RED ONE MYSTERIUM X

My new RED ONE MX, posing like a hero.

At last! That satisfying feeling of reaching a tangible goal.  Since 2007, when I first started to see my fellow classmates owning RED cinema cameras, I've wondered when or if I would ever own a camera like that. Hindered by my more lo-fi technology, I couldn't help but feel slightly limited in my creative abilities, then I looked at my bank account and just... pouted.  I spent five years working my butt off, upgrading my cameras one by one.

Then in November last year, RED made my dream a reality. It was simply an offer I couldn't refuse-- a refurbished "Battle Tested" RED ONE MYSTERIUM X camera body for $4000? Heck yeah! I quickly put together what I  could with 3rd party accessories, and $11,000 later, I finally have it, ready for production: The RED ONE MX.

Incase you haven't been following the pricing of cinema cameras lately:  Two years ago, this camera costed $25,000 for the body alone (no accessories at all).  Granted, there are newer models available from RED such as the EPIC and SCARLET, yet the ONE MX still offers 4.5K with an excellent latitude and extremely flexible post workflow.

Surely most folks who are wasting their time reading my blog are well aware of what the RED ONE MX has to offer. Take a look at a fun montage of some quick tests I did:

Now let's talk shop. What exactly do I have? My first decision was to go with the SSD module, of which, I have four 64GB each.  For a  rig, I put together a bunch of parts from various companies, shapes and sizes... this was a headache, I won't lie.  The biggest struggle was trying to fit everything together with the tiny Nikon Primes that I own.  Nevertheless, there is always a way.

Did I say Nikon Primes? Yes Nikon Primes! I've switched from Canon to Nikon because of this investment in RED.  Unfortunately there is no Canon lens mount currently on the market for the RED ONE (this is only an option with the Scarlet and Epic cameras).  Because of this switch, I've also traded my Canon 7D for a Nikon D800.  I know I'm a traitor, but I'm enjoying Nikon way more than Canon in all honesty!  I'll be posting about my new Nikon camera very soon.

As of now, I use my PIX240i as both a monitor and external recorder (if desired). This is a major benefit to clients who do not quite want the robust file sizes of R3D raw format, but still would like to use the RED as a high end cinema camera.  This of course, presents a few problems with viewing the viewfinder displays, so I'm working on a resolution... there's always something!

Some of you may be questioning, doesn't the RED ONE output 720p to monitors? The answer is a sad yes, however the Pix240 does an AMAZING job at upscaling that signal to true 1080p at a very acceptable quality.  Take a look at this comparison between RAW footage and that which was recorded on the Pix, and notice how the pix strangely records a wider field of view:

Still from RED ONE MX

Still from Pix240i

Another thing: I feel like many productions shy away from RED cameras, because their perception is that the amount of setup is too overwhelming.  In my experience so far, this camera requires no more setup than a DSLR on a camera rig.  It's essentially the same-- Camera goes on rails, rails connect the accessories.  Give me 15 minutes and I'll be up and running, no problem!  Once you're comfortable with the menus, it's actually a very simple camera to operate.

My dad captures my exciting
first moments with my new toy.

Getting past the setup, the camera does constantly suck up a lot of power and memory.  I've been using v-mount batteries, which seem to provide about 30 minutes of run time each... that's not much, especially when shooting on location somewhere!  The memory is not too much of an issue but does require frequent backups, and this is where an assistant comes in handy.  Working around these two issues will be somewhat of an adjustment for me, but are well worth what the camera offers.

In post-production, it is true that RED format really requires some heavy-duty processing power, but as you've seen, my Pix recorder this can alleviate this if there are no options for a larger post production setup.  You're still getting a very sharp, low-noise image, and you can set a custom look in camera to give you the type of gamma curve you desire.  When you think about it, if it's better than a DSLR, it's a win as far as I'm concerned!

My hope is that this camera will be able to provide for productions that are large and small.  I built my rig with the ultimate flexibility in mind, and I hope it works as such.

So here I am, with 4K R3D format at my fingertips.  It has opened doors to many new and exciting creative possibilities and I can't wait to get started!