Re: Focusing the Red

They did conclude this when they were setting back focus before the shoot, however during the shoot, that's not exactly what they said:

"In our tests and on Art’s spec spot, our subjects were stationary, or far enough away that minor distance changes weren’t an issue. There was plenty of time to rack focus back and forth, using both the LCD and the 720p output displayed on a 17” monitor, and most of the time that worked fine.

But I’d hate to have to focus the RED by eye on a dynamic, moving target. There just isn’t enough detail in the low-res outputs to be sure of focus.

Focusing by tape measure and the lens witness marks is how the Hollywood folks usually do it, and that seems to be the rule for RED ONE, too. Just be sure that you’ve set the flange focal depth properly before you try this, or you may be disappointed, especially with wider lenses or wider zoom settings.

Robert Harrison reported using the Accuscene viewfinder’s false-color “exposure meter” setting as a focusing aid: the posterized false-color image made it much easier for him to snap things into focus. Since RED acquired Accuscene, that false-color mode is now part of RED’s monitoring; I’ll try using it as a focusing aid the next time I have a chance to work with the camera. Try it for yourself, too, and see if you find it helpful.
Some folks also say that the RED EVF is a much better focusing finder than the LCD. I’ll be keen to test it out at some point.

Finally, we can always hope that a future build of RED ONE firmware will include a higher degree of magnification in its image-enlargements mode, for when critical focusing is required."

Jerry