For the Red team - mechanical shutter and through-lens viewfinder

[Richard Lackey]

I have a question that has been plaguing me since I first heard of the Red One.

From a design perspective, what would it take to have a true optical viewfinder (through the lens) and mechanical shutter on a camera like the Red One or upcoming Epic?

What are the pro's and con's from a design or implementation perspective and why was a purely digital viewfinder and electronic shutter chosen?

Would a optical viewfinder and mechanical shutter ever be considered?

I hope I can get some answers from the Red team as well as some thoughts of other Reduser members.

[Jonas Nyström]

"From a design perspective, what would it take to have a true optical viewfinder (through the lens) and mechanical shutter on a camera like the Red One or upcoming Epic?"

Why? EVF through the sensor is always wysiwyg. It doesn't matter what you see in the lens if it's not on your hard drive. And a rolling shutter still have a lot skew and other artifact problems etc

[Cüneyt Kaya]

Originally Posted by JNAD

"From a design perspective, what would it take to have a true optical viewfinder (through the lens) and mechanical shutter on a camera like the Red One or upcoming Epic?"

Why? EVF through the sensor is always wysiwyg. It doesn't matter what you see in the lens if it's not on your hard drive. And a rolling shutter still have a lot skew and other artifact problems etc

but the red shoots raw...and what you see is a 720p output with a rec709 colorspace...but the "raw"-view will be enabled in the near future.


----and altering the ASA settings this could lead to false desicions, so right now the histogram is the wysiwyg------correct me if i am wrong

[Jonas Nyström]

OK. IMHO it's more WYSIWYG then an optic EVF. Or..? What's the story with an optic EVF?

[Jonas Nyström]

ps. Is it possible to see problems with for example flickering through an optical EVF? ds.

[Cüneyt Kaya]

opt. viewfinder-----you can almost see if your lens is in focus.
mechanical shutter----no rolling shutter artefacts, less skew

is this combination possible to build:
optical shutter, but electr. viewfinder?

----correct me if i am wrong

[KJames]

I would think using a mechanical shutter would take more power and is unnecessary. From my understanding the idea of electronic light acquisition is to collect the stream of analog light in finite samples of time, giving you frame rate. Then take that data to storage as fast as possible to allow for high efficiency.

There are many way to judge color and focus. I don't think viewfinders and mechanical shutters are the answer.

[Joel Kaye]

Originally Posted by 4K Hub

What are the pro's and con's from a design or implementation perspective and why was a purely digital viewfinder and electronic shutter chosen?

My thoughts are I looked through every optical viewfinder I could at NAB and I think the RED EVF looks better. Pretty much game over right there. And that's before you even get into data in the display, the ability to apply a digital look to what you're seeing, the ability to brighten or darken and the other advantages of a digital preview.

I've never seen skew in the EVF personally. I guess it could happen. But maybe it would be better to see it so you could correct for it right there by changing the shot a bit. So optical wouldn't do you any favors there either.

I sure wouldn't want the light loss P&S has said will come with their optical viewfinder for RED.

[Jamie Metzger]

Originally Posted by JNAD

ps. Is it possible to see problems with for example flickering through an optical EVF? ds.

Have you ever shot on a motion picture camera with an optical viewfinder? It sounds like you haven't, and it also sounds like you are pretty damn opinionated without much knowledge to back it up.

Stop giving out false information, based on your assumptions.

[pablano]

If you take a look inside a film camera you can see how much room a mechanical shutter takes up, not to mention the maze of optical blocks required for an optical viewfinder.

The D20 (now D21) is a great camera, and I don't want to knock Arri at all, I love the company, but a mechanical shutter is an analog solution applied to the digital world in my opinion. Improvements to the sensor will only make a mechanical shutter obsolete, again, in my opinion, it has already (so I guess Red doesn't make all obsolescence obsolete :) )

Hey, I went to the Arri booth at NAB, I tried out the D21 (handheld, no less). It was sweet. And looking through that optical viewfinder and mechanical shutter made me feel all tingly inside. But I believe we're passed that.

I am sad to see these things go. I absolutely love film. And will probably continue to shoot with it from time to time. But if I get too nostalgic I remember that negative report I got back from Deluxe after developing nearly 8,000 ft. (which was a lot for me). What did it say? "Oh, ah it appears your film is fogged."

Turns out one of the mags had a light leak.