Re: Transcoding issue with the RED

The reason why it looks soft is because by shooting at 2K, you have cropped into the sensor by more than 4x. You can sometimes get away with this, but in doing so, the image will always look softer than the original 4K or 5K image.

"Why is a 2K image softer than my HD camera?" you may ask. HD cameras are built with various algorithms which include artificial sharpening to achieve what we believe is a sharp image. For the most part, they do a fair job at giving a nice image. Where RED differs on this point is they have decided to give more native resolution to speak for the clarity of the image instead of reverting to the older methods of artificial sharpening.

Lack of the artificial sharpening plays a big part in why RED images look different than a lot of comparable cameras.

It is for this reason why the EPIC has become such a hit. It can record 120 frames per second at Full 5K. 5K is 50% more resolution than 4K, which means a naturally sharp master at 4K and of course lower resolutions (i.e. 2K, 1080p, 720p).

Lesson to be learned? Shoot RED 2K at last resort.