well for the camera.

Prime lenses from Cooke range from $6,000 to $10,000 each.

However, if you are well endowed financially, you still will need to be well-endowed physically because the camera (the ONE) is roughly 10 pounds and that lens is another 13.

On a recent National Geographic shoot in Mexico, the director used two Panasonic HD handicams and experimented with his RED ONE. According to my buddy who was the underwater still shooter on the project, the director said stills from the RED were "almost but not quite there."

While obviously not conceived as a still shooter's camera (who really needs 100 frames per second?) the potential to pull magazine or book quality images from its sensors and lenses still has a lot of us very curious.

In LA, RED ONEs with a ready-to-shoot kit rent for about $4,000 a week, $1,400 to $1,800 a day depending on accessories.

05/08/08, 02:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
randy@rleffingwell.com Neuer Benutzer Join Date: 11/27/07 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Posts: 14	Re: Leica's Red Dot and RED The RED camera has tantalized still shooters since the company first announced it would show prototypes at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas in 2006. This year, with working RED ONE cameras on hand to, umm, handle, the potential is closer to reality. The EPIC with 5K resolution will come close to what still shooters need for two-page magazine spreads at 300dpi. According to RED, the EPIC should be available by this time in 2009.The EPIC, like the ONE, will shoot in RAW code. Two things will keep these cameras from most people's hands: First a RED ONE (4K resolution) with a COOKE 18-100mm T3.0 lens, a couple of batteries, a "viewfinder," and some kind of medium onto which you will record your images will cost you more than $100,000 US. The RED ONE camera (only, no finder) sells for just about $18,000. From what RED staff told me at the RED booth at NAB this year, the body on the 6-pound RED EPIC alone is $55,000. (That is why they are offering full trade-in allowance on your "old RED ONE" if you pre-order an EPIC.) That same Cooke 18-100 that will not even cover the sensor at full wide zoom, and it sells for another $45K. RED is producing its own lenses, and Cooke and others are manufacturing lenses as well for the camera. Prime lenses from Cooke range from $6,000 to $10,000 each. However, if you are well endowed financially, you still will need to be well-endowed physically because the camera (the ONE) is roughly 10 pounds and that lens is another 13. On a recent National Geographic shoot in Mexico, the director used two Panasonic HD handicams and experimented with his RED ONE. According to my buddy who was the underwater still shooter on the project, the director said stills from the RED were "almost but not quite there." While obviously not conceived as a still shooter's camera (who really needs 100 frames per second?) the potential to pull magazine or book quality images from its sensors and lenses still has a lot of us very curious. In LA, RED ONEs with a ready-to-shoot kit rent for about $4,000 a week, $1,400 to $1,800 a day depending on accessories.