Taken the Plunge for RED

CamDiver

CamDiver

Active member
Well guys,
After much deliberation and fence sitting I have decided to opt for RED. My cash has been sent and looking forward to getting my REDservation # soon. I sent all instruction to my peeps in Cali to get things done by Monday so hopefully that will now give me around 6 to 8 months to get things together for the dawning of the new age.

Long live the Rebellion.

Mark.
 
Very cool CamDiver. Welcome to the REDRes family...

I bet you'll get some stunning underwater images with your RED. What kind of housing are you planning on using? I'm sure there will eventually be RED housings from several manufacturers. When I shoot in the water, its on the surface for action sports (surfing, Jetski, kiteboarding, etc.) I have a guy who makes custom lightweight aluminum housings for me, which is exactly what I'll order for my REDs. The camera will have a battery, RED Flash or RED Drive, and a lightweight, wide-angle prime lens.
 
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Congratulations, Mark! I just submitted my own reservation as well not 10 minutes ago! I can't wait to see what else they have up their sleeves...

At first I'm going to be using a barebones kit (Nikon lenses, no EVF, handheld, Redrock Follow Focus, etc.) Later on I'll upgrade, as the camera starts producing the moolah.

Doesn't it feel good? :beer:
 
Thanks guys,
I must admit though I am now looking to embark on a massive learning curve having only worked with DV and HDV. I am self taught so adopting RED and all the ins and outs of cinematography at this level may well lead to postings of what could be challenging matters to my limited understanding of the format . Matters I would like to think could be illuminated by the profuse knowledge of individuals represented in the ranks of the RED "Inner Circle" of believers.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
CamDiver said:
I must admit though I am now looking to embark on a massive learning curve having only worked with DV and HDV. I am self taught so adopting RED and all the ins and outs of cinematography at this level may well lead to postings of what could be challenging matters to my limited understanding of the format .
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Same here. I'm making the leap from a DVX100 to a RED. Here's to the lunatics of the world! :beer:
 
Thanks Jim,

Gibby, Gates Underwater Housings based in San Diego are currently working on the designs for a dedicated RED housing. I'm in contact with the President and CEO, John Ellerbrook, as I could potentially be the first client for the housing. The whole housing will focus on the lenses adopted by the user hence my recent posts, still unanswered, regarding what potential lenses could be used as primes for Super Wide, portraiture and macro.

The housing will basically be similar in design for something similar to a dedicated SLR housing as the manual operation of the lenses is obvioulsy the paramount concern. Once I decide which lenses to go for John has asked me for the lens specs so they can look towards developing the required lens manipulation controls etc.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
CamDiver said:
I must admit though I am now looking to embark on a massive learning curve having only worked with DV and HDV.
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Get ready for a crash course in dealing with narrow focus. :)

Welcome to the RED family... 2007 is going to be one heckuva year!! :grin:
 
Underwater Housing for Red One

Underwater Housing for Red One

Hi Mark,
Please keep us posted on progress with the Gates Housing ... I'm on the list for a Red One for the same reason (99% of the work will be underwater). lIke you, I'm hoping for as much manual control as possible (going via n-menus for settings is just a nightmare).
Initially I'm planning on a shallow water housing for water interface work / pool work, but keen to see where the direction / development of a more conventional housing might be going.
Are you happy to share your initial lens 'short list' ? :)
Cheers,
David.

CamDiver said:
Thanks Jim,

Gibby, Gates Underwater Housings based in San Diego are currently working on the designs for a dedicated RED housing. I'm in contact with the President and CEO, John Ellerbrook, as I could potentially be the first client for the housing. The whole housing will focus on the lenses adopted by the user hence my recent posts, still unanswered, regarding what potential lenses could be used as primes for Super Wide, portraiture and macro.

The housing will basically be similar in design for something similar to a dedicated SLR housing as the manual operation of the lenses is obvioulsy the paramount concern. Once I decide which lenses to go for John has asked me for the lens specs so they can look towards developing the required lens manipulation controls etc.

Cheers,
Mark.
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Are you planning on shooting underwater 4K (S35 lenses) or 2K (S16 lenses)? Latter would be easier on critical focus etc.
 
Thanks for the news on the underwater housing Mark:thumbup: . I have various underwater sequences in my forthcoming feature film 'Static' and was wondering if anyone would be able to come up with something soon. I just got my order processed yesterday for 2 Red One's, a zoom and a 300mm.

Adam Jeal
Random Factor Productions Ltd
 
Hi David,
How's Hampshire at this time of year? I'm originally from Bournemouth, just down the road. Left the UK about 15 years ago. cold, wet and the food kinda sucks.

The Gates will be a rated to 450fsw fully loaded housing for RED. I haven't seen any tentative blueprints for it yet but I understand John's engineers are starting to look at variation models. Once things start taking shape I will let you know.

Haakon, when do the lessons start??

Robl, haven't decided yet. My secondary concern are the resulting stock archives of any production. If shot in 2k I'm sure they would potentially have a better, read sooner, chance to sell for commercial content inclusion as the viewing genre heads firstly towards 2k rez screens in a few years (that will happen, its just a matter of time). Any 4k stock would sit on the shelves a lot longer before any commercial viability would allow me to be able to capitalize and start getting some kinda payback on production costs.

Randomfactor, glad to hear you are also now on the RED list. If you need a shooter for your underwater sequences you know where to find me.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
CamDiver,

If you watch the excellent underwater films of masters like Al Giddings, Robert Ballard, and series like the acclaimed series "Blue Planet", they achieve medium and deep depth of field in their underwater shots throughout their programs. In fact, the only time the use shallow DOF is when they are intentionally isolating a close-up of a fish or organism. Ballard shot over 12,000' deep covering his documentaries of Titanic and achieved deep DOF. How do these underwater master shooters achieve medium and deep DOF?

Lights
Ballard used underwater floods to light everything up - and thus was able to stop down his lenses to increase the DOF. You won't have the lighting budget of Ballard/Titanic, so obviously you'll have to be more creative in achieving deep DOF. Gates and most other housing makers offer fairly inexpensive dual light/battery combinations for use in dives where artificial light is needed. Depending on how deep your dive is, and what type of light system you use, you should be able to cast adequate light to achieve at least medium DOF for most of your shots.

Formats and Lenses
You may want to consider shooting your footage in 2k Windowed, using very wide-angle lenses. For underwater stock footage using a 35mm lens, 2k Scaled should be the ticket. If you shoot 2k Windowed, remember that there is a crop factor when shooting 2k Windowed with RED One, so an extra wide-angle lens would compensate for the narrowed field of view provided by the crop. A good wide-angle prime lens will gather a lot of light and also provide good macro shots when you swim up to things for close-ups. You seem to be on a fairly limited budget, so if you decide to shoot 4k REDCODE RAW using a Nikon or Canon wide-angle lens, I'd suggest maybe a fast 24mm. The Nikon 24mm f2.0 would be a good choice. To increase DOF you could shoot 2k Windowed in S16mm, using a good wide prime. Giddings, Ballard, Cousteau, Blue Planet, and others all shoot in 35mm, S16, and B4 2/3", depending on the project. A lot of Giddings recent stuff has been in 1080p. Shooting 1080p with a B4 mount and a fast cine-style wide-angle lens is another option for you that would allow you to achieve medium to deep DOF.

Summary
You're based in Palau. I've never shot in Palau, but I have shot adventure travel and surface/shallow water sports all over the South Pacific. The sunlight is intense, and the water is clear. If your dives are fairly shallow (locations like the Rock Islands), and they are not early morning or late afternoon, you should get adequate light to stop down your lens enough to achieve at least medium DOF. If they are deeper dives off reef ledges, or deep in Jellyfish Lake, you'll simply need to increase your artificial lighting to allow you to stop down your lenses to get medium to deep DOF. You'll achieve medium to deep DOF by the right combination of water depth (thus light transmission), artificial lights where necessary, wide-angle lenses, and/or by shooting with S16mm (2k Windowed) or B4 mount lenses (1080p). You sound like you're most interested in shooting 2k with affordable 35mm still lenses. You can achieve medium to deep DOF with them if you use a wide angle (24mm or wider), and get enough light into the lens via shallow dives or artificial lights to be able to stop the lens down.

You may already be aware of the points I've raised, but perhaps some of this will help you...
 
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CamDiver said:
Hi David,
How's Hampshire at this time of year? I'm originally from Bournemouth, just down the road. Left the UK about 15 years ago. cold, wet and the food kinda sucks.

The Gates will be a rated to 450fsw fully loaded housing for RED. I haven't seen any tentative blueprints for it yet but I understand John's engineers are starting to look at variation models. Once things start taking shape I will let you know.
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Hi Mark,

Hampshire is fine ... New Forest is looking very nice at the moment :)

Like you I was planning on going down the 2k route initially (with 1080p being the eventual output) and starting with Nikon glass (or Canon if that appears first !). Fingers crossed RED will make available a Nikkor or Canon mount by the time I get my Red One (I gather I'm in the #750+ mark).

Are you planning on using the Gates Super Wide Port ? Or a good prime behind a good dome / Ivanoff port ? I suspect the quality of the Red One sensor will be such that it will require a good set up ... (lens / dome optics). I'm awaiting the confirmed specs before I make up my Mk_i housing :beer:

Cheers,
David
 
CamDiver said:
Randomfactor, glad to hear you are also now on the RED list. If you need a shooter for your underwater sequences you know where to find me.
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Thanks Mark - I might just do that!

Adam Jeal
Random Factor Productions Ltd
 
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