5D3 No Longer in Production

[Ruined]

Hi Pablo,
I just noticed your posts and since you are on expert on pro video needs, can you (quickly) please explain why:

1. Why is the ~$50,000 C-Motion Lens Control System kit marketed with one of its primary features being enabling wireless autofocus of video lenses? Do you consider a $50,000 professional lens control product "low end"? Why did this list of Hollywood motion pictures use this system, were the crews not "pro enough" for you? - https://www.cmotion.eu/cms/page/cp/6/testimonials

2. Why RED's newer $20,000+ cameras include autofocus?

3. When a camera is situated in an area that will likely have dangerous debris/shrapnel entering the area where the camera is located due to getting a unique perspective on a special effects explosion or the like, would you put a cameraman in harms way just so you can feel "more pro"?

1) Wireless autofocus? because you want to not control focus without wires getting in the way?

is it perhaps more accurately described as manual focus operated remotely? if you have a moving subject ir moving camera, or anything between your subject and the camera af is going to goof up.

2) When red ship cameras on time that work reliably consistently I'll pay more attention to what they do. for now they are not on my radar. sorry.

3) no. i would use a video downlink and remote controlled manual kens operations. In an eos context this can be as simple as laptop tethering and using eos utility. or use a wide angle and zone focusing. or a gopro with a fixed focus lens.

1) The C-Motion can enable both wireless autofocus controls and it can also enable wireless manual focus controls. Such as when you want to operate a camera from 50ft away, the C-Motion system can make either of these control modes happen. There are more parameters to control in an advanced video autofocus system than just "autofocus on," and further this system with a full kit is designed to allow manual lenses to work as an autofocus lens:
https://www.cmotion.eu/shop/detail/cat/19/product/14/cfinder%20II
https://www.cmotion.eu/shop/detail/cat/20/product/12/SET%20cdisplay%20II%20+%20cdisplay%20II.ext
https://www.cmotion.eu/shop/detail/cat/6/product/2882/C1-Set%20%20Advanced%20with%20camin%203M%20and%20cworld

Note how enabling autofocus is mentioned throughout the product materials for this $50,000+ lens control system. Why would the company market this feature to professionals if it was not applicable to them?

2) Red is one of the largest players in digital video cameras right now, so your response is not applicable to the general pro market or the argument at hand.

3) This is another option, but the wireless video link and control scenario will introduce much more lag than simply enabling autofocus on the camera. Thus, you may actually get lower quality results using your much more complex setup due to lag than you would have simply using video autofocus. Therefore, if the camera's autofocus system is robust enough for the scene, it may be the superior tool for the job due to reduced lag and hence potentially higher quality results.

 

[jeffa4444]

Pablo

Suggest by the way you take a look at the films that have shot with Red cameras including films by the biggest DOPs in the industry the images from the Epic (5K) and Dragon (6K) are both right up there such as seen on Prometheus. The Dragon is currently on some pretty big films that will release in 2015 if the big studios thought they represented any kind of risk they certainly would not be using them. Sure the Arri Alexa is the current king of the professional cinematography industry (its 2K) and the two could not be more different.
The Canon C500 or C300 is not the camera of choice for Hollywood most are used for TV with maybe action shots or where the camera is at risk shots being done by Canon C500/C300s and Black Magic cameras. The main reason for this is ergonomics and ease of use the Japanese seems to swamp their cameras with too many switches & knobs when in reality many changes can be performed in post.