a poor man's Red setup

S

shaun_au

Active member
So after getting a Red camera, I doubt I'll have much cash left to fully deck out all of other equipment like cine lens, tripod, mb, ff, field monitor, etc. But I think there's gotta be a way to have simple, and not expensive setup that you can start shooting on Red. So my question would be what are the minimum equipment requirments for a red camera? I assume a lot of people here have come from DVX/HVX set up. How much of your existing set up can be used with the Red?

I have quite a few Nikon full frame lenses. So I think I'll start to use those on the Red when the F mount adaptor is available.
 
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Barebones Starter kit:

RED One, 2 batteries, RED Drive, Nikon adapter, Nikon prime (or zoom), inexpensive gearless reverse-direction follow focus, basic matte box, ND & Polarizer filter kit. RED detachable screen will be 720p, and RED says their focus assist will be real good, so that may suffice for field monitoring an small projects. I'd get on inexpensive screen hood for outdoor use. You can do all that for under $20k if you buy wisely...

Alternate choices (for 2k Windowed shooting on down):

S16 prime or zoom in lieu of Nikon prime & adapter

Both of the above kits would be light enough to probably allow you to use your existing lightweight tripod until you upgrade to heavier accessories, at which point you'd need to buy a sturdier tripod.

Rent whatever else you need on a per-project basis, and build it into the project budgets. Once you generate operating capital, buy only what you'll use regularly, used if possible (but have it checked out closely), and continue to rent what you only occasionally use.

Hope this helps...
 
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Gibby said:
Barebones Starter kit:

RED One, 2 batteries, RED Drive, Nikon adapter, Nikon prime (or zoom), inexpensive gearless reverse-direction follow focus, basic matte box, ND & Polarizer filter kit. RED detachable screen will be 720p, and RED says their focus assist will be real good, so that may suffice for field monitoring an small projects. I'd get on inexpensive screen hood for outdoor use. You can do all that for under $20k if you buy wisely...

Alternate choices (for 2k Windowed shooting on down):

S16 prime or zoom in lieu of Nikon prime & adapter

Both of the above kits would be light enough to probably allow you to use your existing lightweight tripod until you upgrade to heavier accessories, at which point you'd need to buy a sturdier tripod.

Rent whatever else you need on a per-project basis, and build it into the project budgets. Once you generate operating capital, buy only what you'll use regularly, used if possible (but have it checked out closely), and continue to rent what you only occasionally use.

Hope this helps...
Click to expand...


Thank you, thank you! This is just the info I need. :dankk2:
 
Right on Gibby, that sounds great. I am going to pretty much be in the same boat as shaun_au after this purchase so it's great to hear that a ff and matte box kit and filters can all be found for realitively cheap....i had almost phased these out of my initial purchases because of all of the other "star up costs". Any ideas on where i should look for a gearless reverse-direction follow focus (in the begining i will be using Nikon lenses as well).

Thanks,
Omar
 
Glad that helped Shaun. You're located just 3 hours up HWY 101 from me - I'm based on the coast near San Luis Obispo. I reserved one of the earliest cameras (#8). Donatello and a few others from the Bay Area will be coming down here to check out my RED when I get it. You're welcome to come on down to check it out. Contact me via email and stay in touch (address on my web sites at links below).

Omar, we're practically next door neighbors, so obviously you're welcome to check out my RED when it arrives.

Cheers!
 
Gibby said:
Barebones Starter kit:

RED One, 2 batteries, RED Drive, Nikon adapter, Nikon prime (or zoom), inexpensive gearless reverse-direction follow focus, basic matte box, ND & Polarizer filter kit. RED detachable screen will be 720p, and RED says their focus assist will be real good, so that may suffice for field monitoring an small projects. I'd get on inexpensive screen hood for outdoor use. You can do all that for under $20k if you buy wisely...

Alternate choices (for 2k Windowed shooting on down):

S16 prime or zoom in lieu of Nikon prime & adapter

Both of the above kits would be light enough to probably allow you to use your existing lightweight tripod until you upgrade to heavier accessories, at which point you'd need to buy a sturdier tripod.

Rent whatever else you need on a per-project basis, and build it into the project budgets. Once you generate operating capital, buy only what you'll use regularly, used if possible (but have it checked out closely), and continue to rent what you only occasionally use.

Hope this helps...
Click to expand...

I have one other question though. About the editing computer. I think I only need something decent to start with. Do you think a Mac Pro second generation(quad core at 3.3GHz) with a lot of Ram would handle 1080p footage? I don't think I'll be outputting to 4.5k right away.
 
I don't think you'll have any problem handling 1080p with the system you describe, especially if you use REDCODE and REDCINE. Search this board and the RED web site and you'll find a lot of current info on using REDCODE and REDCINE.
 
"Omar, we're practically next door neighbors, so obviously you're welcome to check out my RED when it arrives."

Absolutely! Thanks for the offer i'd love to check it out...i'm pretty sure mine will be arriving well after yours.:dankk2:

Thanks again,
Omar
 
Gibby said:
Glad that helped Shaun. You're located just 3 hours up HWY 101 from me - I'm based on the coast near San Luis Obispo. I reserved one of the earliest cameras (#8). Donatello and a few others from the Bay Area will be coming down here to check out my RED when I get it. You're welcome to come on down to check it out. Contact me via email and stay in touch (address on my web sites at links below).

Omar, we're practically next door neighbors, so obviously you're welcome to check out my RED when it arrives.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Mine is going to be #700+ anyway(6+months out). But I'd love to come down to check it out when your Red arrives!
 
The Mac Pro will be more than enough to cut 1080p... I've done so on significantly less powerful systems. I expect that a Mac Pro will handle REDCODE 4K quite well, but that's just speculation.


Are NDs really necessary with the RED? I understand that the sensor is "native" to something in the ASA 160 range and its sensitivity can be boosted with gain. Will there be a "negative gain" of sorts on the camera? A way to turn down the sensitivity of the sensor?

If not, scratch that, NDs are necessary.
 
Nikon adapter ...

Nikon adapter ...

Gibby said:
Barebones Starter kit:
RED One, 2 batteries, RED Drive, Nikon adapter, Nikon prime (or zoom), inexpensive gearless reverse-direction follow focus, basic matte box, ND & Polarizer filter kit. RED detachable screen will be 720p, and RED says their focus assist will be real good, so that may suffice for field monitoring an small projects. I'd get on inexpensive screen hood for outdoor use. You can do all that for under $20k if you buy wisely...
Click to expand...
Hello Gibby,
With reference to the 'Nikon adapter' ... can you point me in the direction of such an item ? (I am assuming this will fit the 1st release Red One units) or do you mean one provided by RED ?
I say this since the PL mount sits at 52mm and the Nikkor mount sits at 46.5mm, so infinity cannot be reached by a PL/Nikkor adapter ;-(
Thanks, David
 
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David,

"Adapter" was an inaccurate term on my part. The correct term I should have used is "mount". The RED concept is to have interchangeable lens mounts for RED One, which can be changed out by users. Whether these mounts will attach directly to the camera head, or to the front of the stock PL mount has not been specified. No other details have been released.

That RED intends to manufacture a Nikon mount has been mentioned on this board since mid-Summer, along with a Canon mount, and a B4 mount. RED has also mentioned that they expect that 3rd party manufacturers will also make lens mounts for RED. Obviously there are tech tolerances to be met in making the mounts. Word from RED on this forum has been that the Nikon and Canon mounts may be ready to ship somewhere around the time that the RED One camera ships. RED has stated that the B4 mount will be the last to be made, probably shipping later next year.

Here are some links to posts by Jim Jannard on this forum stating that Nikon, Canon, and B4 mounts are being planned by RED:

8/5/06
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=636562&postcount=5

8/6/06
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=637691&postcount=37

10/1/06
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=73014&highlight=nikon+adapter
 
Brook Willard said:
Are NDs really necessary with the RED? I understand that the sensor is "native" to something in the ASA 160 range and its sensitivity can be boosted with gain. Will there be a "negative gain" of sorts on the camera? A way to turn down the sensitivity of the sensor?
Click to expand...
The difference in stops between a dimly lit room and direct sunlight outside is immense. Regardless of the sensitivity of the chip, NDs are going to be necessary for dealing with the vast array of shooting conditions you will encounter.
 
I respectfully disagree there, assuming the sensor can lower its sensitivity. If it is fixed at ~160, NDs will be absolutely necessary - you're right.

That said, the last time I pulled NDs out was with 5218 in broad daylight in the desert. Choosing the right stock for the right job can work wonders. Being able to drop the sensitivity down into the <40 ASA range would keep NDs off of my immediate purchase list.
 
That's true also (I know the RED team has mentioned that the ISO will be "boostable" - so it's not fixed), but I haven't read that the ISO can be reduced. However, even if you're using a specific stock for your shoot, you're still somewhat locked into using certain aperatures to obtain normal exposure. NDs are very helpful for being able to slightly manipulate exposure values without affecting contrast so that DOF can be modified/regulated. I just find that they're handy regardless of if you're shooting video or on film. But yes, I agree... the more options they give us in-camera, the better. :)
 
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