I'm gonna be careful how I say this as I got in trouble for posting it on another board where it was perceived to be "criticism".

First up, the RED ONE seriously, seriously rocks. It seems to me that this thing easily kicks the arse (or ass) of, say, the Panavision Genesis in terms of quality and features and yet WHAT A PRICE! (Love the piccies with the Cooke lenses btw - that's what I was thinking to use). As I was hoping, this has brought the dream of the high-end of film kit right down to the kind of level where I won't have to beg/borrow/steal anymore.

That said, it does share one common issue with the Genesis - and this is something that Jim himself has commented upon - in that is that it doesn't have (and can't acommodate) an Optical Viewfinder. In his interview over at Studio Daily Jim indicates that this was obviously a consideration and was dropped for very good reasons. There's also an attempt to include the kind of features that simulate what an optical viewfinder provides, but Jim seems to admit that it is something of a compromise.

What strikes me in that interview is that he says "it will not make our first model" and then "There are some other features that people like in optical viewfinder, but they’ll just have to wait for those in another camera body." I've also noticed on the RED website that under the heading "Products" we get the sub-heading "Cameras" - note the plural. So what I'm wondering is, can we expect a RED TWO (or maybe a RED COOPER S?) at some point in the future (I'm not suggesting that one will be forthcoming immediately)? Maybe one that's a bit bigger and will accomodate that OF?

Don't get me wrong, in the current market of cameras-that-want-to-replace-film the RED ONE makes everything else seem fairly redundant (why would you use a CineAlta/Varicam anymore???) It's just that, in the area of filmmaking where I operate, I know the lack of OF will be a fairly major issue (though I accept to many it won't be an issue at all), so I thought it was worth raising and looking ahead to where RED may go next (after the world-conquering success of the ONE, naturally).

Is it a true issue or a percieved one from the standpoint of "its how its always been done"?

It appears that they overcame this in the flip viewfinder, what advantages is there to having the standard optical viewfinder?

one note was that the flip out monitor was not widescreen, but perhaps it has to be whatever size it is to accomodate the various sizes of the different formats.

peace

dalen

it does appear there will be further products...
...however it seems to contradict what he said about inclusiveness.

the red camera is supposed to be good for decades with you upgrading it if they come out with new hardware, etc. (like an optical view finder, whatever), but in the interview it sounded like it would be a different camera body...

the point of inclusiveness was that they werent offering different level of cameras with stripped out features...so it will be intersting to see how inclusive and updateable this camera truly is.

If its truly updateable, im wanting one...but if they are already talking about other camera bodies, it goes completely against what the marketing spin on this thing is.

peace

dalen

it does appear there will be further products...
...however it seems to contradict what he said about inclusiveness.

the red camera is supposed to be good for decades with you upgrading it if they come out with new hardware, etc. (like an optical view finder, whatever), but in the interview it sounded like it would be a different camera body...

the point of inclusiveness was that they werent offering different level of cameras with stripped out features...so it will be intersting to see how inclusive and updateable this camera truly is.

If its truly updateable, im wanting one...but if they are already talking about other camera bodies, it goes completely against what the marketing spin on this thing is.

peace

dalen

That's indeed a bit contradictory, but what I THINK the purpose is this:

People who buy a RED ONE can update it...
People who still have to buy their first RED camera can buy the camera with updates, which would be the RED TWO (RED ONE with updates).
I'm not sure about this, but it's what I think.

the red camera is supposed to be good for decades with you upgrading it if they come out with new hardware, etc. (like an optical view finder, whatever), but in the interview it sounded like it would be a different camera body...

To be fair, adding an optical viewfinder involves significant changes to any camera. For starters, a rotating mirror shutter with all the associated hardware would be needed; not to mention a port for the viewfinder has to be drilled into the unit. It's not something you can reasonably expect as an upgrade.

That's indeed a bit contradictory, but what I THINK the purpose is this:

People who buy a RED ONE can update it...
People who still have to buy their first RED camera can buy the camera with updates, which would be the RED TWO (RED ONE with updates).
I'm not sure about this, but it's what I think.

That would make sense, didnt look at it that way.
So then people could potentially update the optical finder on the Red ONe...althought it sounded as if it wouldnt fit with it period..not sure, would love to hear someone from Red comment. (guess we will find out.)

Perhaps the next versions of Red won't compete with the 35mm crowd. Maybe it'll be targeted more towards IMAX, with a 70mm or 120mm sensor? Just dreaming... Imagine that!