
Originally Posted by
Thad K Donovan
I am brand new to the forum, but I've been watching this thread for weeks. I thought I'd throw in my two cents as someone who seems to have slightly different needs than many of the camera ops I've read here. It might even help RED address the market segment that I am in.
I film corporate, tourism, and indie film projects. They are good quality, but not Hollywood quality. I have mostly used Sony's FS7, but have switched to Blackmagic this year. I have two P4Ks and one P6K. I keep one P4K permanently mounted on a Ronin gimbal, the other P4K permanently mounted on a 600mm lens, and the P6K for all other uses. So think about that for a second. I bought two additional cameras purely to avoid the inconvenience of having to change lenses and rigs. That is incredible that we can do that these days.
For all my needs, the P4K/P6K are plenty good enough in terms of quality. My lenses are more of a problem than the cameras (Rokinon Cine DS set). Having said that, I would love to advance to the next level in terms of image quality. That's where RED seems to separate itself from that lower tier. Assuming that is true, I am hoping that the Komodo can be my new A cam. I know for a lot of you, it would be more of a B cam or a specialty/crash cam, but for me it would be my A. I could also see buying multiple Komodos over time. I totally understand that simply upgrading sensors/codecs isn't going to deliver Hollywood quality in and of itself, but I know where the (small) limitations are in my current equipment.
Most of the RED cameras are out of my price range. I could justify the Raven, but in terms of features, specs, I don't feel like I'd be gaining much on the FS7. Yes, the IQ would be a bit better, but I'm holding out for an even smaller form factor via the Komodo. I never use the FS7 any more because the BMPCs match or exceed it in terms of quality and they are much more convenient to use.
My personal wish list for the Komodo:
6K
48 fps or better (I do lots of slow mo, so it's mandatory)
whatever the best RED codec/color science available, otherwise Braw is plenty good for me
As good or better low light performance relative to BMPCs
S35 or better (FF preferred). Anything less than S35 and I'm out
I don't care about an integrated monitor (other than something for changing settings). I have several good external monitors. I also don't care about Hydrogen unless it does something magical that my current phone or monitors can't do.
Built-in XLR audio of some sort would be nice (the BMPCs have mini-xlrs which work great for my needs). However, I'd be fine with only scratch audio as I'd use the Komodo mostly for higher end work or indie films which would have separately recorded sound.
So I'm crossing my fingers that Komodo fits the bill. So far it looks promising. I know RED may not target my segment, but to me there's no reason why they shouldn't. I want the best image quality I can afford in a compact package. If a RED product suddenly becomes affordable and compact, I'm a potential customer, and there's a lot more like me out there.