Taken the Plunge for RED

Hey Gibby,
Thanks for the explanation, much appreciated.

For lighting I am currently looking to get a set of two 200w diver portable HMI floods from these guys, http://nuytco.com/products/lights.shtml

These lights as you can see offer a serious amount of flood lighting and will suit me for what I am doing now with my Z1 setup and in the future for RED. We do have a set of 1200w HMI's here too but they are quite cumbersome being surface power supplied so we are restricted to a 300ft radius from the boat. Seeing as my preferred genre of filming is Macro these switchable lights will be perfect with an added diffuser so as not to barbeque the subjects!!

I am probably looking to go 2k format on RED at the start seeing as it is prohibitively expensive to go the 4k route at this time. I have kept up to date with the forum but start to get slightly lost when people start talking about windowed and scaled 2k etc. Scaled 2k would still give me access to the complete resolution when using specific wide lenses I take it? ie if I wanted to use a Nikon 10-22mm prime (I have a shot in mind from Cocos Island and the schooling hammerheads) would 2k scaled allow me that option?

If I take this on I may stay in Palau for a while to get the shots I may need from here but the main reason for my move to RED is to embark on a massive filming schedule lasting 7 years or so. The end product is forming in this cavernous area I sometimes call a brain but I'm hoping / planning that it will eventually be delivered as a theatrical piece.

David, I already have the Fathoms 120 degree wide angle lens and am filming daily with that in Palau. You should see the images from Jellyfish Lake, stunning. This is why I am looking to find as wide a lens as possible for RED. It would be a shame to have to compromise on the FOV of this lens once I move to RED. Maybe Gates can work their magic once I have the lens options arranged for my housing.

Cheers guys,
Mark.
 
Nice one Haakon,
You a diver? No point coming to Palau if you don't wanna hang with the Reef Sharks, Mantas or Turtles (and all the other cool stuff we have here).

If after a few more months of conversing with the obviously talented and knowledgeable individuals on this site I am still having troubles grasping the whole RED issue then I may tentatively look to reverse the travel direction and take a trip to visit a US based entity for hands on training if available, and I can afford it. Until then I guess I'll continue hacking through this piece by piece.

Cheers,
Mark.
:beer:
 
jrv3034 said:
Same here. I'm making the leap from a DVX100 to a RED. Here's to the lunatics of the world! :beer:
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Geeze! I thought I'm the only one jumping from a DVX100A to a Red. Now I feel not alone. :) I thought a lot about getting an HVX, but I decided to take that Red pill. I think my R number is going to be #800 or something.

I only hope the learning curve is not steep.
 
Shaun,
I just went out and bought some 4 wheel drive sneakers.......something tells me I'm gonna need 'em.

Mark.
 
Cam Diver,

I too have taken the plunge and sent in a reservation. You might recall my comments on the wetpixel.com site last month (under the user name barra) on the RED1 seeking opinions and info. Nothing much come of that - but I noted your comments. This site is great for helpful information and I too face a sharp learning curve. Looking forward to the challenge

col
 
Hi Cam Diver,

Man, I just want to say it sounds like you have the right direction with the red...being an avid diver myself (unfortunatly, I haven't been wet in a while)...i look forward to taking the plunge with the red and in the future would welcome meeting some "red" friends for a party under the water :)!

Coco Island & the hammerheads would be a fantastic time...say about 6 "red" cameras...now that's what i'm talking about...when i got certified and went out for my open water dive (back in the early 90's)...a friend and I we're able to get 2 hammerheads on video (flower gardens - in the gulf), plus a 12 foot manta ray and it was only my 8th dive...those we're the times!
 
CamDiver said:
Scaled 2k would still give me access to the complete resolution when using specific wide lenses I take it? ie if I wanted to use a Nikon 10-22mm prime (I have a shot in mind from Cocos Island and the schooling hammerheads) would 2k scaled allow me that option?
Click to expand...

If you are shooting with 35mm you cover the whole sensor area so for 2k you have a choice of using the whole sensor and scaling it down to 2k. That means the picture will look the same as it does when you shoot 4k, just that it won't be quite as super sharp. Or you can shoot 2k windowed where you just use the centre 2k part of the sensor. Your finished image in this case would look like you had zoomed in to the centre of your 4k image, so it would be equivalent to putting a 2x extender on your lens.

So the short answer to your question is yes. If you shoot using 35mm lenses and scaled 2k you can take full advantage of your wide angle lens.

I am a little bit puzzled by the 10-22mm prime. Are you talking about a prime lens (ie a lens that has a fixed focal length) between 10mm - 22mm or are you talking about a 10-22mm zoom lens? Either way I can't think of a Nikon 10mm lens. Is there one?

Martin

Okay just seen the 10mm fisheye.. gosh thats wide.
 
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I have a Peleng 8mm fish eye with PL mount which cost about $ 350 on Ebay and is a good lens for its price. (have only used it for super 16 and Video, not for 35mm).

Mick van Rossum NSC
Red # 451
18-85 # 206
 
Muttondraw said:
Okay just seen the 10mm fisheye.. gosh thats wide.
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However, because its a still lens, that becomes slighly less wide when shooting with R1, right? What would the conversion be?

Still, that is really wide...

And, yes, the learning curve will be steep, especially when dealing with focus pulling using 35mm still lenses.
 
aaton31 said:
I have a Peleng 8mm fish eye with PL mount which cost about $ 350 on Ebay and is a good lens for its price. (have only used it for super 16 and Video, not for 35mm).

Mick van Rossum NSC
Red # 451
18-85 # 206
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Do you get an image which fills the frame at 35mm with that or do you end up with an image within a black circle?

Martin
 
Only a black circle when you use it on a 24x36 SLR camera, so NO black circle when using it on a super 35 sensor, my estimate is a 120 degree angle (though I am not sure)

Mick
 
Exciting new 10.5 mm f/2.8 DX AF-G Fisheye ???


Is that the new fish eye lens that is mentioned earlier. I thought DX lenses would not work with red?

Michael
 
CamDiver said:
Nice one Haakon,
You a diver? No point coming to Palau if you don't wanna hang with the Reef Sharks, Mantas or Turtles (and all the other cool stuff we have here).

I may tentatively look to reverse the travel direction and take a trip to visit a US based entity for hands on training if available, and I can afford it. Until then I guess I'll continue hacking through this piece by piece.
:beer:
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Hey Mark - I've been down to Palau once for a dive trip. Had a lot of fun. All the Red divers here need to meet up down there. Hey - a few cameras and a decent script - make a movie while we're at it. Palau is so beautiful - what a great location that would be.
 
Muttondraw said:
If you are shooting with 35mm you cover the whole sensor area so for 2k you have a choice of using the whole sensor and scaling it down to 2k. That means the picture will look the same as it does when you shoot 4k, just that it won't be quite as super sharp. Or you can shoot 2k windowed where you just use the centre 2k part of the sensor. Your finished image in this case would look like you had zoomed in to the centre of your 4k image, so it would be equivalent to putting a 2x extender on your lens.
Click to expand...

So it seems, in order to get the best from this puppy it is best to shoot 4k? Either scenario as mentioned, thanks Muttondraw, seems to be a compromise on the overall ability of the camera. The slightly soft appearance of the image if scaled would be similar to the "film look" of 24p as opposed to the hard edged appearance of video? Or would it be a noticeably big softening of the final image?

Would it be possible for the RED team to send out some still grabs of a same image shot in the differing formats so that we could physically see what kind of results we should expect??

Cheers,
Mark.
:beer:
 
There are a number of old Nikon Fisheyes going as wide as 6mm!! check out this link http://www.digitalbooks.de/nikon/comp9.htm
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Thanks Martin:)

Hey Camdiver i read a post from Graham Nattress about the quality of windowed 2k. He had only positive things to say.

I am less worried about the quality of windowed mode as i am about achieving a deeper DOF when underwater generally. I like the choice though if you are using a 35mm lens and it aint working well for you in scaled mode a quick swap to windowed mode could possibly put things right. All theory with me just now so i could have it wrong?

Michael
 
If you shoot 4k, with, say, a wide 35mm lens, and find the DOF too shallow, you'd get the same effect as shooting cropped by cropping in post. In that way, you never loose by shooting 4k, although you might not have a wide enough lens that fills the full 4k image.

Graeme
 
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