what do i need?

[simon weekes]

Hi, Im about to order my camera package, but i just need to know a bit about the digital media storage, so please help.
why is the ram store so much more expensive than the 320GB drive?do I need the RAM to run higher frame rates, higher resolution? or could I get a hard drive off the high street to capture to?actually , wher can i find a load of info about ALL the optons?
2nd question:b4-PL mount adaptor? really? I have heard tell thats not a good idea, and impossible! where can I find some more info about this?
3rd:whats the probable battery life like?obviously this will fluctuate depending on use conditions, but ball park?would two batteries last me a day of shooting , for example shooting teh same amount as 5 40min digi tapes?

thanks
simon

[Damien Molineaux]

Hi, Im about to order my camera package, but i just need to know a bit about the digital media storage, so please help.
why is the ram store so much more expensive than the 320GB drive?do I need the RAM to run higher frame rates, higher resolution? or could I get a hard drive off the high street to capture to?actually , wher can i find a load of info about ALL the optons?
2nd question:b4-PL mount adaptor? really? I have heard tell thats not a good idea, and impossible! where can I find some more info about this?
3rd:whats the probable battery life like?obviously this will fluctuate depending on use conditions, but ball park?would two batteries last me a day of shooting , for example shooting teh same amount as 5 40min digi tapes?

thanks
simon

Hi Simon,

Ram is reccomended for those doing shooting on vibrating, moving rigs. Ram is just more sturdy than a hard drive. It is not required.

You cannot shoot to an off the shelf hard drive. The Red-drive is a special case with two drives in Raid configuration, for more speed. With a special sata connection which powers the drives also. You can then connect the drive to a computer via firewire, 400 and 800, or USB2.

You can also get one of the optional Red Flash modules. Steven Soderbergh who is shooting a movie with two Red prototypes is recording to Compact Flash. This is another option, but you need the very fast kind "IV" limited to 8 GB currently. Which should give you about 4:30 mins of 4k red raw.

There is no B4 to PL adapter. The options from Red are actual mounts, where you remove the PL mount and put another instead. It remains to be seen how easy this is and probably requires a technician to calibrate the mount each time you change.

Estimated battery time is two hours, depending on your configuration : LCD and/or Viewfinder, Red Drive or not, B4 lens, etc.

So you would probably need four for a days shoot, or at least three if you can charge while you shoot, but take note the Red charger only charges one battery at a time.

Cheers,
Damien

[Nick Shaw]

There is a B4 to PL adaptor.

I believe the Red adaptor will be similar to (the same as?) the Abekas one, which you can see a bit more detail (but not much) on at http://www.abakus-scientific.com/Format_Converters.htm

[Damien Molineaux]

There is a B4 to PL adaptor.

...

I stand corrected the Abakus is a B4 to PL adaptor. What I meant is from my understanding the Red B4 replaces the PL mount, then again I may be mistaken, this may only apply to the Nikon and Canon mounts.

Jarred ?

However, for Simon, Red have been testing their B4 mount and have said the results are very good. We'll see.

I would reccomend you order the camera and all the stuff you're sure you want, then add other things, like the B4 mount at a later time, after we get some feedback from the first cameras released.

If it is available, does the L.A.R.T. intend to test the B4 mount also ?

Cheers,
Damien

[Chris Gearhart]

The RAM drive uses a different connector than the Flash adapter. So, for instance, if you get the Optical port, you will be limited to the RAM option for solid state recording. (The optical port is factory installed in place of the Flash media real estate.)

I do not know if RED RAM is faster than the CF port. I assume not. But the RAM seems like it will start off larger than CF options, but then again you can buy tons of CF cards and threat them like film mags. I keep going back and forth on which I will get, and often I tell myself to get both.

[Evin Grant]

I stand corrected the Abakus is a B4 to PL adaptor. What I meant is from my understanding the Red B4 replaces the PL mount, then again I may be mistaken, this may only apply to the Nikon and Canon mounts. If it is available, does the L.A.R.T. intend to test the B4 mount also ?
Cheers,
Damien

The B4 adapter is for the PL mount, unlike the still lens mounts which are ful hard fronts. We do hope to test the B4 adapter at LART.

[simon weekes]

thankyou all very much, good advice, i shall get ordering
simon

[Damien Molineaux]

I just realized, I had made a mistake in amount of footage you can record on CF 8 GB card. I've corrected my post, it is more like 4min30 of 4k Red Raw.

Sorry,
Damien

[Brook Willard]

The FAQ - linked in my signature - will probably be a huge help.

[Jarred Land]

The b4 drops onto the standard red pl mount. Those are complete and should be ready for Lart.

[Brook Willard]

I don't have much in the way of NAB pics, but I found half of the PL-B4 adapter in one of them. The PL end is covered by the cap and the B4 end is facing down. This is just a prototype from NAB, so the design may have changed completely for all I know.