FEATURE REDRAVEN
RED has always championed convergence in image-making, and is keen to promote that its cameras can produce still grabs that are good enough for magazine covers. That may be true of larger sensors in the more expensive cameras, but the Raven isn’t really up to it. And with the base ISO of 800, it’s not the king of low light by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a camera that is simple to use, and lacks the bells-and- whistles of the Japanese rivals that seem to have buttons and dials for everything. It’s this simplicity that makes the RED so attractive as a cinema camera for more considered work rather than shoulder-mounted documentary- style everyday jobs. You really do have to take complete control, and you feel like every shoot is a creative and planned film rather than just filming everyone and everything. It makes you slow down a bit and consider what you’re doing, and somehow just feels special to use. Once you open the files that are just stunning, and have complete control over them, you’ll be sold. There’s nothing else like it. If you can afford it, and it suits your work, there’s no reason not to buy one. shoot footage that is just incredible, thanks to Raw. And the Apple ProRes footage isn’t far behind either, and faster to edit as well as easier on storage requirements. Not all frame rates and settings; the menu greys themout if you try to set that option. But these are at the extremes rather than the more normal frame rate settings. The camera lets you choose specific frame rates and shutter speeds for total control, and there is even an HDR option called HDRx. This shoots two separate exposures per frame, at two different exposures. These can be combined in post for footage, which offers you an amazing amount of control of highlight or shadow detail. It’s just another one of the unique features that sets RED apart. simultaneous Raw and ProRes recordings are available at all
THE VERDICT If you are the sort of person who is attracted to the coolest brands, then chances are as a filmmaker youmight harbour a serious yearning to own a RED. The build quality, image, backstory and technical specs mean there is very little not to like, unless you are a diehard ENG or run-and-gun user. And after using the RED Raven, it’s easy to see that the camera does live up to its hype. It is solidly built, with a no- compromisemodular design that’s sleek andmakes other fully rigged- up cinema cameras look like Heath Robinson lash-ups by comparison. There’s a beauty in simplicity, and the RED just bolts together solidly as one cohesive unit. Yes, the lack of built-in ND filters is an issue, as is the lack of XLR inputs unless you spendmore cash. But the camera records huge Raw files in incredible quality with huge dynamic range at a massive range of file sizes and frame rates that is simplicity itself. Touch the screen to set what you want and shoot away. Simplicity that lets you focus on the job in hand. It’s not perfect. The screen doesn’t articulate, it only comes in a Canonmount and the sensor is slightly smaller than Super35 so lens choice can be an issue. And it’s expensive in terms of actual cost, as well as hidden cost for things like memory. The Raven basically uses a 4.5K cut of the Dragon sensor that was used in the firm’s muchmore expensive cameras. The sensor is 23.04mmx10.8mm in size, slightly smaller than Super35 which means your lenses need careful consideration to get the right focal length. RED says the sensor has a dynamic range of 16.5 stops, which is just incredible. And in use, it is the resolution, smoothness of transition in colours and amazing highlight and shadow detail thanks to this huge dynamic range that just blows you away. Keeping detail on the brightest and darkest parts of a scene is a revelation. And once you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to go back. You can dial in 4.5K and 120fps without any faffing around with buffering limits, set the compression very low for the ultimate quality, and
“The real beauty of the Raven is not its brand name cachet but the footage” You can dive intomenus for more obscure settings, and everything is logical. The only area where the Raven falls down is in autofocus, so long a touchy subject for filmmakers. There’s certainly no Canon-style dual-pixel autofocus or fancy Sony- style face tracking. The Raven comes with a Canon EFmount, and on the majority of modern Canon lenses there is autofocus on the RED, but it’s slow and imprecise. You can use the touchscreen to select what you want the lens to focus on; but it’s hit and miss, of little use to a professional. The RED is far better as a manual focus camera, using the focus peaking options as well as all the other useful tools like RGB histogram to help get the exposure nailed. The real beauty of the Raven is not its brand name cachet or desirability due to its cost or simplicity of use, but the footage it produces: stunning films of the very highest quality, thanks to its unique capability of simultaneously recording Apple ProRes and Redcode Raw files in 4.5K at up to 120fps and in 2K at up to 240fps. That’s super slow-motion, at 240fps, in Raw, using one of the best sensors on the market.
ABOVE Lots of pro-level connections
mean the RED is versatile for many different uses.
More information
www.red.com
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PRO MOVIEMAKER SPRING 2018
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