November 30th Announcement Feedback

[Brent J. Craig]

...does my camera really need a GPS sensor? Is this sensor for theft protection, Geo-tagging, or (for the more parnoid people out there) so that Jim could fly in to a shoot in his personal helicopter and check up on your progress? Haha... just kidding on that last part. But what I mean by all this is: maybe I would rather have a bigger sensor and just the basic technology for the same price as the smaller sensor with more features

GPS chips are not expensive at all! Isuppli.com estimates that the Infineon GPS chip in the iPhone 3GS adds $2.25 to its manufacturing cost.

What would a GPS chip add to a camera?

-geotagging of every frame with time, date, location and altitude
-atomic-clock-precise synchronization of timecode on every camera, anywhere in the world. (You could have 100 Scarletts shooting the Olympic games at 25 different venues separated by miles, traffic and logistics, and they would all use the exact same, subframe accurate time code!)
-with the addition of a compass/accelerometer chip - the camera could tag every frame with the direction the lens is pointing and the tilt angle (crucial for CGI work). With WAAS service, a camera GPS could be accurate enough to know where it was within less than an inch. (effects without tracking marks, handheld CGI plates, reshoots with extreme accuracy).
-contrary to popular belief, GPS is a one-way, receive-only system. You can't track a device that contains a GPS chip unless that device chooses and has the means to broadcast its location out to the world. It sounds like the new cameras will be wifi-enabled, so that communication is a possibility, but they won't be trackable unless someone builds in that capability.

Keep the GPS guys. I'll pay the extra two bucks!

[Jason Lawler]

I am so stoaked!! Ive been following this forum for over a year now and this is my first post.. Hmmm, fixed or interchangeable?!? Hopefully by release date I'll afford the interchangeable..

One question, would the Nikon mount be able to use Nikon 2/3 and full frame lenses?

Thank you so much everyone at RED :)

[Chip G]

My camera would need a gps chip. Awesome feature for fast action adventure shows with animated location maps. I'll also pay the extra $2 bucks :)

[Roberto Lequeux]

the machines are already moving

Can we go stick our noses on the window and share cigars with each other?

[David Twelves]

Not electronically controlled.. the Mini Prime Lenses ( and mount ) are manually controlled. The Digital Design refers to the optical design being designed and optimized specifically for our digital sensor and it's pixel pitch and OLPF combination.

Okay, so the Mini Primes are manual and the Mini PL mount is required for the Mini Primes. So in this case, would there be an advantage to purchasing a touchscreen over the non-touchscreen LCD?

[Jeff Dunant]

What is "Touch Focus Tracking" and how does it compare w/ auto focus? Thanks much.

If I remember correctly, you put your finger on the touch screen and the camera will focus on that point. The subject moves, you move your finger with the subject to keep her in focus.

[Stephen Gentle]

Pretty awesome announcement - I really can't wait to get a fixed in my hands! I'm pretty stoked that it comes with a REDMOTE - I wanted one but didn't think I'd end up spending the money on it since I thought it would come with the side handle, so this news is awesome!

Also, I haven't read through the thread yet (I'm at work at the moment) but has there been any details on eligibility for the Scarlet TATTOO program? Sorry if this has already been asked (which is almost certain, I know)...

[Quentin Brown]

This is all positive news. I'm very happy to see the newly released specs - especially the 1080 at 60fps option which is new and very welcome for quick posting/workflow. You guys at Red must be so stoked by what you've come up with. I know we all are..

Only real dissapointment for me is the reality check of the projected release timeline. I had been hoping for a Jan or Feb release, as unrealistic as that may have been, May is a long time off. I'm sure you are all frustrated to not be able to get those finished cameras out there sooner too, in fact I think you have said as much in the past. Still it's gotta take more work than anyone can imagine to reach thhis level of awesomeness!

[Stephen Strangways]

At the risk of temporarily veering off-topic...

Adobe seemed to really help make the RED workflow somewhat seamless (but maybe not flawless) and really streamlined the way R3D footage is edited. Is there any hope in sight that Apple will wise-up and follow suit? Clearly this isn't the RED teams fault in any way, but we all suffer a little bit for this.

Considering that Final Cut still insists that perfectly good MXF-wrapped footage has to be re-wrapped into Quicktime wrappers, which takes time, doubles your storage space requirements, and prevents you from playing those files on a computer that doesn't have Final Cut installed... I think it's safe to say that Apple's current policy is to only support Quicktime MOVs, and make anyone shooting AVIs, MXFs, or R3Ds jump through extra hoops.

[dean merrill]

The announcement was great, i loved all the new info to drool over for the next 5 or so months.

I would love to see a photo of the back of the Scarlet square on to get a better look at the i/o ports...