Story vs. Gear

Vincent Laforet has been playing with the RED Epic, and has been posting about the experience. It seems pretty clear that, at least in this case, he thinks this gear does make a decisive change in the way you capture stories both because of the ability to capture high quality stills from a sequence:
...this camera has made me think A LOT. And ask a lot of "big" questions… such as: "Does the challenge of capturing "THE DECISIVE MOMENT" still exist when you can capture a 14 megapixel image at 120 frames per second? " For someone who idolized Henri Cartier Bresson and worked on mastering the capture of that "decisive moment" for most of my career – it is not a question I ask lightly. "Are the days of the "still camera" numbered?"
as well as the HDR capabilities, and looking towards future needs:
So why 5K some of you may ask? Well for one, it’s "future proof" – or we can expect it to be high enough resolution to look good on displays for years to come. It’s also exciting to know that with a camera that is not much larger than a Hasselblad H4D – you can have your footage projected on any silver screen in the world.
Pity I can't afford one. But I guess in another ten years, we'll all have video cameras that do 5K.
Vincent Laforet: What camera did I use to make this still picture?
Vincent Laforet: RED Epic – 5K and HDRx

Comments

AnticipateMedia said…
I do believe in 5-10 years Red tech will filter down into the 5K range (or lower!). But that's closer to 10 years.

We will be laughing at what we think is incredible today, but as long as the distribution target is 1080p (for most media except major motion pictures that can use the higher res for that extra level of "crispness", HD or 2K cameras will do just fine.

That said, f-ck is that Red Epic nice.
Jun 15, 2011, 1:27:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sony GV-D200 review

Image
Sony GV-D200 I've been using a Sony GV-D200 deck to transfer old Video8 and Hi8 tapes. Some of these tapes are over twenty years old, and no longer having a Hi8 camcorder that worked I was concerned that if I didn't do something about transferring them to a more modern format soon, I might never be able to. While Sony no longer make camcorders that use these tapes - that I know of - Sony does still sell the GV-D200 deck (or Video Walkman, as it's sometimes labelled.) They also offer the GV-D800, which is almost identical but adds a small LCD screen for about $120 more. I didn't think I'd need a screen since I was using this to capture to the computer, but you will need an external monitor when you first set it up. Physically, the device is small. At 5 7/8" wide, 5 3/8" deep and 2" high, it's the smallest video deck I've encountered. I used to have a Video8 deck that I thought was small; and it was twice as deep and twice as high. The t...
Read more

Response: Which iPhone to Get?

Image
In response to my iPhone musings, I got the following reader email which actually sums up a lot of my second and third thoughts too: You might have a point about the fancier camera, but otherwise I would buy the smaller model. Its screen is about the same size as that of my Nexus 4, and I don't feel at all like it limits me with a too-small screen. But I do sometimes stretch to get my thumb the reach to the other corner of the screen. It is plenty big for a phone. A phone is a pocket thing. (Well, in my case it lives an ancient REI soft sunglasses case that I have on my belt.) Ubiquitous, handy, convenient, almost always with me. Small is crucial for all of that. Certainly a large screen is cool, but you need a place to put it: don't break a fundamental feature of a pocket phone by getting too big. That is what your small tablet is for. I have my phone with me almost always. I have my Nexus 7 tablet with me nearly as much. The bigger screen is great, yet it fits in some...
Read more

Should you buy the Sony NEX-FS100 Kit Lens?

Image
The Sony NEX-FS100 is available in two configurations: B & H : NEX-FS100U Camcorder only $4,999 B & H : NEX-FS100U (with 18-200mm lens) $5,599 But what does that extra $600 get you? It get's you this: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens for NEX Camera This lens is also available separately for $799.99, so at $200 off you'd think everyone would be jumping on it. But not so fast... In his article about switching from the Canon 5D Mark II to the Sony NEX-FS100 , Paul Antico  at Need Creative says of the kit lens: 7) Its 18-200 F3.6-6.3 kit lens absolutely sucks and should be avoided (thankfully, you can order it without one) [ 1 ] But is it that bad? At B & H 's site, 43 reviews give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. That's not a bad rating, though many of these people are using it for stills, and the most common complaint noted is how large and heavy it is. Of course this feeling of size would be exacerbated when you put it on a tiny camera ...
Read more