Meryem Ersoz

Here are a few quick stills, for fun. Sadly, I did not shoot RED with RED, so I can't do it perfect justice...I'll need to shoot in a mirror or something.

As David suggested, I'm going to put up a DVinfo blog about my RED experiences. I'm hoping to do something unique, something which serves the DVinfo community and differentiates my story from the hundreds of other user stories at reduser....

So I thought about it, and here's my take. This is the blog for the people who are moving up from your Z1s, A1s, H1s, XL2s, etc. Because that is who I am and that is what I'm doing. And I think there are a lot of users here at DVinfo who are likely to be in a similar class of user....

But I have a pretty strong, thriving video production business that was built using these smaller cameras. We've done broadcast work, corporate & commercial, and lots of documentary work. Also some event video and music videos, but those are not our main lines. I'm also a pretty dedicated nature and outdoors shooter by temperament. It's what drew me to the craft in the first place, the transformation of my relationship to the planet by seeing it through the camera lens.

I have a lot of still photo equipment and still photo gear, also, so when this camera was released, I figured that, with its RAW workflow, it would be like meeting still photography's bigger, badder cousin.

But I'm not your seasoned cine veteran. I've never even used cine lenses. I've never owned a mattebox, never owned a follow focus, never shot using rails or rail mounts (though I'm about to own all of that...).

Here's the good news about this camera: the conventional wisdom is that you need a lot of paraphernalia. But this camera needs less than you think.

Mine is very stripped down (for now), and I love it.

Camera body, 18-50mm lens, LCD, a pair of top mounts (one of which is still on back-order), a handle + extension, CF module and some CF cards, and the battery belt clip. And a small pile of screw-on ND filters. Super light, super efficient.

Works on a Bogen 516 head and lighter sticks....I own an O'Connor HDS, for when this thing morphs into the steroidal RED that I know it can be...but a 516 for a field tripod--just fine by me.

I ordered a Base Production Pack with rails, a handle, cradle, mounts, etc, but several of the parts are currently back-ordered, so I can't do a fully rigged RED, anyway. I have a RED Raid (hard drive) but haven't hooked it up yet (waiting for the rest of the Production Pack, so I have somewhere to put it).

But my thinking with this super-light set-up is that third-party add-ons are being developed at a fast and furious pace, and by the time I get close to finishing my initial testing with this set-up, it will be time for NAB, where I can see and feel all the goodies. It's not so easy to shop for all these things using web stills as the guide, when you're not a cine-trained person, so rather than over-purchase, I went this way instead.

And I'm very glad that I did, having spent a little time with the camera, I can understand how brilliant the design is--the modularity concept is wonderful. It can be totally loaded and phat with every accessory money can buy--or it can be a lean, mean outdoors machine.

Things I have learned in my first week of shooting:

1) Don't be intimidated by the mythos around this camera. It's the same as any other camera. Nail focus and exposure, and you'll be fine. The rest is just learning new ergonomics and a new feature set. Nailing focus is a challenge in 4K, because you're viewing the 4K image at a 720p output on the LCD. So it's tricky, but if you use the focus tools, not that hard. You do need slower set-ups because there's no auto-focus assist. Or you need to get faster at setting focus. Stills shooters who set their own focus will do fine--I actually think, with the electronic assist tools, it's easier than setting manual focus on a still camera. The viewfinder is bigger and you get to use both eyes!

2) The post workflow is clearly a work in progress, but I was really worried about this...if you want 4K delivery, you will pay a pretty penny for that, but really you shoot, import into RED Alert and export in ProRes HQ to edit in FCP. It's another one of those things...it *can* be really complicated. It can be really expensive. Or not. Editing and delivery is just as "modular" as the camera. It just seems like less pieces of the system are in place than on the shooting end. I'm confident that this will change over time.

3) Audio--woo, audio. If there is one glaring weakness that I can see to this system, it's audio. There are no audio pots--meaning no little wheelie that you can turn to control the audio. Audio gain control is all done in the menu. Metering is done in the menu as well. The sub-$10K class of cameras has such good audio options--we are so spoiled.

This is one of those things, where, if you talk to a person from a cine background, they will tell you that you're an idiot for not using a secondary audio system. This is one of those things that cine people at redusers like to pontificate about...

This cine person has probably also not dragged his camera gear over a 12,000 foot pass or up a 13,000 foot peak, as I have. He has probably not documented Bhutanese monastery culture, as I have. There are many, many situations that I can think of, and that I have encountered, where secondary audio recording is a luxury, and I want to be able take this camera into those situations with confidence.

So, to summarize, for those of you coming from a similar sub-$10K camera background or a stills background, is RED a good choice for you?

Yes, if you're willing to 1) carry lots more weight 2) live without auto-focus 3) re-learn a new and unfamiliar audio set-up and 3) meet the challenge of amping up all of your run n gun skill sets.

If the answer is "No" to any one of those, you will most likely experience a level of frustration and should either wait and see what the heck SCARLET is--or go get an EX-1. Choices are a good thing.

On the other hand, if you want a camera that shoots better images than any other camera at its price point--better than any images that you've ever made before, is a work of art and a work of genius, has 120 fps overcranking, and is a completely flexible modular system, then RED will bring you happiness and great joy.

Everything about RED is far easier than I expected. Everything about RED is far more challenging than I expected (in my world, I rather like that, however...). That's the RED paradox that I will attempt to unravel as I go.

*edit* my stills are not uploading because DVinfo hates Safari--I will try this at a later time when I'm using Firefox on a different computer....

Meryem Ersoz

ok, so here's some pictures...

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Jon Fairhurst

Great post, Meryem!

> "Nail focus and exposure, and you'll be fine. The rest is just learning new ergonomics and a new feature set."

That would make a great mantra. Best wishes with your new camera...

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David Knaggs

Meryem, you've just made my favorite post in this whole RED forum! I speak from the bias of an HDV shooter, of course, but this has the nitty-gritty info I've been after! (I had another 3 or 4 questions for the "Ask Jim" thread, but they're answered now!)

That's great to know about the 516. (I've been thinking of getting the 516/515MVB[sticks] kit from B&H, which supports a maximum of 22 lbs.)

Are the panning and tilting still nice and smooth at the upper limit? (I'm presuming that your lean and mean RED set-up would still come in at around 20-22lbs.)

Thanks for the tip-off. One of my favorite features of my JVC ProHD camera are those little audio wheels! (Plus the fully manual lens.) Oh well, I suppose I can always bring my tiny little Sound Devices field mixer (the Mix Pre) out of mothballs if I need to.

Thanks for the great post, Meryem.

Mathieu Ghekiere

Thanks Meryem, I really look forward to your experiences and blog!

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Brian Drysdale

Although weight is an important issue if you're going hiking, a light tripod can be a problem if shooting in wind or with longer lenses.

The 3rd party accessories currently look like the ones to go for. From a design viewpoint, the Sim Video set up looks more elegant than the rather clunky looking RED designs (of course, this is just personal view). Although, this appears to have purely 15mm bars, rather than also having a 19mm bar option.

ET ones also look for a studio rig and from I read, have a good build quality.

Unfortunately, hand-held seems still to be work in progress, with a lot of improvisation currently going on.

Charles Papert

Regarding the "setting focus" concept--unlike still images, focus must be "set" in a full-time motion application, and unlike small format camcorders there is simply no forgiveness factor with a 35mm sensor. Depending on what you are shooting, an operator may or may not be able to hold focus through the course of an entire take. A visual focus assist feature tells you when you are in focus, but not which way you have to turn the lens to get there and by how much, so you are effectively chasing the point of focus, not anticipating it. On a long lens, if the subject leans just a little bit, it can be hard to know when this is happening and by how much and the result is a sense of the focus wandering in and out. It's a look we will begin to see much, much more of in the indie world now that the full wrath of the 35mm sensor has been unleashed!

The solution to all this is to have a skilled focus puller onboard whose sole job is to dial focus using the various tools available to them. It's not necessary for every situation (again, slow moving and predictable situations like landscapes or possibly documentary work will be more forgiving) but if one is shooting a narrative, unless a hazy and lazy buzzed look is desired, it is still the way to go.

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Meryem Ersoz

Just keep in mind, fellas, that this blog is intended as a work-in-progress. I've had this camera one week (while still running my 2-1/2 businesses and raising a young child), so i'm sure my opinions and reflections will shift and change, as my experiences with the camera change.

I don't pretend to have any expertise with this camera yet. Like I said, I experience it as a big paradox. It has a real ease-of-use aspect. At the end of the day, it is all about focusing and exposing.

But, as Charles says, those things will be substantially more challenging on this camera than on any of the video cameras that I have ever used. I think it is a lot more similar to nailing focus with a still camera...but with stills, you keep the good ones and throw the crappy ones away. With video, sometimes you get one opportunity to make the shot, especially when it's doc work.

And I have only used this single set-up, while I wait for back-ordered items to arrive. And I'm pretty sure that this is about as small as it gets--perhaps Nikon lenses and mount could shrink it up a bit, but not by much. I'm sure you will hear me swearing and sweating and wishing I had never tortured myself with this big rig, at some point.

I have a few other lenses (Angenieux 25-250mm and 20-120mm), but I loaned them out to another local RED user for a couple of weeks. The 18-50mm balances the camera pretty nicely, so it seems sensible to learn the camera and do my initial testing using this lens first. I'm sure once I load either one of these lenses up, the ol' Bogen 516 will be out the door....

Speaking of the 516, it is fine with the 18-50mm lens, even in wind, because the lens with the body is a pretty tight package...but a bigger lens will absolutely need a bigger tripod.

Shooting outdoors is a constant negotiation and compromise between weight carried versus distance traveled. And that will undoubtedly inflect my shooting experiences. It always does....

Brian Drysdale

Personally, I wouldn't use those large 35mm zooms on anything less that a 150mm bowl tripod. You'll have quite a sizeable rig by the time you've got the support bars and matte box mounted onto the camera.

Meryem Ersoz

as I mentioned previously, I have an O'Connor 1030HDS for larger set-ups...and I can't build bigger set-ups, anyway, until several back-ordered mounting accessories arrive.

Just FYI, I have a lot of experience with shooting and stabilizing using long still lenses. I have still lenses in 400mm f5.6, 300-800mm f5.6, 200mm f1.8, and 70-200mm f2.8...which I have also used on an XL2...so this is not new terrain, and I do plan to use the right tool for the right job.

But I think it is also worth examining the conventional wisdom on this camera, which has never included the heresy of mounting a RED camera on a Bogen tripod. I'm just sayin' with the right set-up, it's possible.

Meryem Ersoz

Uploading a few more pictures of the camera itself...

Processed the first footage over the weekend. It wasn't anything glamorous. Our plans to shoot outdoors were foiled by high winds. The wind can get so intense in these parts, lately, that it makes it hard to concentrate and hard to talk.

So we were busted to my business partner's apartment, because our studio is under construction--we're building out a new audio room.

So no footage that I can post just yet...but I will say that it is pretty exciting to pop the CF card into the computer and load these images in REDAlert and REDCine, the two apps that RED has provided for image processing. They seem to work okay in the first round. Our images were a little noisier than I had hoped, but I'm chalking it up to my inexperience, not the camera, for the moment. Monitoring via the RED LCD is definitely a lot less WYSIWYG than I am used to....

The texture is quite lovely, however, all things considered. They make pretty pictures.

One very exciting development is a recently released program called Crimson Workflow. I just bought a copy today. It lets you send your edited FCP sequences back into REDCine (round-trip). Why this is so great is that FCP is currently limited to 2K 8- or 10-bit edits, and you can re-conform these using an XML list through Crimson Workflow back into the original REDCine options, including 4K and 16-bit color...huge implications for indie producers. And the program is only $189. I've played with it a little. Another thing to figure out!

It kind of makes me wonder why RED didn't include this feature in REDCine. It makes the program much more powerful, to be able to maximize all that the camera can do, instead of reducing it to only what FCP can output using ProRes.

I'm sure there are a ton of things cooking with workflow. Once you start working with the camera and the workflow, you realize, that for all it can do, we are still only in the first inning of this game. Maybe the second.

Look at my poor naked top-handle. It needs a top mount! Still waiting on back-ordered parts...

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Per Johan Naesje

Meryem,
just looking at those pics make me very jealous!
Just curious, what do you think about taking this baby up on those peaks I'm visiting regulary? Do you think it will be able to function in those severe weather conditions, what about the cold, it also seem much of the accessories is sticking out in all directions, how can you protect it against rain and snow?

Could have been fun to view something shoot with this camcorder for the upcoming uwol!?

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- Per Johan
View my website - lots of wildlife stuff!

David Knaggs

Definitely. I wonder if that can be made to work with Apple's Color as well? This application could also be handy for commercials where the advertising client also wants to do cinema advertising (requiring a film transfer).

Meryem Ersoz

Hi Per: Well, you like to carry a ton of weight into the wilderness, Mr. 500mm Lens-Jib-and Miller Arrow 55...I'm shocked that you're even asking!

I definitely plan to carry it up a few big peaks myself this spring. I am going to wait for good weather and wildflowers, since we are sort of busy through May.. But I think if you're using an H1 already with big lenses, then this will not be such a stretch. You are already used to assembling and disassembling a large rig and carrying a lot of weight without compromises.

The accessories, as you say are not built into the body, so you will have to put more pieces together before shooting--the LCD, the drive (if you use one--I am rather liking the compact flash option and hope to see longer record times soon.

For your style of shooting, spending hours in a hide, it will work very well, I think, because you spend a lot of time in one place. I will be modifying my style of nature and outdoors shooting when using this camera, which is more run and gun than yours.

As for cold weather performance, I know a fellow who tested his RED doing timelapses at about 11,000 feet and about 10 degrees F (um, -12 C??), and it performed just fine. As I mentioned, mine is about a week old, so as I learn new things, not just on my own, but through other local users, I'll talk about it. Around here, 11,000 feet is not very extreme and 10 degrees is not that cold, but it's a start....

One thing to consider in protecting the camera is that the right side of the camera, where all of the connectors meet the cables, is very exposed to the elements (sand, snow, rain, etc.) and that could be a problem. With the handycam/H1 class of cameras, we are used to having rubber flaps that keep the connectors covered and offer at least minimal protection against electronics meeting snow or sand.

But, as you mention, it definitely presents a problem which will require a bit of consideration--I'm not quite there yet, with it. I'm thinking

I will be shooting UWOL #8 on RED...that's actually a perfect short project for testing and learning.

We'll see how the RED works with a beanbag...(heh, let the lectures fly!)

Meryem Ersoz

Hi David: I don't see a reason that it can't--that's why it's such a marvel, it has the possibility of completing the FCP workflow without waiting on the foot-draggers at Apple to step up (where's my Blu-Ray??).

But it's such a new addition to the workflow that there is not much reporting on it yet, other than ongoing de-bugging. And I bought it yesterday and have only round-tripped 1 sequence of 3 weak-looking clips, so I'm no expert.

But it's darned exciting, to have the tool to unleash the camera's full potential and to be able to offer it to clients. I can feel a whole new world opening up to me and my studio. It already has....

We have 3 projects lined up which are specifically for this camera and have to gain some mastery of it and also of the workflow, by May, when the real shooting begins...