We are ready to shoot a new low budget independent 3D feature and had a chance to test the amazing new Red camera. The look is extremely filmic. The only problem we had is that when the camera warms up, it goes out of focus somewhat. First we thought that it was a major problem, then we realized how useful it is. It gives you a superb film look. Power the camera up, let it sit for 45 minutes and you don't need any diffusion filtering. It gives you an amazing grainy film look with the right amount of softening, otherwise the image is too sharp, which lowers the filmic quality. Now, I love the film look and find HD CAM SR, which we tested to be too clean, too much video-like. It lacks the sharpness of the Red, but the lack of grain is what makes it unnaturally looking.
We measured about 3K equivalent resolution output on the Red, which is exacly what we need. Theater projection is about 1.5K. Wit a 3D stereoscopic adapter you can get 2x1.5K resolution out of this camera, which is amazing and exactly what we need.
The news is that the camera will be soon replaced by Red with an updated model, free of charge, and instead of the shims it is now using for back focus adjustment, which we did not like, there will be an adjustable back focus, which will not only allow to adjust for the back focus shift when the camera is powered up, but also will allow to set the proper amount of diffusion to the image for people like me, who love the film look.
My only criticism is that the camera runs a little hot and does not have the superb professional feel of top HD cameras, but these facts have nothing to do with the superb image quality it produces. I truly love this camera!