redepic
Latest
RED EPIC-X starts shipping to lucky shooters with deep pockets
It's been almost two years since we first got a peek at the specs on RED's EPIC-X, and the 5K-shooting, roughly $30,000 rig is just now shipping out to customers. That's not terribly shocking considering the company's notoriously long development cycles and, if you ordered one, you should be too excited about getting a new toy to worry about how long it took to build. Lets just hope the first batch of folks to start capturing gorgeous footage with this thing have a little more luck than Mark Pederson -- RED can't be handing out $100,000 bounties every time it releases a new product.
RED EPIC scores a Canon EOS mount, Laforet gets some extraordinary footage (video)
We've seen some mind-blowing footage from RED's EPIC, as one might expect from a $39,500 camera with a 5K sensor and up to 120 fps video capture (at 4K). But video shooter and all-around photo wiz Vincent Laforet got to take an exclusive early look at the company's new Canon EOS mount, which pairs the EPIC-M with Canon's enormous collection of top-quality glass, including the 600mm f/4 L lens Laforet used for his shoot at Mono Lake in California. That lens, used with a 2x Canon teleconverter and the RED's multiplication factor, yields a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 3400mm, which as you'll see in the video below, enabled some pretty incredible video captures. RED has yet to officially announce availability for the Canon EOS mount, but has shared that it will cost $2,000 (pennies compared to the EPIC's $58,000 kit price), and will be constructed of titanium -- tasked with the critical responsibility of reducing movement during those extended-lens shoots. Jump past the break for Laforet's sample video, or check out his blog post at the source link for the full rundown.%Gallery-130053%
James Cameron picks up 50 RED EPIC-Ms, high-fives Peter Jackson
Looks like another director's been on a shopping spree lately, as RED's Jim Jannard's just announced that he sold another 50 EPIC-Ms to one generous customer. Who's this, you ask? Why, it's James Cameron of Avatar and Titanic fame, and he's probably just blown $2.9 million on his latest stash of cinematographic toys -- it's $58,000 a pop for these hand-machined professional cameras. Details are scarce at the moment, but any educated guess would point at the upcoming Avatar 2 due end of 2014, meaning our favorite blue aliens will be returning in a healthy 5K resolution. Keep an eye out for Jannard's official announcement later this week for the full lowdown. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
RED EPIC-M stars in gorgeous vid, RED ONE jealously shoots the footage (video)
By now you're probably familiar with the $58,000 RED EPIC-M and what it can do, but it's hard to properly admire its hand-machined beauty from a distance. We can't ship you a unit, of course, but we've got the next best thing: close-up footage of the compact 5K beast shot with another RED camera -- the original 4K RED ONE M-X. Lousiana post-production company Digital FX lovingly fondled EPIC-M #98 on camera, not to mention goodies like the Bomb EVF and 5-inch touchscreen LCD, and you can watch, drool and share your oh-so-envious thoughts with us right after the break.
RED EPIC shoots birds at 96fps, no dog needed to retrieve them (video)
Forgive us if we take a moment every now and again to relish in some resolution overload courtesy of a RED EPIC, but we just can't help ourselves. The video below (and picture above) come courtesy of Tom Lowe, who filmed a sequence of birds frolicking in the water at Salton Sea, California, captured at 5K resolution and at 96fps. This gives everything a rather majestic air to it -- though the soundtrack certainly doesn't hurt. Click "play" and enjoy, and then wish that your connection were fast enough to handle an uncompressed 5K video stream. [Thanks, Tom]
Another RED EPIC spotted in the wild, shooting in California and Utah (video)
Ready for a little sexy video of a camera that is, itself, also filming video? Check out the clip below of a RED EPIC capturing some luscious scenery in California and Utah, outfitted with a carbon fiber lens hood -- what else? The camera is being worked by Ketch Rossi Steve Gibby, who indicates the camera is "amazingly light," that "the finish of the stuff is spot-on," and even the menus are "straightforward and easy to navigate." Encouraging? Yes, if you have the money to spend. If you don't, enjoy the video below and then click on the Vimeo source link for a bunch more, including one of the thing coming out of the box and getting assembled. [Thanks, Ben]
The world's first shipped RED EPIC gets stolen in home break-in (update: $100k reward now offered!)
Remember just earlier this month when OffHollywood studio head Mark Pederson became the first man to own a RED EPIC? Well, now his $58,000 über camera is gone. According to REDUSER forums, the EPIC was heisted last night along with some cash from Pederson's chalet in France while he and his family were sleeping. Pederson shares on the forum that "there was a forced entry through the front door. The thieves actually entered the master bedroom while my in-laws were sleeping, and standing a foot from their bed - emptied wallet and purse. There were 6 children and 8 adults sleeping in the house." That's a scary caper worthy of a Hollywood script for sure, but thankfully no one was hurt. Here's hoping the movie-like storyline continues now with law enforcement gumshoes actually cracking the case. In the meantime, maybe Peter Jackson can lend Pederson one of his 30 RED EPICs until his own baby returns. Update: We just got word that RED honcho Jim Jannard is offering $100,000 to anyone who can provide information leading to the recovery of the device and a conviction of the thieves. In his words (from the RED forums): "We are now offering $100,000 for the safe return of EPIC #00006 and the rest of the system including the media with Mark's files... and the arrest and conviction of those that broke into Mark's chalet in France. We will ONLY pay this amount if there is an arrest and conviction of the parties as we are not interested to be ransomed by thieves." Now that is seriously putting your money where your mouth is! [Thanks, Derek and Cory]
First hand-machined RED EPIC ships, gets lovingly toyed with (update)
This RED EPIC belongs to Mark Pederson -- the head of studio OffHollywood -- who was apparently the very first one to drop $58,000 for the pre-production 5K camera, not to mention the first to lay down money for the original one. In case you've arranged to find yourself with a similarly jawdropping Christmas present in the mail, you can find pictures of what to expect at our source links below. The links will also do quite nicely if you haven't experienced that feeling called "jealousy" in a while and would like a refresher course. Update: OffHollywood is shooting up a storm with the EPIC-M right now, and you'll find more gorgeous pics and impressions at REDUSER and their Twitter account. [Thanks, Charlie and Patrick]
Spider-Man reboot is being shot in RED EPIC 3D, has John Schwartzman all kinds of excited
You know that untitled Spider-man project that's set to revitalize the franchise at some point in 2012? Yeah, that's being shot in 3D (not news) using 3ality rigs and RED EPIC cameras (superhotawesome news). Peter Jackson already scooped up 30 EPICs to help him shoot his next big venture, The Hobbit, in 3D, but he's been beaten to the digital cinematography punch by the producers of the next Spidey flick, who have cornered a quartet of the cameras and actually started shooting with them on set yesterday. John Schwartzman, the dude responsible for filming the whole thing, has been extolling the virtues of using such fancy gear over on the RED forums, which is also where he promises his crew will be making further comments detailing the user experience. In slightly less thrilling RED news, the Scarlet S35 is being renamed to the EPIC Lite and will suffer the upheaval of having its features and price changed -- hit the links below for more. [Thanks, Anthony]
Peter Jackson nabs thirty RED EPIC cameras to film The Hobbit, tempt you to blow your savings
We're still slightly bummed that Peter Jackson never made Halo, but this should patch things up a tad -- the Lord of the Rings director will film The Hobbit in 3D entirely on thirty hand-machined RED EPIC cameras, starting early next year. That's the news straight from RED founder Jim Jannard, but that's not all, as a limited number of pre-production EPIC packages will be available to early adopters as well. $58,000 buys your deep-pocketed budding director a machined EPIC-M body, titanium PL mount, Bomb EVF and 5-inch touchscreen LCD, a REDmote, a four-pack of batteries, a charger and a solid state storage module with a four-pack of 128GB SSDs. Jannard expects to hand-assemble that first batch of 5K imagers in December or January, start the real assembly lines a month after that, and hopefully have widespread availability by NAB in April, though he's not making any promises there. That's how RED rolls. PR after the break. [Thanks, Patrick]
RED shows off some EPIC HDRx test footage
That's EPIC, mind you, not necessarily epic. Sure, Red's experiment in HDR video looks like it'll be a help to filmmakers that want the power / flexibility of RAW in post and some tools to war against motion blur, but so far they aren't showing any of that ultra-surreal HDR stuff we known so well from Flickr. What's that you say? You don't want all your videos to look like they're populated by radioactive creatures on a planet with a dying sun? You disappoint us, person. Go to your room. EPIC can shoot up to 18 stops of dynamic range in motion, with an "HDR" mode for in camera processing and an "HDRx" mode (seen here) for manipulation in post. Hit up the source link for the full res download and in-depth discussion about the tech, or hit below the fold for an embedded copy of the vid. [Thanks, Andrew F.]
RED Scarlet makes surprise cameo filming EPIC's fast focus
The two-second video after the break may not seem like much -- a RED EPIC S35 with a 85mm Canon lens changing its focus from a box at a distance to a hand being moved in front of the lens ("closer than close focus," according to "Fire Chief" Jarred Land). What's more interesting here is what was used to take the video. In the same forum thread that unveiled the footage, employees claimed it was shot using the RED Scarlet 2/3" and provided the above pic as proof: Scarlet is above, EPIC on the bottom, and a standard pocket camera capturing the moment. Not a lot to glean from the video and no definitive update on the production schedule, but hey, take solace in knowing a Canon mount for EPIC is ready and will be therefore presumably be available when the camera does eventually find its way out the door. Video and larger version of above pic after the break.
RED says EPIC camera is back on track, Scarlet to follow before end of 2010
RED may have shown off a working EPIC camera at NAB back in April, but a serious bug has prevented the camera from actually going into production -- to the point which RED founder Jim Jannard himself says that they're not just behind schedule anymore, they are "embarrassingly late." He now says that the company has managed to nail the bug, however, and that the camera is back on track to head into production... sometime. Jannard also assures us that production of the Scarlet camera (also affected by the bug) will then follow, although that depends on "how fast we can get EPIC production rolling and solid" -- he did later add that he expects it to be sometime before the end of the year, though.
Working RED EPIC camera demonstrated at NAB 2010
Well, RED promised that it would be demonstrating a working RED EPIC camera at this year's NAB show, and it's now delivered. In case you're not up to speed on all things RED, the EPIC is a 5k camera, and can be used in a whole range of different configurations from a small handheld setup for video or still photos, to a fully-outfitted camera rig suitable for a feature film. Head on past the break for a pair of videos from the Scarlet User Podcast, and hit up the source link below for plenty more shots of the camera -- not to mention some accessories including the just-announced RED Station. [Thanks, Zac]
RED DSMC specs detailed, prices start at $28,000 for EPIC-X, lower-end Scarlet still vague
Here we are at last. RED has finally dropped the full specs of at least one its "Digital Stills and Motion Cameras." And what did you expect? RED has naturally blown this thing out. The first camera to be released will be the insanely high-end EPIC-X, which will come out in four stages and retails for $28,000 (ouch). A pre-production "TATTOO" version will hit this year, followed by a production model for pre-existing RED owners next year, a release after that for RED trade-ins and then finally a widespread release. Meanwhile the Scarlet 2/3-inch camera (which is much more akin to current video-shooting DSLRs, though it doesn't have a full frame sensor) hasn't been given a price range or a release window, but promises to please with dual XLR inputs, electronic lens interoperability with RED, Canon and Nikon lenses (adapters required) and 1080p shooting at 60 fps. One great function shared between the cameras is the ability to operate the camera with a touchscreen and perform "touch focus tracking." So, now that we've frightened off all but the die-hards with a hint at pricing and some vaguely defined functionality, let's let the bullet points take it away after the break:
RED releases high-res images of accessories, no actual accessories
When RED's Scarlet and EPIC camera bodies finally became official late last year (after seemingly endless teasing) they were pictured with an almost farcical array of accessories. Nearly a year on and neither of the bodies nor any of those add-ons are available, but you can at least now get a higher-res look at all that wallet-tapping accoutrement. Pictured are the REDVOLT battery pack and its hot-swappable cells, the wireless REDMOTE controller, the BOMB EVF, a display screen, and even a rifle-like stock called the RED GUNNER. Some of these we've already seen in the flesh, others haven't been rendered with this much detail before, and sifting through the REDUSER.net forum where they were posted uncovers some other morsels to whet the appetites of photographers who like extreme stylistic touches. The juiciest is a mention that the release dates for EPIC and Scarlet will be announced in October -- which doesn't leave much time for a 2009 debut for the cameras themselves. %Gallery-74104%[Thanks, weaksauce12]
RED teases with yet another mysterious image
The RED folks sure do like to tease out their upcoming products -- and occasionally even lead folks astray -- and it looks like they're really pulling out all the stops for their forthcoming Scarlet and Epic announcements. That includes a slightly perplexing teaser image released a few days ago and now this new, even more confounding image, again posted on the Reduser forums by RED founder Jim Jannard himself. While speculation abounds, no one seems to have quite pegged down exactly what it is, or if it actually is something at all, so feel free to take your own shot at it in comments.
RED shows off 5K EPIC camera
RED is really going all out at NAB this year. In addition to that Scarlet 3K "pocket" camera, the RED ONE is getting seriously one-upped by the new top-of-the-line RED EPIC. This 5K camera has a full-frame S35mm Mysterium X sensor, and pretty much matches 35mm film resolution -- RED ONE topped out at 4K. FPS is limited to 100, which is to be expected with all those pixels to handle, but other features match that of other RED cams. Of course, the promise of the RED ONE "rendering obsolescence obsolete" has been slightly trampled by EPIC, but the good news is that RED will allow ONE customers to trade in their cameras for a full $17,500 credit towards the EPIC when it ships in 2009. Price? About $30,000.
