RED
has finally announced their digital cinema camera at NAB, and their site has gone live with all the details. Specs
of the ultra-hyped camera are as follows: the magnesium body is $17.5k, weighs 7lbs, has a 12-megapixel Mysterium sensor
(4520X2540 resolution), and offers a number of mounting/cage options (one is shown at right). Two lenses are
available: a 300mm zoom lens, and a 17-90mm option. The camera also accepts Super 35mm and Super 16mm PL mount
lenses. Storage options are RED-FLASH, RED-RAM, RED-DRIVE, and RED-RAID, which are self-explanatory storage
devices (some details are here). RED is
accepting reservations for the camera for a refundable-at-any-time fee of $1000, and the camera is tentatively
scheduled to ship late 2006. The revolution will be televised... at 4k.
[via FresHDV]
UPDATE: No working prototypes are being shown at NAB, merely mock-ups and specs. So far, nobody (to my knowledge) has seen any footage. One very cool feature of the camera: it downconverts from its higher available resolutions to whatever size you're shooting in, so even its 1080p output will look smoother and better (in theory) than a straight-up 1080p HD camera (similar to how SD that's been downconverted from HD looks better than native SD). For further information and analysis, head over to HD For Indies: Mike has more details on shooting modes, pricing and availability, and is devoting the whole day to RED.
1. All the pictures on their site are CG. Do they have a working prototype at NAB?
Posted at 2:28PM on Apr 24th 2006 by Markcus