practical?? or am I dreaming??

K

Kevin Rogers

New member
This camera sounds incredible and potentially provides the opportunity for a small solo player such as myself to produce an incredible high standard of production values.
But am I kidding myself?

I produce small budget cable Tv content and corporate videos. we have been predominantly using the small HDV cameras - these have been great and of course cheap - both in shooting and post production.

However, I am ambitious and now chasing projects with larger budgets requiring a higher standard of production values - the Sony XDCAM HDs were announced and these looked like the next potential step for me. Proven performance with the XDCAMs, accepted by broadcasters, easy workflow, matches well with current HDV equipment owned - not cheap but possible with a leap of faith.
Probably the best option as there seems to be nothing else worthwhile upgrading to between the small HDVs and something like this.

Then RED comes along and blows everyone else's specifications out of the water. The promise of a beautiful 1080P gets me very excited and I can't go more than 4 waking hours without checking the forums hoping there might be more news and/or advice.

Is it practical for me to imagine I could purchase this camera and it
(a) make financial sense - how much is it 'really' going to cost when as a one man show I have to account tripod, variety of lenses, recording memory, upgrade of a simple FCP edit station etc etc, and
(b) that I could operate this camera professionally?? - I have come from Dv land, then upgraded to HDV - I'm all self taught and confident that I now maximise my HDv camera's capabilities with depth of field, godo framing etc - I know nothing about prime lenses, film cameras, fstops etc etc

So am I dreaming and would your advice be to let it go and wait for the next upgrade to sony's Z1
or
Could RED be a practical tool for a small-time director/producer/dop/editor who wants to produce simple TV content and corporate videos - and I should keep dreaming!

Look forward to everyone's advice - thanks
 
The RED camera is a dramatic step up in quality from HDV and a step up in responsibility. You'll need to "work" more with a professional tool than an auto-everything camera. The good news is that it is fun, there is lots of help out here and you are investing in your future. The RED camera, or any high-end production quality camera is not a piece of cake. If it was... everyone would be doing it.
 
mmmmm very true
and I'm certainly up for a challenge

I manual everything on the HDV to maximise it's results and give me the image I want

It is a dramatic step, but in reality is there any step inbetween?
If you want to step up from the current crop of small HD cameras on offer (Sony, Canon, JVC, Panasonic) what options are there? Maybe I'm missing something?

As i mentioned the XDCAM HD seemed like a logical option for me but why would I go something like this when RED is on the way!?!
 
Mr jannard has an excellent way of saying things in a simple, clear and poigniant fashion.

I only hope that some day soon i can make enough to Purchase and cherish RED.
 
Jannard said:
The RED camera is a dramatic step up in quality from HDV and a step up in responsibility. You'll need to "work" more with a professional tool than an auto-everything camera. The good news is that it is fun, there is lots of help out here and you are investing in your future. The RED camera, or any high-end production quality camera is not a piece of cake. If it was... everyone would be doing it.
Click to expand...
I'd LOVE to see a week long RED course taught by a high end DP with the aid of a Digital technician. We'd do a mix of studio work, out in the field applications, maybe hit a rental house for testing lens configurations etc..., and then do a short post session with the footage. At the end we'd have a few Guinness or latte's (depending) and everybody would exchange cards. :beer: That may be the dreaming part, but it'd be damn cool. I'd even fly to New York to do that.

That's also what's exciting about this camera is that the room to improve aesthetically is there (2K, 4K), you just have work to make it happen.:beer:



Cheers



RED#wish I was higher
 
I know Mike S. of FXPHD.com placed an order for a RED camera at NAB. FXPHD.com plan to do something with RED. Hopefully, they actually do an on set production shoot seminar or the like.

-Mike
 
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