The idea behind this test was to underexpose a neutral reference and see at what point the RED’s noise becomes too much of an issue. Using Colorista in Final Cut Pro, I put 18% gray at 50 units on the waveform monitor for each exposure, effectively “printing up” each exposure to see how much “grain” (noise) showed up. Some of this is exaggerated by compression artifacts, but I think you can get a good feel for what’s going on.
I’m not sure how this would look on a film out, but to me there isn’t a ton of difference between noise levels at 320 and 640, although I think I’m more comfortable rating the camera at 320. I start seeing reduced contrast at EI 1280, which I really wouldn’t want to try on a paid job.
Compressed via FCP Compressor, H.264.
Art Adams A native of Northern California, Art Adams spent ten years in LA--first at film school (Loyola Marymount) and then working in the film industry. He started out as a camera assistant on low budget features and worked his way into spots, music videos, features, sitcoms and episodic television shows. He transitioned from assistant to operator to DP by the time he returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993.