RED Day was great. I’d have to say that viewing the 4K footage projected from the new Sony 4K projector was sharper than anything I’ve seen in the movies.  But, I’ve always silently complained that the movies in theaters were too soft anyway.  So I’m glad we’re moving in this direction.

I got to play around with the prototypes of the new Scarlet and Epic.  They feel very solid like an old arri film camera.  And with the mini primes it has a very Bolex feel to it.   Interestingly, the technology I thought was just too novel and silly, after viewing it in person, may have some huge potential. I’m talking about 3D television.  This is not your grandfather’s 3D for sure.  It begs for a larger screen, however.  I wanted the frames of the tv screen beyond my peripheral vision.  This should be a very interesting area in the next few years of development.

Okay, back to the cameras…

On the bottom end, the scarlet all-in-one 2/3″ didn’t have XLR inputs, only a minijack.  It’s not the end of the world, but if you want XLR you’ll have to buy their I/O box or the audio I/O box which takes you over the $5,000 mark.  Or deal with 3rd party stuff.  For my personal use, I might consider the interchangeable 2/3″ and use my Nikon lenses, which should produce very nice results (though everything will have that zoom effect).  I think the quality of their sensor is where they’ll separate themselves from the other guys.  Honestly, I still want full frame, interchangeable lenses, no line skipping (Canon), and be able to use it directly or almost directly out of the box.  Personally, anything short of this is still a compromise and a reason not to totally abandon film.  The company that can produce a camera without a single “fatal flaw” will have my money and everyone else’s.  I love Canon and I love what the RED guys are doing but it will be another few years before we get there at a price less than that of a small car.  Neither RED nor Canon (or anyone else for that matter) does this yet, unless you spend $five digits minimum.

I honestly think that RED made a mistake (or at least got distracted) with the SLR stills function when they found out Canon was releasing HD video on their SLRs.  Canon added the function as a “cool feature” but didn’t realize how hungry people were for full frame VIDEO.  Instead of having an SLR stills function, RED should have just added a feature that easily extracts stunning stills from the motion picture capture.  That way you aren’t distracted to shoot stills while shooting video.   Going in reverse seems to make some sense though especially if you were a news photographer who needs the portability aspects.

The biggest argument that comes out of RED in criticizing the Canon DSLR cameras is the line skipping and H.264 compression scheme.  Nevertheless, Canon cameras (5D Mark II and the 7D) are immensely popular due to their large sensors and the gorgeous images that come from them.  RED is barking a lot right now but at the wrong Milk Man.  When showcasing and comparing footage with Canon, they are using their $17,000 cameras (About $40K-$50K to be able to shoot properly) with their latest Mysterium-X sensor which hasn’t been released yet against a $2700 5DII body, or a $1500 7D body with sensors that were developed a few years ago.  RED also compared it to the Sony F-35.   I’d prefer to see the Scarlets and Epics compared with the Arriflex D-21 or something from Panavision like the Phantom 35, cameras in your league.  Or at least compare the images from a 2/3″ chip to the full frame on the Canon.

Despite having the “New kid on the block” syndrome, I like the spirit of RED and what they are doing to shake up the industry.  I have no doubt they’ll be around for a while and provide some great tools for filmmakers.