My Take on RED...

First, here's the disclaimer:

1. My RED camera is due in December.

2. I've actually held one in my hands.

3. I've seen actual footage.

4. I've got years, too many maybe, of experience shooting film and HD and I don't drink Kool Aid.

These are my thoughts:

Pros:

1. Stunning motion pictures. Fully the equal of 35MM. Big fat Super 35MM sized sensor; same depth of field as 35MM film.

2. Records to relatively inexpensive solid state media and inexpensive hard drives. I don't think it takes rocket science to realize that the price of solid state memory is falling like a stone. By the time RED is as ubiquitous as I believe it will be, the cost of archive media will below current tape costs. That my friends, is the end of tape. Solid state replacements for large capacity hard drives are already coming on line. The days of spinning discs are numbered.

3. A very well thought out system approach, modular and upgradable.

Cons:

1. Not field proven. Certainly, the early users have good reports, however.

2. A complete system is not nearly as cheap as is assumed. To replace my VariCams, not with stills camera lenses which have grave problems with insufficient focus mounts, but proper cine lenses, our package will damage 60k. Still a bargain, but not a "Christmas morning" camera. The glass easily costs more than the camera, although RED is selling glass at barrier-breaking prices.

3. Without a built-in filter wheel, this camera requires manually changing filters in the Matte Box. This alone makes it a poor choice for small crew run-and-gun shooting. I believe the production work flow is much more like that of shooting 35MM. I'm not advocating a filter wheel! The sensor is too large to make this very practical. Just stopping down is a poor way to control exposure; you lose your ability to determine depth of field.

4. The 35MM sensor means that this camera has 2.5 times less depth of field than 2/3" chip cameras. Focus is going to be critical and a good Follow Focus rig and operator will be required for tracking moving subjects.

In summary:

1. RED will not change everything, but it's going to change a lot. Film is not dead, but it can't be feeling well. Tape is not far behind. We'll shoot solid state, archive solid state, and distribute electronically. I remember when I was one of our parcel service's biggest customers; now it's all internet delivery. The pipe keep getting fatter, faster, and cheaper.

2. For the work I do, RED is ideal. I believe the same is true of feature motion picture production. For other types of work, perhaps not.

3. Several years from now we'll all go to the restored art deco period motion picture theater to screen a new blockbuster movie "actually shot on film!" Perhaps Kodak will make a special run to manufacture the stock and they'll pull some old guys out of retirement to show them how to work the cameras and restore the projectors to working order.

Of course there's much more, but this is a start.

Good shooting and best regards to all,

Leo