Yet another exciting week over at the RED HQ.

Already next week will see the first RED One cameras getting a sensoral facelift. The new sensor has better dynamic range, higher sensibilty (800 ISO as standard, usable even at 3200 ASA) and the new color science, named FLUT. The swap will also get your camera a new sensor board and a new (optical) low pass filter. A bit over USD 5.750 for the conversion ($1.250 will be refunded when you buy an Epic). Throw in an extra 3k, and you will get a RED Rocket for a bargain price.

Anamorphic, baby

Today RED announced that they will produce anamorphic lenses. Last year they rocked the glass world with their set of primes, where a set of lenses costs as much as you would previously have to pay for a single focal length. Now you have until the end of this year to save towards the 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 100mm lenses; all at T2.4. A 25mm is probably also in the pipeline.

We finally took the plunge and paid for our RED One camera, 40% more than it would have been a few months ago, 20% more than a few weeks ago. But these are turbulent times, and even at 140% the camera is still a steal.

I had to slim down our package, and for now we will get the camera with a Nikon mount, modified by Doug Underdahl to accept G/DX lenses, the base production pack and the CF module. I´ll pick up some Lexar 8gb UDMA flash cards locally. For power we will use our IDX and Globalmediapro batteries. Tripod will be a Sachtler Video 18 III head.

So, fingers crossed, next week will be very RED immersed for me, lots of trying and testing and pushing buttons.

More “beyond HD” cameras

On other RED news, November 13th the California based company will reveal details of their next two camera offerings, the pro-high-end Epic and the run-and-gun Scarlet. RED has already said that this will be their biggest announcement ever. So, sit tight and don´t buy that HDV camcorder yet.

Reduser down?

Not down, but moving to a new server. Today this popular site is only accessible via http://205.234.135.241/forum

Red has just released their newest firmware for the camera, featuring not only many new features (such a loop recording for 10/30 seconds – this is great if you are waiting for something to happen. You just leave the camera in loop, and then when you push record, you get the last 10 or 30 seconds as well) but a greatly improved noise floor. Here´s a quick test done by Alesniak that shows the difference in the blue channels, comparing the current with the previous build.

Here´s a full list of all the major improvements:

* New .R3D file format – requires the use of new versions of QuickTime Component, RED ALERT and REDCINE (not currently available)
* Digital Signal Processing optimization.
* Image Compression Optimization.
* Support for 4K 16:9 recordings in REDALERT and QuickTime based applications.
* Fixed high detail scene codec errors in 4K 16:9 recordings.
* Fixed polarity of audio recording relative to MIC and / or LINE inputs.
* Improved audio sample to video frame synchronization (lip sync accuracy).
* Reduced RED-LCD display tearing on last few lines in 4K record / playback.
* Addition of REDspace and RAW viewing modes.
* Updated file name structure to eliminate duplicate file names.
* Addition of Pre-Record (10 sec or 30 sec loop) mode.
* In-camera 1080p playback of REDCODE RAW .R3D files.
* Improved display precision and color response of RED-EVF and RED-LCD.
* Seperation of Sensitivity (ASA) and Exposure (Compensation) parameters.
* Extended exposure times of up to 1/2 sec enabled in TIMELAPSE menu.
* Added RED-EVF control over Audio, Shutter, ISO and Varispeed parameters.
* User programmable Tonal Response Curves menu.
* Look Around available on HD PREVIEW outputs when LCD and EVF are active.
* Improved video Genlock (Tri-Level Sync) lock for 23.98, 24.00, 25.00, 29.97.
* Added 1.85 and 2.40 Safe Action and Safe Title Protection Guides.
* Improved indiction of image magnify mode with new “X” cursor
* User programmability of A, B, C keys and USER 1, 2, 3, 4 keys
* Allow return to last menu position before exiting menus, when SHIFT-SYSTEM is pressed
* Disabled auto-reset of reel counter on change of project time base.
* Decreased boot time. Roughly 68 seconds.
* Also need new FCP Log & Transfer plugin (will be available soon)
* Red Alert will not loose audio tracks when re-generating QuickTime reference files
* QuickTime codec now supports full resolution reference files and full render quality output

Most other camera makers would make you buy a new cameras for all those new features. At Red it is not only downloadable, but the download is for free.