Red One with Super 16 lenses....still worth it?

[jghenderson]

Hey everyone. I have a music video shoot coming up, and my DP and I have been discussing renting a camera. A really big rental house in the area has a seemingly fantastic deal on a Red One package. For the price range, it's definitely very appealing.

Only thing about it that is giving me hesitation, is that it comes with Super 16 primes. Now I know the Super 16 lenses are not designed to shoot on the large sensor of the Red, so it would essentially crop the sensor and be shooting at 2k.

My question is, how much will this effect the overall quality of the image? Since this is being shot for web, would you be able to notice a big difference between something shot on Red with S16 lenses versus non cropped lenses? (assuming all other factors are equal of course) . Would this bring the Red down to the quality of cheaper cameras? Or will this only make a difference when projected?


Are there any other issues this would lead to that i'm just not aware of?

Thanks!

 

[maranfilms]

It would limit your ability to re-frame shots, because the edges would be very dark. For web, I don't really see all that much use for shooting with a classic Red One, I mean it's gonna be compressed to hell in back, not to mention, the low light ability is pretty bad considering the sensor size and all. If you spend time lighting your scenes, a gh2 with legacy glass can look as good for web delivery. You need to really work on creating pockets of light to give the illusion of having a better dynamic range, but for the avg joe watching an internet vid, I highly doubt he will notice the difference between well shot dslr or Red One with S16 glass. The audio is where he will notice though.

 

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

Hey everyone. I have a music video shoot coming up, and my DP and I have been discussing renting a camera. A really big rental house in the area has a seemingly fantastic deal on a Red One package. For the price range, it's definitely very appealing.

Only thing about it that is giving me hesitation, is that it comes with Super 16 primes. Now I know the Super 16 lenses are not designed to shoot on the large sensor of the Red, so it would essentially crop the sensor and be shooting at 2k.

My question is, how much will this effect the overall quality of the image? Since this is being shot for web, would you be able to notice a big difference between something shot on Red with S16 lenses versus non cropped lenses? (assuming all other factors are equal of course) . Would this bring the Red down to the quality of cheaper cameras? Or will this only make a difference when projected?


Are there any other issues this would lead to that i'm just not aware of?

Thanks!

You could still get a decent image but by no means would it be the same as 4k. Forget resizing images, that's out the door, but rarely necessary in my experience. Just expect some increased noticable noise in the image.

On the bright side, if you were going to use slow motion, you'd likely be at 2k anyhow so embracing a forced hand isn't that bad, right?

 

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

It would limit your ability to re-frame shots, because the edges would be very dark. For web, I don't really see all that much use for shooting with a classic Red One, I mean it's gonna be compressed to hell in back, not to mention, the low light ability is pretty bad considering the sensor size and all. If you spend time lighting your scenes, a gh2 with legacy glass can look as good for web delivery. You need to really work on creating pockets of light to give the illusion of having a better dynamic range, but for the avg joe watching an internet vid, I highly doubt he will notice the difference between well shot dslr or Red One with S16 glass. The audio is where he will notice though.

Audio with either Red's or DSLR's is always better dual system. For me that wouldn't even be a consideration. Plus it's a Mvid right? Who needs sound anyhow most of the time?