RED Komodo to start limited shipping soon for $6k

Obviously talking about the little scenes here and there as the majority of the movie wasn't shot with a GoPro.

Hollywood still uses these cameras and I feel like will always use them. Very easy to manage, especially in complicated scenes that usually last for frames, if not a second or two in the final product (in which case you don't care to switch to something else...meaning maybe not even worth it).
 
I'm still not buying it. these are top notch ACs and grips who could rig something more complicated no problem. And from watching the scene, it's pretty clear that they intended these gopro shots to make the edit
 
As you continue to learn about production and work in the industry, you'll learn that not everything is how you/we think it is.

Sometimes things are done for a purpose and sometimes things are done because it's easy.

GoPros are used in thousands of movies. Now most of them are low-level to mid-level productions (which are still better than 99% of what people do on forums), but one of the most criticized uses of them took place in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: TDOS.

This is a guy whom has all of the money in the world to use whatever cameras in a studio/greenscreen waterfall with practically zero working against him; no daylight, no weather, no creatures, and GoPros ended up being used (even for the limited screen time).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khK3EggW2DY

Forum nerds like us will point it out...but the majority of the audience does. not. care.

Studio executives want to keep it moving. Maybe they tried other cameras in Pain & Gain but Bay decided the 7D and GoPros were a better fit. You never know the thought-process involved in these major productions.
 
Some of that Hobbit scene looks like crap, and not because of the gopros. That being said, it was riveting and exciting for about a minute and a half and then became tedious. But maybe that's just me.

The original point of this tangent was if Komodo can replace gopros. And it seems that, according to you, they won't because gopros are easy and the IQ was already adequate. Plus you think Komodo is really just a poor man's RED. In which case I'm probably right about the cripple hammer
 
The Komodos will of course find their way in as crash cams on real productions just like the GoPros, and the Canon DSLRs, and the Blackmagic Micro Cinemas (Batman), and the BMCC (famous shot below in Mad Max), etc.

People use whatever they want, whatever they have access to, whatever the budget allows, whomever they are affiliated with, whatever is ideal for the post workflow...and whatever may be easiest.

Mad Max.jpg
 
HFR requires significantly more processing power. More processing power=higher power consumption. Higher power consumption = more heat. More heat requires larger body and better cooling. All of that leads to a larger more expensive camera, everything else being equal, ergo DSMC.
Higher cost for a camera that is intended by design to be crashed, burned, blown up, crushed, destroyed, on big budget features without sacrificing any IQ to its bigger brethren goes against the design intent. Better to destroy a $6k body than a $15k one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B85rascBKBE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
 
Razz16mm said:
HFR requires significantly more processing power. More processing power=higher power consumption. Higher power consumption = more heat. More heat requires larger body and better cooling. All of that leads to a larger more expensive camera, everything else being equal, ergo DSMC.
Higher cost for a camera that is intended by design to be crashed, burned, blown up, crushed, destroyed, on big budget features without sacrificing any IQ to its bigger brethren goes against the design intent. Better to destroy a $6k body than a $15k one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B85rascBKBE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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You could mitigate the heat by using a smaller sensor like MFT. Z Cam E2 shoots 120fps 4K DCI off a single sony L-series battery. Not sure of the exact power draw but it's probably similar to Komodo.

I think that camera serves the same purpose as Komodo, possibly even better. The 2 disadvantages are global shutter and, most importantly, ability to survive explosions. But you could do a z cam body/specs with those features

And then you're only blowing up a $1500 camera
 
Z Cam's other S35 and full-frame sensors in the same body have some pretty high framerates too. But either via H.265, cropping, and/or non-standard resolutions for the higher ones (e.g. 4K/120p @ 4096 x 1728).

But if the quality is usable (it is) and you're mastering in 1080p, maybe it wouldn't matter to some.
 
I never liked using go pros. 8 bit video and the ubiquitous wide angle lens look.

I’ve been using micro cinema cameras and pockets for super dangerous work or small rig work for a long time. 10 or 12 bit codec and interchangeable lenses. That you can set focus on !

Of course one does end up melting a destroying a few along the way.

This one got melted when the flames from a burn of a set were bigger than planned. SD card made it and the shot is in the show, but the lens was toast. The camera still was working but the battery deformed and it was written off.

https://flic.kr/p/XpJGhx

In the old days a crash cam was typically a 35-3 or a 435 ( 120 or 150 FPS top speed)

Or maybe an eyemo @ 60 FPS but they were typically hand wound and only good for 20 seconds and hard to trigger remotely.

Cameras get smashed all the time on big shows. Expensive cameras. There’s a pretty famous story about a bond film involving a tank and a Panavision camera.

Crash cams are more often than not more like scrounge whatever cams we can for a stunt but we don’t have money to hire more gear or crew. So a three camera show can have 8 or 9 “shots”, three of which are manned and operated safely.

I agree with Norbro. This is more like “My first Red” not really a crash cam. Bit big.

JB
 
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John Brawley said:
I never liked using go pros. 8 bit video and the ubiquitous wide angle lens look.

I’ve been using micro cinema cameras and pockets for super dangerous work or small rig work for a long time. 10 or 12 bit codec and interchangeable lenses. That you can set focus on !

Of course one does end up melting a destroying a few along the way.

This one got melted when the flames from a burn of a set were bigger than planned. SD card made it and the shot is in the show, but the lens was toast. The camera still was working but the battery deformed and it was written off.

https://flic.kr/p/XpJGhx

In the old days a crash cam was typically a 35-3 or a 435 ( 120 or 150 FPS top speed)

Or maybe an eyemo @ 60 FPS but they were typically hand wound and only good for 20 seconds and hard to trigger remotely.

Cameras get smashed all the time on big shows. Expensive cameras. There’s a pretty famous story about a bond film involving a tank and a Panavision camera.

Crash cams are more often than not more like scrounge whatever cams we can for a stunt but we don’t have money to hire more gear or crew. So a three camera show can have 8 or 9 “shots”, three of which are manned and operated safely.

I agree with Norbro. This is more like “My first Red” not really a crash cam. Bit big.

JB
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I doubt 9 out of 10 of most Komodo's sold will actually be used as real "crash cams"s. I'm betting out of those(individuals) that purchase the Komodo, half will probably use it as a B/C cam for their existing RED cam and the other half it will be their A cam or 'First RED'. One of the reasons I'm heavily contemplating it, is because some of the guys I do a lot with got a Gemini late last year and this will pair with it well.
 
My favorite "crash cam" was the $300K carbon fibre IMAX camera that was obliterated when Anne Hathaway's stunt double plowed into it with the bat-motorcycle on The Dark Night Rises. To be fair it was really the Camera Operator's fault as he was handholding and didn't pull it away fast enough. There used to be paparazzi video of it but this appears to have been plled from the interwebs.

As far as people wishing to use the Komodo as an A-camera, this has been par for the course for every single damn camera released in the last 10 years. No one wants to hear that their investment in a piece of gear doesn't answer every possible question. Of course some of those questions are how small/light/low cost is the thing. I equate this to how people used to take the cheapest RAW capable camera and try to argue that it was just as good as a flagship $100K+ cinema camera because they both shot RAW, not understanding what RAW really meant or how much more there was in defining image quality. I suspect the vast majority of Komodo cameras will be purchased to use for A-camera work.And it will probably do just fine for what most people will need.
 
Mitch Gross said:
My favorite "crash cam" was the $300K carbon fibre IMAX camera that was obliterated when Anne Hathaway's stunt double plowed into it with the bat-motorcycle on The Dark Night Rises.

As far as people wishing to use the Komodo as an A-camera, this has been par for the course for every single damn camera released in the last 10 years.
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Destroying an IMAX camera didn't stop dark Knight rises from being less exciting than The Dark Knight! Does anyone else feel like these IMAX-shot movies have less interesting camerawork?

Re:Komodo as A camera, it looks like Soderbergh used one on his latest feature, finally deciding to step up from the iPhone: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBg7pa6B9eD/?igshid=1ea72hobhfoi2
 
John Brawley said:
Crash cams are more often than not more like scrounge whatever cams we can for a stunt but we don’t have money to hire more gear or crew. So a three camera show can have 8 or 9 “shots”, three of which are manned and operated safely.
Click to expand...

Well in theory you could have 10 Komodos lying around for the cost of an extra DSMC
 
ahalpert said:
Does anyone else feel like these IMAX-shot movies have less interesting camerawork?
Click to expand...
Wally Pfister and team won the Oscar for Cinematography that year, so, perhaps you may have to qualify what you mean by interesting.
 
FOR YEARS on DVXuser, members here have been asking for almost the exact camera that the Komodo is.... It is also made by the person that made DVXuser.

Let's go down the wishlist:
- global shutter
- 2K ProRes
- 6K downsample to 4K
- global shutter
- modular small box shape
- internal ND (option)
- non proprietary media
- cheap batteries
- auto focus
- raw
- s16 and s35 (anamorphic on the way)
- wifi built in wireless video
- BNC video (4K video out option too!)
- Black utilitarian design
- hot swap batteries
- small form factor
- swappable lens mounts
- sub $10K
- 13+ stops DR
- good skin tones and colour science
- touch screen
- on/off switch
- rugged
- quiet fans

Did I miss anything?
 
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As much as I would like to have a Komodo, I don't think I will be able to afford one this year. In hind sight, a camera purchase late last year was the very worst business decision, however, had I not already got a camera, the Komodo would have been amazing.

But the few directors I have talked to all scoff at the Komodo when they hear that it can't do more than 60fps without cropping down. So, as much as I like cameras, a lot of the people I work for have different opinions. They pretty much like film and Arri. after that it is just a matter of getting something done on time, on budget, and within spec. So, that could be anything from an iPhone to a C300mk1, to A Red. But yeah, as much as Ilove things like the F35, BMPCC4K, Komodo, DVX100, etc, I won't be getting to use those but on my own projects.

But that is why I don't see the Komodo as an A cam, because even thought the image quality is there, it isn't a camera that can just about do anything. Alexa, F55, Red DSMC2, Varicam 35, C500mk2, Venice, are all cameras that can be thrown at most work without worry, but things like the Komodo or a Zcam have to be chosen specifically being aware of the limitations prior to shooting.

So, yeah, the Komodo wasn't designed to only be thrown into explosions, but it was designed to fill the small form factor niche that was suffering in image quality. The Canon 7D is about 800grams, and the Komodo is 900. And RF lenses can be smaller than EF lenses, I believe, so for things like Pain and Gain, there are few shots done on the GoPro or 7D that couldn't have been replaced with the Komodo, other than for budget and availability.

The Matrix Bullet time rigs are also more likely to be done on Komodos, as the image quality, price, and global shutter, and genlock all create some new options in that type of Multicam scenario. 3D and VR rigs are also going to look great with komodos. 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' might benefit as well.

I have a Letus Helix 1 Axis, and I've done some Rssian Arm style stuff and the smaller Komodo can fit into the new light weight Shotover which is a total game changer trio, IMHO.

The Komodo is perhaps the first true democratization of higher end image quality.
 
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