RED is Building 6K Dragon Cameras Live at NAB in a Custom-Built Clean Room

joe1946

joe1946

Veteran
  • Dragon finally has landed and it's all good news. Things have changed a bit for the better for us too. Notably Red found a way to push out 100fps at 6K from the previous 86fps. The other huge news is that the Dragon upgrade is literally happening right now and upgrades are happening even right on the NAB show floor.

    Here's the rundown of the specifications on the upgrade path for both Epic and Scarlet owners:

    Epic Upgrade Options:

    - Epic-M owners can pre-order the upgrade for $9500
    - Early Red adopters can pre-order for $8500 and receive a $1000 store credit when invoiced.
    - Epic-X owners can pre-order their upgrade at $9500 today.
    - New Epic-M Dragon cameras will be sold for $29K, pre-orders now. Ships after Epic-M owners have had their chance to upgrade.
    - Epic-X Dragon cameras will be priced at $24K, shipping and release information unknown at this time.

    Scarlet Upgrade Options:

    - Trade in your Scarlet-X to upgrade to Epic-X with the Mysterium-X sensor for $9500. Upgrade your Epic-X to Full Epic Dragon for an additional $9500.
    - Upgrade the Scarlet-X to Scarlet Dragon for $9500. Scarlet Dragon will be a 5K, 60fps camera.
    - Pre-orders for upgrades begin Thursday, upgrades start in July.
    - Scarlet Dragon price and availability TBD.

    So to be clear, Epic and Scarlet can be upgraded to Dragon.

    Dragon will exist in three flavors:

    - Epic-M Dragon $29,000
    - Epic-X Dragon $24,000
    - Scarlet Dragon $????? (at the moment)


    Brain Surgery

    As I mentioned earlier, Red is upgrading select Epic cameras to Epic Dragon at NAB. Red has built a Class 100 Clean Room as part of their booth and allowed us to witness exactly the process each camera will go through on it's journey to becoming a Dragon. It's really a fascinating thing to observe. I don't know how long I watched, but I came back a few times to see the progress while zipping around through the booth.​




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http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?97944-Phil-s-NAB-Journal

Red-Dragon-Upgrade-12.jpg

http://www.photographybay.com/2013/...ras-live-at-nab-in-a-custom-built-clean-room/
 
And?... Are they going to be handing out tissue paper, or is the "clean" room going to be covered in wank by the end of the show? :cheesy:
 
Has anyone seen some a test or review of the Dragon sensor or are all these Epic owners upgrading on good faith and the spec sheet?
 
It's kind of weird that there are a few cameras announced at NAB and not a lick of footage. Just specs. They have us so duped in believing it's better that were lining up and ordering without having to truly showcase anymore. That being with images.
I'm thinking about going to NAB to sell chocolate bars with wrappers that say "4K" and "15 stops" on them. Who's to say thats really chocolate??????
 
While i take their DR and ISO claims with a pinch of salt, RED have built up plenty of trust, with some great imagery from the MX sensor... So i can understand people going in "blind".

But it is a bit strange.... If they are confident enough to be upgrading cameras, they must have shot a shedload of test footage they could display.
 
Jay Birch said:
But it is a bit strange.... If they are confident enough to be upgrading cameras, they must have shot a shedload of test footage they could display.
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Probably all of test charts or members of the engineering team standing in front of green screens or the loading bay at night. The engineering team isn't going to waste time and money shooting anything you'll enjoy looking at.

However, I do agree that Red should get the marketing team to go out and shoot some pretty pictures. Maybe not the full Vincent Laforet promo short treatment the Japanese camera companies do, because they end up being so compressed on YouTube as to be inconclusive anyway. But a few clips short enough to be presented at full resolution. I'd even be fairly satisfied by full resolution stills.
 
well,
thing is that picturewise you will not see that much difference in the same rez the old camera was. ( same as with my f3 f55 quick comparison) it's there, but it's not like going from dv to hd...
still, the new sensors are better. anyone has to judge if they need that. the epic has quite great specs as is, and 9.500dollars can get you lots of other gear...
 
Lee Saxon said:
Probably all of test charts or members of the engineering team standing in front of green screens or the loading bay at night. The engineering team isn't going to waste time and money shooting anything you'll enjoy looking at.

However, I do agree that Red should get the marketing team to go out and shoot some pretty pictures. Maybe not the full Vincent Laforet promo short treatment the Japanese camera companies do, because they end up being so compressed on YouTube as to be inconclusive anyway. But a few clips short enough to be presented at full resolution. I'd even be fairly satisfied by full resolution stills.
Click to expand...
Maybe John Force Racing who use Red cameras could shoot some 6K @100fps of Brittany Force @300+ mph.
8647602183_45bc2450cd_b.jpg
 
I know many people who put deposits down on cameras from BMC, F55, Af100, F3 etc. without ever seeing footage.
 
I never put any deposit down on my F55... I just waited until they were in stock and then got it.

(still without ever seeing any serious conclusive footage to Bob's point)
 
Jay Birch said:
While i take their DR and ISO claims with a pinch of salt, RED have built up plenty of trust, with some great imagery from the MX sensor... So i can understand people going in "blind".

But it is a bit strange.... If they are confident enough to be upgrading cameras, they must have shot a shedload of test footage they could display.
Click to expand...


I seem to remember Red hyping MX as they greatest sensor of all times, surpassing all that had come before and vanquishing all who have yet to come.

Turns out they were talking about the sensor in the Alexa.
 
Harry Lime said:
I seem to remember Red hyping MX as they greatest sensor of all times, surpassing all that had come before and vanquishing all who have yet to come.

Turns out they were talking about the sensor in the Alexa.
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Red Epic MX does beat Alexa in terms of resolution (by a lot - sometimes this is important), and if you use HDRX in terms of dynamic range. Epic is also much lighter than Alexa (often important), and I like the Red RAW SDK a lot better. It has more settings, and allows more flex in post in certain ways. Epic is a great tool, and more practical than Alexa in many situations.

So this claim was valid in many ways.
 
Robert Ruffo said:
Red Epic MX does beat Alexa in terms of resolution (by a lot - sometimes this is important), and if you use HDRX in terms of dynamic range. Epic is also much lighter than Alexa (often important), and I like the Red RAW SDK a lot better. It has more settings, and allows more flex in post in certain ways. Epic is a great tool, and more practical than Alexa in many situations.

So this claim was valid in many ways.
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I don't necessarily agree with that, but to each his own. Red certainly didn't get my money.
 
Yeah, if RED was going to the bother & expense of building a clean room at NAB to swap sensors….
to make the Dog & Pony show complete they should have had a studio next door with babes wearing RED bikinis….
Where is the footage? Didn't these cameras work after the upgrade? What was the purpose of this exercise???
 
Michael Schrengohst said:
Yeah, if RED was going to the bother & expense of building a clean room at NAB to swap sensors….
to make the Dog & Pony show complete they should have had a studio next door with babes wearing RED bikinis….
Where is the footage? Didn't these cameras work after the upgrade? What was the purpose of this exercise???
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Those cameras got upgraded but don't have final firmware. I read somewhere on REDUSER that it will be a few weeks before they are usable by the owners.

However, maybe the owners will be given alpha firmware and permission to shoot... just not post anything?

Anyway, the purpose of the exercise was marketing and fun and to highlight the upgradability of their cameras. They succeeded at that for sure.

Of course, like a lot of people I also don't really understand why an upgradeable camera is a huge "invention". Firstly, I would actually prefer it if RED updated the Epic bodies for Dragon - they aren't perfect designs by any means. Secondly, the second hand market always worked for me. But to each his own.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
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