Wildlife documentary work

[Moir]

Hi

Anybody else looking to use Red primarily for wildlife work? If so, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what lenses you plan to use, workflow plans, any other issues relevant to natural history documentaries.

Thanks

Duncan

[Jason Sturgis]

Duncan,

I plan on using Red mostly for Natural history production but this will also be a totally new learning curve for me. I am going to start out with the Red Lenses but am open to anything. For workflow and backing up my footage, this is a new area and I am sure I'll be checking this board frequently as it is the best source of info out there. But I see the workflow and back up as one of the criticial issues for people like us.
Hopefully there will be a bootcamp class as well to help us get the feel of Red and how to maximize its potential.
-Jason

[Michael Schrengohst]

It will be nice to have a solid 300MM lens for that
kind of work. Adapters just don't cut it....

[Toby Marsden]

I'm planning to use principally S16 lenses, shooting 2K raw (therefore windowed sensor), for the following reasons:

- Less apparent depth of field than full-sensor 4K - focus will be easier in the field
- 2K RAW will require less bandwidth (1/3 as much? probably more than 1/4 as much anyway, as lower-res wavelets may need a proportionally higher data rate) as shooting 4K. Mike Curtis has done some rough calculations suggesting a 8.5 hour 2K raw record time at 25fps (I'm in the UK!) with a RED-DRIVE. Why not pack 5 red-drives per trip... 40 hours recording (plus non-linear, so get rid of useless shots instantly).
- Up to 60fps @ 2K - same as the Varicam @ 720p
- Can downres to 720p RGB in-camera for framerates up to 120fps - remember, even 720p is still the same resolution as the Varicam, currently one of the main cameras for wildlife work. Of course, once the Varicam encodes to DVCPRO HD, the resolution is actually lower than 1280x720...

Super 16 lenses tend to be smaller than 35mm cine lenses, which is handier for use in the field, and also require a less chunky tripod than the heavier lenses. Of course, packing a nice wide 35mm still prime for shooting 4K landscapes is perfectly possible too...

Altogether, this camera could be perfect for wildlife work. Can you say "pre-record"...?

Cheers

Toby

[Jared VanLeuven]

We're going to use Nikkors at first. Can't go wrong with a good telephoto (300mm) for the stealth-shots and a wide-angle to get the panoramics in. Nikkors will keep the pack light as well! :)

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Nikkors will keep the pack light as well! :)

You obviously haven't worked with the 1977 model 50-300mm f4.5 AI Nikkor zoom. :D Nice lens though, I picked it up dirt cheap on ebay.

[Mark Thorpe]

Yep,
I'll be sinking my cash into sinking RED. The longest lens I will be contemplating will be a 105mm. Anything over that and the particulate in the water gets to be overbearing. Most underwater stuff is done at very close quarters anyway.

Cheers,
Mark.

[Moir]

Thanks for the responses guys. Toby, I'm pretty much thinking along the same lines in terms of windowed 2k.

Still thinking about lenses, though. I've ordered the Red 300mm, which should be great for a lot of wildlife use.

Camdiver, I feel your pain. The cost of those underwater housings is brutal - forutnately for me, I never got the sub-aqua bug!

Cheers
Duncan

[Toby Marsden]

I'm pretty much thinking along the same lines in terms of windowed 2k. Still thinking about lenses, though. I've ordered the Red 300mm, which should be great for a lot of wildlife use.

Well, with 35mm lenses you've obviously got a field-of-view crop when working in windowed mode, which helps at the telephoto end. I guess much depends how long you're spending in the field and where the money's coming from. If you're on your own on a long trip then you probably just want a good wide-angle, a decent telephoto and solid S16 zoom for the middle range. Some sharp second hand Cooke and Zeiss lenses I've been looking at have been reasonably priced - $5k for a decent zoom which you can take anywhere might be a really good bet. Wildlife camerapeople tend to build up their own collection of kit, so having these lenses in the bag wherever you are, along with owning your own camera, has got to be a sensible strategy. Then, when you've got a budget, rent the specialist lenses you need for particular sequences.

I think one of the great benefits of flexibility of lens mounts and format options is the ability to use specialist lenses. Some of the filmmakers I spoke to at Wildscreen here in the UK last year had scoured eBay for macro lenses for their Sony 750 - and ended up with a massive array of lenses, most good quality, for relatively little outlay. And some breathtaking macro footage!

Toby

[Scott Webster]

I'm planning to use principally S16 lenses, shooting 2K raw (therefore windowed sensor), for the following reasons:

- Less apparent depth of field than full-sensor 4K - focus will be easier in the field
- 2K RAW will require less bandwidth (1/3 as much? probably more than 1/4 as much anyway, as lower-res wavelets may need a proportionally higher data rate) as shooting 4K. Mike Curtis has done some rough calculations suggesting a 8.5 hour 2K raw record time at 25fps (I'm in the UK!) with a RED-DRIVE. Why not pack 5 red-drives per trip... 40 hours recording (plus non-linear, so get rid of useless shots instantly).
- Up to 60fps @ 2K - same as the Varicam @ 720p
- Can downres to 720p RGB in-camera for framerates up to 120fps - remember, even 720p is still the same resolution as the Varicam, currently one of the main cameras for wildlife work. Of course, once the Varicam encodes to DVCPRO HD, the resolution is actually lower than 1280x720...

Super 16 lenses tend to be smaller than 35mm cine lenses, which is handier for use in the field, and also require a less chunky tripod than the heavier lenses. Of course, packing a nice wide 35mm still prime for shooting 4K landscapes is perfectly possible too...

Altogether, this camera could be perfect for wildlife work. Can you say "pre-record"...?

Cheers

Toby

Toby,

Having the same discussion on dvinfo with regard to Doco work. Stuart English posted some great info.

Of interest the Abakus PL to 2/3" B4 mount adapter that allows you to run 2/3" lenses on a PL mount giving you S16 coverage. Whether this is up scratch quality-wise to deal with HD 2/3" lenses or the Red would have to be tested, but if it works you have the advantages of ENG lenses (on lens servo control) with S16 coverage (long 2K record time).

http://www.zgc.com/zgc.nsf/product/C...256EC9005F5789

The other item was a backup unit AIT 5:

"For backup, I'd take a close look at AIT-5, which is "DVCAM for Data". Haven't found any Firewire or GigEthernet native models yet, but they are fast (24MB/s) big (400GBytes), support non-erasable WORM media, and cheap (tape $60) Drive is also pretty small. About $3K - $3.5K street price. Makes a nice 1: 1 backup to a 320GB drive."