Is the still shooter pipe dream real?

M

marcus3208

New member
Ever since still photographer's starting shooting with motor drives, there has been the unattainable dream of shooting many frames per second in order to reliably capture the "decisive moment" ala Bresson. There were Hulcher Nikons which I believe would burn through film up to 65 frames per second, but the obvious costs made this impractical for mere mortals.
The dream was reignited with the advent of high-end video cameras after the progressive format became feasible, but the individual frames didn't even begin to approach still camera quality.
Now I'm wondering if this camera at 4K is the real deal with single frame quality approaching 35mm transparencies?
If it is, Holy *%#@ is the perfect slogan!
Add in a 5 second pre-record buffer and imagine the sports photography possibilities. You could shoot and offer video and or stills of the same plays. The perfectly timed shot would be a "snap"!
How about it RED team? Is this camera delivering still camera quality in a motion format? I can't wait to see some examples.
 
only problem with this idea is shutter speeds. Under most circumstances you will be able to pull some nice frames out of the video but this isnt a replacment for the still photographer because the treatment is different.
 
I was thinking about this just a short while ago... I was watching a lightning storm outside my house when it dawned on me that to get a picture of a streak of lightning at very high res could be attainable with this camera... it's not to say it hasn't or can't currently be done, I'm merely remarking on the fact that it would theoretically be very easy.

I cannot see why it shouldn't be possible given that the stills and the video footage are the same quality anyway... why should a still taken from the footage be any worse.
 
On the subject of shutter speeds I would imagine that you could use Photoshop to imitate some effects... say take 30 frames and show the flight of a tennis ball and use some sort of blending tool to show its entire line of trajectory... you never know Red could create new styles of images that were never taken before... I guess a little imagination and a talented photographer could do alot worse!
 
I too would like to see a still photo mode and separate button. Maybe even a programable button that you could set the shutter speed for.

Another question, related to this -
IS RED GOING TO HAVE ANY AUTOMATIC FEATURES?
If so what features?

- AUTO-EXPOSURE (through a Nikon still lense like the AF-S NIkkor 17-35mm that so many people are recommending) or through the RED Lenses or Cooke s4? Also, for time lapse during sunsets, autoexposure would be very handy.

- AUTO-FOCUS - for wildlife or fast moving dragsters would really help?

UPDATED INFO - From Jim, the answer is no automatic features - but great measuring tools. Thanks!
 
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In one of the pics from the show, they have a nice blow up poster of the oakley watch..so if you are shooting 4k, I don't see any reason why you couldn't use the RED to get super quality stills.
 
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