Indie4K has posted an article that is a response to a very detailed paper written by Rian Johnson titled Red Facts: straight talk on the technical realities of the Red camera. It’s a 23 page monster that goes into way more technical detail than many may want to know. It baits in the reader with this headline:
There is a lot of hype right now about Red camera outperforming high-end HD cameras and even 35mm film cameras. We’re going to tell you why we think it’s just that — hype.
I say baits because with a headline like that he is just inviting controversy. But bait might be too strong of a word as he has put an awful lot of time and energy in writing such a detailed document. I’m certainly not smart enough to know if all of his technical details are correct. His paper has ignited somewhat of a firestorm over at Reduser and his analysis is disected and debated (somewhat one-sided of course since it is the Reduser forums) by a lot of RED camera owners and RED users. As you read over Rian’s paper and the subsequent posts about it there is a lot of technical talk about resolution, perceptual sharpness, the origins of DPX files and photosites per pixel. It’s very tech heavy and not for the faint of tech heart. It’s funny to me that this debate even rages but not at all surprising. People often stand by their technological choice to the very end and defend it like they were defending their family honor. We see just as heated debates about one of my favorite debate topics, Avid vs. Final Cut Pro. I’ve read a lot of the pros and cons of the RED camera and talked to a number of people with varying opinions. While RED has created a great device they probably have over-hyped it as well. After all, it’s just a camera. The RED camera vs. all other cameras is really just like the Avid vs. Final Cut Pro debate … neither is really better than the other. It all depends on what you get out of it. If one particular camera or piece of edit software can perform up to your exacting standards, produce stunning images and cut them together with an elegance and ease then that is the best piece of gear, hands down.
Who is Rian Johnson? He’s the director of 2005′s Brick (which I looooove, though many hate) and the upcoming The Brothers Bloom. I just hope Rian continues to make unique and entertaining movies, either on RED, film or whatever format he chooses.