Komodo Accessories recommendations

[Panagiotis Apostolidis]

Dear fellow members!!

First and foremost thank you so much for your time and dedication to this beautiful forum!

I am currently looking into accessories as I wait for my Komodo to be delivered.
I am completely new with RED and can’t stress enough my excitement!

Im looking for accessories/ basically everything besides lenses.
I will appreciate any opinions or recommendations for cables, v-mount batteries, monitors, media etc...
Basically like a proper solo producer kit.
Please accept my kind apologies if I posted this into the wrong category or If i double post.

Thank you once again for your time and efforts.

[Vance Colvig]

Tilta

[Panagiotis Apostolidis]

Thank you ! Could you please list some products from them ?

[George Nathanson]

They have a pretty full range of options. I know the cage is pretty popular. It really depends what kind of rigging your doing. I have the cage, top handle, side handle, and bp to v-lock. All are great, my only complaint is the battery adapter doesn't send the extended data (so you always get the battery warning on the komodo). Their Komodo page is down right now but you can find it here

[Adam Pavelka]

I like the 8sinn cage more than tilta and I tried both. But had to buy pro handle, which would be also case with tilta ones as I like to balance the camera on my Vario 5 properly, so moving top handle i essential.

[Panagiotis Apostolidis]

Thank you so much for your comments! Any recommendations for batteries and monitors ?

[M Harvey]

If you're not getting a lot of responses, it's probably because people have already shared a lot of thoughts on the Komodo accessories thread:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthr...ages-Handles-)

I'd also recommend going to the Komodo forum and scrolling through the pages for information on individual accessories.

Otherwise, you should ask more specific questions. Your budget and intended use will help people give you advice that suits you. Do you have $2000 to spend, and you want a shoulder mount set-up? Are you looking for a very accurate 5" monitor for use outdoors? Do you want the batteries best designed for using the camera on a gimbal?

[Panagiotis Apostolidis]

Thank you so much for your information. I would like to apologize for creating a new threat asking questions that have already been answered from other members. And you are right I should have mentioned my budget in my post.
Well I am willing to spend a lot for some good glass.
I was thinking that a DZO Pictor 20-55 will be a wonderful idea and later on a ZEISS from their cinema series. What do you guys think of the DZO Pictor ? Is it worthy ? Is it good ?
For monitor I would like something extremely accurate so I don’t end up in post seeing darker pictures or not as colour accurate as I did the moment of the shooting. My budget is $1500-2000. I don’t mind the inches it could be 5 or 7. And for outdoor use too.
As for the gimbal, it’s a painful story of mine. I had used a Ronin S, Weebill, Crane 3 and currently I own a Crane 3S. I know that I should be okay with my 3S, however I need my monitor mounted so I can see what I’m shooting and with the SDI cables being that thick, I truly thing that won’t work out. And maybe it would be a whole better idea to invest into a more robust handheld solution with some new servos for the focus, Iris etc... i know they aren’t they same and they are used for different types of shootings which makes me think twice before I sell it but yeah. I would appreciate some not as expensive solutions for rigs as well.
Currently I’m looking on purchasing a 1TB CFast 2.0 from Angelbird at BH. I saw that those have been approved by RED which is good however I am not quite sure if it’s better to invest on two separate card rather than a 1TB single. What does angel bird cover with their 3 year warranty? What if within those years my cfast gets cooked ? Despite the loss of my work are they going to be replacing it ?
Now batteries. I have no clue which one should I trust more. V-Mount or Golden Mount ? Any recommendations? Something that will last long enough for a full day shooting powering a monitor and other gear.


For now these are my only questions. I know they are a lot and some of them might sound silly to some of you. I clearly am brand new with RED, haven’t used any Vmount or gold mount batteries in my past. I have used cinema cameras that had a completely different setup so pleaseforgive me this.

Any comment would be highly appreciated! And once again sorry for any inconvenience! :)

[M Harvey]

-Lens: there are lots of posts on this forum on the DZO Pictor zooms, including a whole thread featuring footage. Just search.
-Monitor: keep in mind that a monitor must be calibrated in order to be color accurate. And also keep in mind that, once you change brightness on the monitor, it may not match the image when you look at it on a screen for editing, color grading, etc. So I'd look for a monitor that has good tools for judging exposure-- and also learn how to use these tools on the camera itself. For $1500-2000 USD, you can get something very nice from SmallHD, so that would be my recommendation. Others will recommend TVLogic, Atomos-- there are a lot of good ones from respected brands.
-Gimbals: I think you should search for threads on rigging gimbals.
-Cards: look up Angelbird's warranty policies.
-Batteries: gold mount is a little more mechanically secure, but the batteries are otherwise the same. In my experience, v-mount batteries are a little cheaper and more widely used (on lights, etc.)-- but the really good v-mount batteries are the same price as good gold mount.

[Panagiotis Apostolidis]

Thank you so much for your answer.
For Lens - I made a huge leap and went a little wild. I just purchased a 25mm Zeiss Prime that costed a lot lot more than the DZO. It’s not a made for super 35 glass which is totally beneficial, especially for a Red VV. Basically on my Komodo will be a 40mm when on my VV a straight wide 25mm. PL mount of course. What do you think about my choice ? It’s my main/« normal*» lens.

For the monitor - I looked quite a few models from SmallHD,they all have wonderful reviews. They had some with OLED but they where extremely weak in terms of brightness so I might have to pick a regular LCD panel. I’m just afraid a bit of the bleeding on those panels. Do they have a lot ? Is it manageable? As far as of recalibration I guess that will become eventually a lifestyle. I have had some hard time calibrating monitors in the past. I’m just vouching on all those people who had good experiences with SmallHD. If you have a recommendation please post it.

Gimbals - I will take a further look on that.. I saw thé thé RS2 had for many people some issues in terms of calibration. Don’t know how accurate this is...

- Cards. I did look at their policy but they don’t mention something in particular. And they kinda confuse me. They claim that for those who are located in Europe they have 3 years when for those including myself who live in North America they only get 1 year and that’s it. On websites like BH, they still mention three full years on their website.

- Batteries. What do you think of that one right here ? : https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...t_battery.html
Is it good ? Is it high quality ? If not do you have a suggestion?

Meanwhile I also have another question. I found a battery attachment that will give me a V-Mount basically ( https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...o_v_mount.html ) it has fuses and some extra D-Tap ports which is great! I found the fuse honestly very important on that particular product. Will it for real protect my RED from gettin cooked ? Is it worth the extra money ? Cuz I found some other cheaper RED approved accessories that do the same work without the fuses basically.
Thank you so much for your time !