KOMODO....

[rand thompson]

6K RED Komodo In-Depth Review | Best Indie Cinema Camera!?


By Indy Mogul






RED Komodo 6K Footage & First Impressions


By Hyder Tech





RED Komodo Live Discussion - Q&A - Real World Use



By Reduser Members Scott Balkum and Joey Heim





The RED Komodo |The Best "Budget Pro" Cinema Camera?




By Brandon Washington







RED Komodo Test - Ball Python


By Dan Wagner

[Christopher A. Bell]

Kinda funny that the Indy Mogul review refers to the Wooden Camera V-Mount battery adapter, while showing a Gold Mount plate and battery. I think a LOT of people that haven't been in this business for a long time don't know any better and generically refer to all "brick" batts as V-Mounts.

[Christoffer Glans]

once the AF on Komodo is honed in... it'll be a complete game changer ... Best part is - it's all in software after all ... Maybe Komodo's firmware can be opened up in a way to let others contribute? 3rd party plugins like AF? I know this is a far fetched idea, but who knows ...

The problem is that there's no guarantee this tech won't just be something advanced but never practical or used during production. Without the software part, it will just be unused tech. The only way for the AF system to be of practical use for actual productions would be if it gets a software upgrade to face-track and eye-track. It's the whole reason it's so powerful on Canon and Sony.

I think that because Red is already using both Canon RF mount and Canon batteries, why not get Canon involved with the AF system. Imagine getting Canon's AF software put into this. I would gladly pay more for the camera if it had that AF system added.

[Nick Morrison]

The problem is that there's no guarantee this tech won't just be something advanced but never practical or used during production. Without the software part, it will just be unused tech. The only way for the AF system to be of practical use for actual productions would be if it gets a software upgrade to face-track and eye-track. It's the whole reason it's so powerful on Canon and Sony.

I think that because Red is already using both Canon RF mount and Canon batteries, why not get Canon involved with the AF system. Imagine getting Canon's AF software put into this. I would gladly pay more for the camera if it had that AF system added.

A friend has a Komodo and is already reporting the AF is no joke. Have to imagine it's only going to get better. I also have a strong feeling both AF and Global Shutter are going to be the defining features for RED in DSMC3. I view Komodo as a "test baby" for the much larger beasts TK in DSMC3.

Basically, I'm assuming DSMC3 will feature one or several of these Komodo Sensors:

8K Komodo with AF (this is exactly 36mm and Vista Vision)
10K Komodo with AF (this is exactly 45mm and larger than Monstro)
12K Komodo with AF (this is exactly 54mm and basically a Hasselblad, which is what a Komodo looks like)

[Adam D. Ouellette]

Kinda funny that the Indy Mogul review refers to the Wooden Camera V-Mount battery adapter, while showing a Gold Mount plate and battery. I think a LOT of people that haven't been in this business for a long time don't know any better and generically refer to all "brick" batts as V-Mounts.

Probably just an editorial mistake.....

[Jon Dishler]

I would be concerned if we extrapolate the data rates with the new compression method of the Komodo to 8/10/12k and especially for 60+ fps that a 1 TB card would be filled up in just a few minutes. For special applications like a drone, not an issue, but for everything else, this is a consideration, maybe DSMC3 will stick with wavelet?

[Michael Tiemann]

A friend has a Komodo and is already reporting the AF is no joke. Have to imagine it's only going to get better. I also have a strong feeling both AF and Global Shutter are going to be the defining features for RED in DSMC3. I view Komodo as a "test baby" for the much larger beasts TK in DSMC3.

Basically, I'm assuming DSMC3 will feature one or several of these Komodo Sensors:

8K Komodo with AF (this is exactly 36mm and Vista Vision)
10K Komodo with AF (this is exactly 45mm and larger than Monstro)
12K Komodo with AF (this is exactly 54mm and basically a Hasselblad, which is what a Komodo looks like)

Well-spotted. I hope that all three come to pass. I love the idea of feeding 6K Komodos the S35 image circle of my zoom lenses, and 12K DSMC3s the beyond-VV image circle of my Tokina Vista primes.

[Nick Morrison]

Well-spotted. I hope that all three come to pass. I love the idea of feeding 6K Komodos the S35 image circle of my zoom lenses, and 12K DSMC3s the beyond-VV image circle of my Tokina Vista primes.

Haha, I hear you. Larger Komodos' are exciting to think about right? It's hard not to think that deep within the halls of RED they aren't mulling all this over. I mean it's just impossible to ignore that when you extrapolate Komodo to 8K it lands EXACTLY at Vista Vision, and 12K is almost EXACTLY at Hasselblad.

Also keep in mind as production relies more on green screen an FX (think Mandaloreon), Global Shutter is going to become more and more important. I really think RED is taking this all into account.

I have to say, in the middle of a pandemic it's quite inspiring to think of RED trying hard - with AF, global shutter, and maybe larger sensors - to plan for the future of production. Good on them.

[Phil Holland]

Well-spotted. I hope that all three come to pass. I love the idea of feeding 6K Komodos the S35 image circle of my zoom lenses, and 12K DSMC3s the beyond-VV image circle of my Tokina Vista primes.

When I grabbed my Komodo I had lots of questions regarding exactly this for Jarred, particularly 8K. The obvious answers to me are it would be a more expensive and likely larger camera no matter what once you go up in sensor size, data rates, and other hardware needed to support that. But to what extent, unknown. Also unknown if Komodo's particular sensor design has higher FPS possible. So lots of questions there. So in the case of the most nimble form factor I think it was a combination of factors that squished everything into the Komodo box.

RED's on the right path when it comes to image quality and usability lately with the new tech in Komodo. I'd love to see how this manifests down the line.

Kinda funny with all the long time shooters here looking back at the original roadmaps and where things ended up. Just an example, what Monstro 8K VV is better than the original plan for a "FF35 Monstro" sensor IMO as well as notably rather nice gains in dynamic range.

I still have these old images on my server from 2008 before I purchased my Scarlet-X back when I was looking hard at Epic:


Still unsure about a 617 cinema camera on a practical level :) And I was very sure a mere 2/3"s 3K camera wasn't very appealing to cinematographers generally speaking (yes I know there are some die hard 2/3'ers out there, but just not something filmmakers are attracted to).

It's 2020 now. We've had full generations of much of what was/is on this list. Next decade is going to be nuts with all the new possible tech. A camera like Komodo a few years ago was a much heavier, larger, and more expensive proposition until pretty recently. Which truly makes the mind wander about DSMC3.

My fingers are crossed. At least in the journey of RED One (rented, never owned) to DSMC (when I bought in) and DSMC2 RED has been checking things off my personal list of things I look for and need in cameras. With Epic really being the thing. I still have stuff on my list even after the latest generations, but my list is indeed smaller.

Overall from a Monstro shooter's perspective I do like having multiple formats in a system for days when I want to go for 8K VV or something like 5-6K S35 shooting. That's not for everybody. I've met plenty of people who never shoot below the maximum format/resolution of the camera.

The bigger changes are the industry itself with the advent of streaming, HDR, the rapidly growing trend of 4K delivery, and the still growing world of 8K delivery, with 2K still being the most common thing to do. With some of the newer workflows like more standardized virtual production ecosystems, I can certainly think of things ideal for all of the emerging markets to put in these cameras.

So far all the cameras to date have been capable of 4K and 2K delivery with a few capable of 8K as well. HDR wasn't standardized back then, but all of these cameras to date are capable of HDR workflows which we've seen.

On the TV/home theater side of things, 6K in home was talked about by some of my clients long ago and certainly became relevant on the computer side of things. But for now it's all 1080p (huge amount of displays), 2160p (a whole lot of displays), and 4320p (still growing) for a long while to come.

3D and HFR have been the chaos pool in terms of delivery. We of course need to overcrank for slow motion, but I don't know if we need to see films at 120p. Though I do like sports in particular at higher frame rates like 60p 4K. Got to see a 60p 8K tennis match broadcast over IP at NAB and was actually really blown away on 55 through 70 inch displays. 3D I think will zoom back around again in a different form once again. It's certainly profitable from a theatrical perspective.

One thing the industry is uncovering at the moment (and has been this whole last decade) is the relationship between judder, HFR, and HDR. General panning speeds were developed in a very different world/time. There's new tools coming to dance better with these new more dynamic contrast ratios, but it's 100% something you need to think about when producing content for HDR. And this is coming from somebody who likes shooting 24fps for HDR. I know it's a fine line, but frame rate does still have a visual impact on viewers.

[andrewhake]

Wanted to report that Nuke has implemented the latest Red SDK with support for Komodo footage in Nuke 12.2. Have been playing around with some Komodo footage on the Pro Display XDR in various tools and it is looking very nice indeed. Very easy to work with it in FCPX and output HDR10 content in prores or HEVC. Working in rec2020 and st2048.

Once you have viewed Red footage on a proper HDR display looking at it on an SDR display is torture. There is entire world beyond 0-1. Really can't wait for 1000nit+ HDR displays to become the norm.