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The Mysterium Sensor Loses Some Mystery

Mike is gung-ho now about the RED camera, after seeing an early test of the sensor. If you're just tuning in to the whole RED thing, this is why people are so excited:

Comparing to what is known or expected to be on the market by the time Red is expected to ship in volume, Red wins in terms of:

-maximum frame rate capabilities - from low to high in fine increments (except for the high end specialty cameras that are impractical to do all your shooting with)

-resolution flexibilty (720p, 1080p, 1080i, 2Kx1080, 4K, 4.5K)

-shooting/recording mode options (from relatively low cost on board recording for 720p to 2K, and uncompressed RAW recording for up to 4.5K)

-price - the most competitive camera shipping at Red's stated price that I can think of is the Sony F330 XDCAM HD...and that's not even a fair fight between those two (granted, Sony's 2/3" 4:2:2 model due next year will be closer to Red's stated capabilities, but likely pricier)

-accessibility - note that the Dalsa Origin, Panavision Genesis, and ARRI D-20 are ONLY available as rentals, not for sale at any price. Some of these rent for about $3K/day on a 3 day week - at that rate, it takes two weeks to pay for your Red body.

Put all those together, I don't think anybody is going to be able to touch this overall combo, ESPECIALLY for the price.

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.