Lenses & mics

[beatniq]

I am greatful for the second round of reservations and hopeful that I can save up enough scratch to be able to get in on the game, but I do have a few questions:

First off, what's the point of making RED compatible with 2/3" B4 lenses? I'm not shooting this down, I'm genuinely curious. Doesn't it defeat the purpose of RED to attach a lens to it with such a small aperture?

Secondly, I am not familiar with price points for lenses such as RED's zoom lens. Does that lens have direct competitors made by Cooke or Angenieux etc? If so, how does it match up in terms of price (I'm assuming no one knows how it matches up in terms of performance yet)?

It seems very little attention is paid to audio (not necessarily by RED). I plan on using RED most often by myself, so there will be no boom op or anything like that. I take comfort in the modularity of RED, assuming that there will be a way to attach an mic to it somehow, but I've read no mention of it. Am I incorrect in this assumption?

[Stephen Williams]

Secondly, I am not familiar with price points for lenses such as RED's zoom lens. Does that lens have direct competitors made by Cooke or Angenieux etc? If so, how does it match up in terms of price (I'm assuming no one knows how it matches up in terms of performance yet)?



Hi,

Expect a Cooke lens to be 3 times the cost (more for the zoom), and rather heavier than the Red lenses.

From the one shot I have seen with the Red lens, I originally thought it looked like a Cooke S4 65mm with the 65SF soft focus attachment. That is a very strong compliment!

Stephen

[Rob Lohman]

beatniq: 4 audio channels in at 16/24 bits at 48 KHz through mini XLR connectors, as you can see from the specs on the site: http://red.com/techspecs.htm

I think it's line/mic level switchable and has 48v phantom power. There is also audio out & headphones jack.

As always specs are subject to change

[Martin Drew]

Attaching a Mic to RedOne should be very straightforward now that the Mic preamps are confirmed. Physically mounting on the body should be very easy, you will just need to buy a third party suspension mount something like the Rycote Softie Multimount v2 (http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?baseItem=RYC%2D037309&cat=AUDIOEQUIP&subcat=MICACCESSR&prodClass=WNDSCREENS&mfg=Rycote+Microphone+Windshields&search=0&off=). There are lots of mounting points on the RedOne.

Martin

[David Limpus]

It would have been nice for 8ch could have attached http://www.holophone.com/HP_catsheet_final.pdf

[Akcelik]

It seems very little attention is paid to audio (not necessarily by RED). I plan on using RED most often by myself, so there will be no boom op or anything like that. I take comfort in the modularity of RED, assuming that there will be a way to attach an mic to it somehow, but I've read no mention of it. Am I incorrect in this assumption?

check out the HeadWorn Mic...

DSM™ HRTF 4+ CHANNEL SURROUND-SOUND RECORDING SYSTEMS
Dolby 5.1+ Compatible

http://www.sonicstudios.com/index.htm#surround

[Ben Feuer]

As long as RED is kicking @ss in every other department, it would be really cool to see an upgrade on the sound capture capability.
I don't know what kind of pre's are being used (hopefully superior to the $3000 DVX) but it's worth remembering that audio is 50% of what the audience gets...so it should be at least a significant fraction of the camera's cost.
Surround recording capability, for example - that would be one more way to set RED apart from the competition.
Just a thought...

[Jeff Kilgroe]

check out the HeadWorn Mic...

DSM™ HRTF 4+ CHANNEL SURROUND-SOUND RECORDING SYSTEMS
Dolby 5.1+ Compatible

http://www.sonicstudios.com/index.htm#surround


Hey, that's kinda cool... How is the actual sound quality and channel differentiation? Could be fun to play with.

[Akcelik]

hey AV!

have not tried it myself, do remember reading on SOS some years ago the stereo version got a good review because its able to record sound as the human perceives (from ear to ear makes sense) you cant go wrong but this version looks a little steep in its pricing, im pretty sure one can mock up a very high quality HeadMic out of 2 Rode NT4's (or get an electronics dude to fit one on to AKG K55) so you got monitoring and recording of beautiful quality ambiance and you can trust Rode!

[Nick Shaw]

I think in-camera 5.1 recording would be an un-necessary gimick. Four discrete channels is plenty to create a surround mix in post under normal circumstances, and if you need more you should probably be using dual system sound anyway. It's pretty rare to use sync sound "as is", so 5.1 mics would only be useful for specific situations, and that might often be ambient sound that doesn't need to be recorded with the picture anyway. Don't forget that in 5.1, the sub is only used for effects, and the centre channel predominantly for dialog, so four channels is enough for most surround recording. I can't see many situations where you would be recording dialog and simultaneously need surround ambience which wouldn't be better recorded wild.

Nick

[Steve Gibby]

First off, what's the point of making RED compatible with 2/3" B4 lenses? I'm not shooting this down, I'm genuinely curious. Doesn't it defeat the purpose of RED to attach a lens to it with such a small aperture?

The stated purpose of RED One from it's inception was to be firstly a digital cinema camera system, but secondly a camera that can be accessorized and outfitted for multiple other uses (including EFP) - thus the scalability, flexibility, upgradeability, etc. With 1080p (RED can extract 1080i) and 720p being included in the spec, and B4 lens capability, RED will enable the large numbers of crossover shooters, those who regularly shoot cine-style and EFP style, to quickly re-outfit the camera for either style of production. It's a convergent world and the ranks of shooters who exclusively shoot in just one of those styles are diminishing every year. 1080i and 720p are the current ATSC HDTV broadcast standards. With the capability to shoot in cine-style and EFP-style, RED One will be positioned to generate the maximum possible amount of potential revenue for its owners. Of the overall number of motion media production productions each year worldwide, the majorities are EFP style. It's a huge sub market for RED One. RED is a business. By making the camera system capable for both cine-style and EFP style production, RED should sell a lot more cameras and lenses than if they made RED One with strictly cine-style capability. One camera system that can be re-accessorized for multiple styles of production is something many will have a hard time conceptualizing because for so long now camera equipment has been an "either/or" decision.

Affordable EFP production with RED One doesn't have to be done completely with a B4 2/3" lens. Depending on the pace of production, sequences that need a 2/3" zoom can be done with that, and then creative sequences that need more shallow DOF (certain interviews, opening/closing montages, inbumps/outbumps, etc.) can be shot cost-effectively with Nikkor 35mm still lenses.

I hope this input sheds some light on your question...

[Akcelik]

Hi Nick!

i agree! its actually a 4ch mic but says "5.1 compatible"

[Nick Shaw]

i agree! its actually a 4ch mic but says "5.1 compatible"

Yes, indeed. As I said in my post, 4 channel recording (which of course Red can do) is all you need to have the source for a 5.1 mix.

Nick