Tetested the Red vs. preproduction XDCAM EX
Here are the findings, although I am a director, not a director of photography, so excuse the lack of technical expertise.
We tested the EX with a prototype 35 mm adapter that covers the whole 35 mm still camera frame and works with the XDCAM EX Fujinon lens at wide enough focal length, where F-stop was 2.0, however the adapter was sensitive to what kind of lenses it would work with. Only high quality lenses with large output lens produced consistent brightness over the whole frame. I can't tell you enough info on the adapter, because it is still under development and I am under NDA; this is all I am allowed to tell. The setup also included a new high tech prototype follow focus for 35 mm still lenses; I am under NDA here too.
Red vs. XDCAM EX, converted to film, Red shot in Red code:
Red has better lattitude, much better DOF, same low light performance and the same resolution on film, which was burned digitally.
Red Vs. XDCAM EX, converted to film, XDCAM EX footage fed digitally to a computer-type recorder:
Red has a much better DOF
Red vs. XDCAM HD, converted to film, with the 35 mm adapter and follow focus, XDCAM fed digitally to a recorder, fast Canon, Nikon, and Minolta lenses used with the adapter:
XDCM has narrower DOF, focusing ease was similar, due to precision follow focus with digital readout, low light performance was similar due to high aparture lenses used with tha EX.
Red vs. XDCAM recorded to its flash cards, with the 35 mm adapter and FF:
Easier focusing and narrower DOF on XDCAM, Red has a better latitude.
The XDCAM EX has a better horizontal resolution than F900 recorded to tape, vertical resolution is the same
The Red has small flimsy XLR jacks, but the sound is not functional; will be functional in the future, with software update. Red is hard to work with, you need additional technical people to be on the crew.
Red resolution lies between 2K and 4K, but after filmout the resolution increase over the XDCAM was lost, still it is an interesting camera to consider, mainly due to its latitude and DOF advantage.
The adapter and FF should be out around 2008 NAB at a cost of some $5K for the adapter and $1k for the FF. IMHO the competition will probably lose all their sales.
A Sony rep told us that the CMOS in the EX uses the same noise reduction type as their Alpha A700 still camera, and that it has has 2 F-stops advantage over CCD. The low light performance of the EX is amazing, considering it is only a 1/2" chipset.
