Big Red One and other digital cameras


If you follow HD video production, or film production, then you have probably heard of the RED ONE cameras. These are low cost (if you consider under $20,000 low cost), 4K resolution digital video cameras. There's been a lot of excitement about these cameras over the last year or so. I've always been a little skeptical - not that it matters a wit; I'm not spending $17k on a camera in the near future - but it seemed that the sites that were always getting excited about these cameras were always posting 3D rendering's of the camera. I mean, come on, a 3D picture does not mean your boat has come in!

Anyway, it's looking more and more real now that Peter Jackson has shot a short feature using a couple of the Red prototype cameras. Crossing the Line is set in World War I, though it was shot in Masterton New Zealand (which was not a location of the original festivities.)

The camera fan boys seem to think this camera is going to turn the industry on it's head. Sony will soon be driven from the industry (or maybe they'll just cut prices.) In a few months, we may know for sure...


...in the mean time (and probably within my budget) it's rumored that Sony will be coming out with a tiny HD camcorder that will use Memory Sticks as it's recording medium. The announcement could come this week.

It will be interesting to see what this camera is and how it stacks up; Sanyo and Canon both have 'HD' cameras that record to solid state memory. The Canon TX-1 was only recently announced/started shipping, and while it's tiny and cool (in a retro-styled sort of way) it's not been enthusiastically received due to lots of noise in low light, and the large size of the files it creates.

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