Epic-mMonochrome

Latest

  • Red introduces $42K Epic-M Monochrome cinema cam, on sale October 1st

    by 
    Steve Dent
    Steve Dent
    09.08.2012

    Red Camera promised to stop hyping products that weren't ready to ship, and true to its word, just announced the Epic-M Monochrome, surprising even its rabid user base. Packing an all-new black and white-only Mysterium-X sensor, the new cinema cam follows in the footsteps of the Leica M Monochrom still shooter, right down to a similar moniker. Red claims the dedicated CMOS sensor means no color debayering, yielding a one-to-one pixel count and 15-20 percent bump in effective resolution compared to its chromatic cousin. It also touted a sensitivity gain as another advantage, asserting that the Monochrome will have a native ISO of 2,000 (while using the retro-sounding "ASA" term), more than double that of the Epic-M or X. The camera will have a new low pass filter to account for the higher resolution, and buyers who plop down $42,000 to get one on October 1st will be upgraded, gratis, to a new Dragon Monochrome Sensor next year. Like the Leica, if you have to ask why you'd pay such a sum for a camera that doesn't speak color, it may not be for you -- but it is for David Fincher, says Red, who's already shooting his next feature on one.