RED's greatest promise is that it will irreversibly change the landscape of filmmaking technology. But what if it ends up being a huge piece of vaporware? Or what if it's not even a camera, and it turns out to be founder Jim Jannard's top-secret project to build the ultimate rocket launcher? Here's how RED has already succeeded in blowing up the video camera market--no rockets required.Six years ago Sony shipped the PD-150, the highly-anticipated successor to the godfather of DV cameras: the VX-1000. What did the PD-150 offer over the older model? Reduced noise, improved sensitivity... and XLR audio inputs. It didn't offer more raw pixels on tape, it didn't offer non-linear acquisition options, and the audio circuitry turned out to be intentionally crippled so Sony could further delineate its prosumer option from its "true" pro products. Why sell for $4k what you can sell for $20k, after all?
What a difference six years makes. Panasonic, JVC, Canon, and Sony all offer prosumer HDV options for under $5k now. Each manufacturer's camera represents somewhat of a compromise--some are better for news gathering, some are better for music videos; even after dozens of pros spent days comparing them, a clear winner didn't emerge. And then RED announced the end-all, be-all, no-compromises 4k supercam. It may have even been a rival camera manufacturer, possibly worried about their future, that broke into RED's headquarters to try to get their hands on a prototype (no one knows if it was corporate espionage or not; whoever they are, if the culprits are caught, I have the headline "caught RED handed" ready to unleash on the world).
RED was first hinted at back in December of 2005; the camera itself, dubbed RED One, was shown in prototype form in April. Then, just last month Sony announced the HVR-V1U, a 3CMOS, variable-frame rate, 1080p camcorder for under $5k. The V1U's optional direct-to-disc recording attachment doesn't rely on any proprietary (moneymaking) media like XDCAM or MemoryStick, breaking a long-standing Sony tradition. The camera's announcement surprised a lot of people, especially coming from a company yet to offer true 24p on anything except its $200k CineAlta line of cameras.
Does anyone else see a connection here? Pre-RED I'd guess that Sony would have never given away this much camera for so little money. But now the landscape has been terraformed and Sony (and Canon, and JVC, and Panasonic) are eyeing the market and trying to figure out how they'll fit in once RED--and yes, other companies like Silicon Imaging--release their digital cinema offerings for a fraction of the price of the CineAlta and Varicam. Electronics companies are most agile on the lower-end, and thus I think the HVR-V1U is the first camera to demonstrate "the RED effect." The V1U is likely indicative of Sony's future--high-definition CMOS censors with diagonally-arranged pixels, true variable frame rates, and tapeless acquisition.
Sure, Sony was working on all of these technologies long before they were aware of RED One's details. But I think it'd be a safe bet to say that they weren't going to put all of them into a $5k handheld camcorder until RED blew everyone away. So now we have the RED effect; you can bet the rest of the manufacturers are going to step up to the plate as well. So while RED might be an exciting prospect for those of you with $25k burning a hole in your pocket, it's also already helping everyone on the lower end too. Thus the HDV, 24p, tapeless camcorder wars begin; the next few years will see a glut of cameras with features that would have cost six figures a few years ago, and it's in part due to RED... a product that hasn't even seen the light of day.
Also, don't forget it's named the Red "One." It wouldn't shock me to see a RED Two camera announced in a few years with a Mysterium sensor--and price tag--cut in half.
1. I don't think a $17,000 camera is really effecting the sales or production decisions of sub $5K or even sub $10K camera. Especially when that $17,000 doesnt include a lens, storage solution, or even a decent handle on the camera.
If the image quality is up to it, and I think it may be, its the AJ-SDX900, the Varicam, XDCAM and even the Cinealta that are in the sights with Red.
Red under scores those cameras with its price point, yet surpasses them in image quality, image resolution(s), and recording format flexability.
Just as you illustrated, the PD-150 added features and performance to the VX1000, the HVR-V1U is just a natural progression of technological advencement making it cost effective to add features to a low cost camera.
Posted at 2:37PM on Oct 4th 2006 by erikcantu