July 2009
Dear friends and fellow RED aficionados.
Kevin and I just finished a big shoot with ...
The new BUILD TWENTY of the RED camera.
This was still a Beta so as usual we viewed the shoot as a great and exciting adventure!
But first as a prescript ...
In Northern Florida this time of year the temperature (as well as the humidity) are quite high. These atmospheric conditions considered, communications through the "production grapevine" travel at a velocity approaching the speed of light. A burst of interest was generated when North Floridas' production community learned that Kirby Hamilton ( award winning D.P. and jovial gentleman) had put together a build 20 RED package. Kirby does not rent out his "baby" but after a bit of cajoling allowed Kevin and I to "test fly" his package. We used his 25 -250 zoom, his set of high-speed primes, but never had time (nor technical need) to use most of his VAST assortment of filters or to mount his 300mm Canon.
Not using the 300mm still stings my soul,
..... I love that lens ... perhaps next time my dear ...
.... Meanwhile back to the shoot ......
We got great some great sunrise and (to my exhausted joy) sunset shots. With the wonderful cooperation of The Clearwater Police Department, The City of Largo and the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce we found the area to be a great place to shoot.
It seems as though our "old pal" Tom Brady knows all of the best places to get footage.
As each day passed we found ourselves shooting interiors as well. We therefore had the opportunity to shoot at ISO ratings from 180 thru 500 on the build 20 RED. We noticed no image degradation in the higher speeds nor noise in dark areas, no "tearing", no problems.
We shot a bit of old fashioned "single system" audio with a mike and mixer going directly into the RED without a separate DAT deck. We got all of the sound that we needed and it was of a highly acceptable quality!
But there were a few minor audio hiccups ... more on that in the next article because ...
we're prepping for our next RED shoot right now...
Simon (love that camera) Manses
All photos on this page by robyn cable