A Zacuto support kit for small cameras; Art Adams tests RED build 15 at Chater Camera
A counterbalance that sticks out a foot behind your back?!!!
This device was clearly designed by someone who doesn’t shoot. One quick pan and you could kill someone!
If you thought the CP16’s mags were dangerous (though an effective way of getting people out of your way in hostile situations) this is a whole new level of insanity.
The rig with a big LED in front of your face—and grips that look like the control arms for a Bell JetPack from the 60’s—who in their right mind would shoot with a rig like that?
A camera should be perfectly balanced by itself—with one’s arm pulling the weight forward, not supporting the rig. A camera should be able to be used—instantly, without rebuilding it—in all sorts of situations—shooting in a car filled with other people, following someone anywhere—and the user of that camera should not appear to be a space alien outfitted with weaponry.
Long ago I wrote a piece about this for Millimeter (what ever happened to that magazine???)—see the URL above.
Jeff “busy making archival film scanners, not cameras” Kreines
Posted by Jeff Kreines on 03/29 at 03:07 PM
Er, that should be LCD!
Jeff “needs more coffee” Kreines
Posted by Jeff Kreines on 03/29 at 03:12 PM
Hi Jeff,
A camera should be perfectly balanced and… actually work.
This sounds like ‘sour grapes’ to me, coming from a guy who’s own 4K camera project has been shelved, in what appears to be one of your first public comments on Red (as far as I can tell, from a Google search; if I’ve missed other, more balanced comments, let me know).
“Who in their right mind shooting with a rig like that”: Soderbergh (and many more; stay tuned).
Jeff, I’m a big fan of yours. Really. But this post does you no credit. There are plenty of ways to configure Red to safely shoot ‘run and gun’ Cassavetes style, e.g., with a belt battery pack and small Nikor lens used as a prime. And who cares what you look like (even a space alien) when you’re shooting? Form follows function, and to hell with fashionistas (you, of all people, must believe that....)
Posts like this make you seem like a grumpy old ‘I coulda been a contender’ uncle to a new generation of indie filmmakers who don’t know your history.
I receive my Red next week. I extend an open invitation to you, Jeff, to come over to my studio and check it out, and actually shoot with it, examine the footage, etc. Although I’m a bit far away in Hong Kong, I’m sure there are other Red users in your region who’d make the same offer. In fact, I’ll even find one for you if you want--send me an email.
Jeff, I and many others are all really (truly) interested in your scanner. Please do let us know more. Folks, here’s the info on it:
http://www.kinetta.com/download/files/K4K_Brochure.pdf
And Jeff, if you’d like any help on souping up your web site and optimizing search results (so people can find your cool product), let me know--as it’s not easy to find this info now.
Respectfully yours,
Dan
Posted by Dan Carew on 04/01 at 06:49 PM
Dan:
Great April’s Fools post! You almost had me! The personal attacks were a great touch and contributed to the effect—bravo!
You RED folks can be a mite touchy. If you actually read my post, you’ll see that nowhere do I mention RED—I was discussing the Zacuto rig for cameras like the EX1-- which, despite the best of intentions, has many faults. In none of the photos do you see the RED on this rig.
I have never said anything negative about the RED camera, and won’t. I think Jim and his team have done an amazing job in a very brief period of time. I’m waiting to see what the Scarlet is like—that’s probably more up my alley, as the “big” RED was designed as a replacement for 35mm cine cameras.
Battery belts have been outlawed by the Geneva Convention since 1972. See my CML post re Pennebaker, Jimi Hendrix, acid, and battery belts (I won’t bore you here). They are horrible devices—ever since Ed diGuilio and JP Beauviala perfected the on-camera battery (CP16 and Aaton, respectively) there has been no need for them. Horrible things. Does anyone even make them anymore (I think Cine60 is out of business)?
Now a point of actual disagreement:
“And who cares what you look like (even a space alien) when you’re shooting?”
If you are making non-fiction films (which is what I do) it is important that your rig (and you when using your rig) don’t draw attention to themselves. You need to be able to actually see in front of you and around you—the LCD in front of your face is crazy and actually dangerous.
Finally, you post a link to an older 4K Kinetta Film Recorder—which is not a scanner. Scanners convert film to digital files—a film recorder does the opposite. You can download The Kinetta Manifesto from the link above if you’d like to read more about what I’m doing. But it’s intended for film archivists, so it’s probably not of much interest to most folks here.
Jeff “Nikkor has 2 k’s” Kreines
Posted by Jeff Kreines on 04/01 at 08:43 PM
Hi Jeff,
Many apologies. You’re right and I’m wrong. The top photo is of the Red, as are the bottom 5--which has nothing to do with the Zacuto rig (this post mixes two different topics, thus I got confused).
And since I thought the Zacuto rig was attached to a Red, and the Red rig is not all that dissimilar to the Zacuto (battery can hang out in back and grips do look like a Bell Jet Pack) I thought--erroneously--you were taking a cheap shot at the Red modular concept.
So many apologies. My bad.
Thanks for your other points of correction and clarification. Red is selling a battery pack to be clipped on to the belt (http://www.red.com/store/product_detail/79). Which I guess is different from a battery belt (in any case, I wouldn’t want to wear anything outlawed by the Geneva Convention; sounds dangerous!)
Thanks for a link to the Kinetta Archival Scanner--looks good! I will pass it on to someone I know here involved with scanning many of HK’s classic films. I think “Scan Everything” is right--before the film falls apart. This applies to books and manuscripts too.
And, for documentaries and cinema verite filming, I do agree that the more inconspicuous the better. Several have commented that it would be unwise to be in a war zone with a Red--many have been mistaken for combatants with things looking far less like a weapon. So I look forward to the Scarlet too.
Peace.
With perhaps *too much* coffee while writing my earlier post,
Dan
Posted by Dan Carew on 04/02 at 02:38 AM
