If you still aren’t completely sold on the recently unveiled Red RAVEN camera, then maybe the following announcement might make you reconsider. After a long night discussion with Jim Jannard, in a post on RED User Jarred Land announced that their latest Raven camera has received an essential sensor upgrade at no extra cost to customers. The new sensor size will be 23.04mm x 10.8mm providing an expanded horizontal sensor area with the frame height remaining the same.
This means that the Red RAVEN is now officially a 4.5K RED Raw camera at 3:1 compression equipped with the top-notch Dragon sensor, providing 4608 × 2160 maximum resolution, 16 stops of dynamic range and the proprietary colour science by Red. Considering the fact that both Red Weapon Dragon and Red Raven share the same sensor, here is a quick test by Phil Holland that reveals what you might expect from both cameras in terms of overall image quality and real-life performance.
RED Weapon Dragon – Camera Test 2015 from Phil Holland on Vimeo.
The camera is still a few months from shipping, but this major upgrade is an essential addition to the plethora of other already known features the camera provides – the REDCODE RAW internal recording in 4.5K at 120 fps (15:1 compression) or in 2K at 240 fps, Apple ProRes 422, 422 LT, or 422 HQ support (up to 2K and 60fps), Canon EF Mount (fixed), 3G-SDI (HD-SDI) and HDMI outputs and more. The Red RAVEN is now an even more serious competitor of the new URSA Mini 4.6K as now both cameras haven’t been as closer in terms of specifications they provide, at least on paper. The extra cost for the additional accessories still remains the most noticeable difference, though.
| Red RAVEN | URSA Mini 4.6K | |
| Price | $6,000 | $5,000 |
| RTS Kit | $10,000 | $6,000 |
| Media Cost | $850 (120GB) | $340(128GB) |
| Max Res | 4.5K | 4.6K |
| Max FPS | 120fps(4.5K) | 60fps(4.6K) |
| Raw Bitrate | 97MB/s | 135MB/s |
| MaxFPS(HD) | 240fps | 160fps |
| Sensor Size | <APS-C | Super 35 |
| Crop Factor | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Dynamic range | 16+stops | 15stops |
| Global Shutter | No | Yes |
| EVF | $4,150 | $1,500 |
| Lens Mount | Canon EF (Fixed) | EF or PL |
| Media | Red Mini Mags | CFast 2.0 |
| XLR Inputs | No | Yes |
| Video Out | SDI | SDI |
| Weight | 3.5lbs | 5lbs |
Red Raven is expected to start shipping in February/March 2016, whereas the new URSA Mini 4.6K should be available sooner, towards the end of the next month. Yet, both Red and Blackmagic Design have been well-known to slip on shipping dates so it’s interesting to see what will happen this time.
Red RAVEN 4.5K (Brain Only) – $6,000
Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K – $4,995
[via: Newsshooter, source: Red User]
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$60,000 for RTS on ursa mini?
6k, not 60k 🙂