The smallest and most affordable RED family member – the RED Raven has recently started shipping and new test footage from the camera is starting to appear. We had two Raven owners get in touch with us already eager to share their footage. For those yet unfamiliar with the Raven, the camera features a 4.5K cut (4,608 × 2,160) of the RED Dragon sensor and is able to record at 3:1 compression in RED’s own Redcode Raw compressed raw codec. The camera has a fixed Canon EF mount and can record at a maximum of 120fps in 4.5K resolution as well as 240fps in 2K. Built-in Wi-Fi and simultaneous ProRes recording up to 2K/60p combined with a very compact 3.5 lbs form factor complete the package which has a lot of independent filmmakers excited about the creative possibilities the camera can give them.
Eric Thayne (Director/DP) of Celadora Studios got in touch with us and shared his experience shooting with the RED Raven, which he rented from a friend while waiting for his to arrive. Check out his footage below.
RED Raven 4.5K Footage from Eric Thayne on Vimeo.
“Lenses used – Canon L lenses 24-70mm and 24-105mm
Basic Arri light kit with some 4×4 flags.
Frame rates of 24, 30, 48, 60, 120, and 240fps
ISO’s ranging from 800 to 2,850. Some of the noisier shots in the video were likely shot at higher ISOs.
In post, I exported ProRes proxy files from Red Cine X because it seems that Premiere doesn’t support the Raven’s R3D files natively yet (the camera is also capable of recording these proxies internally along with R3Ds which I would have done had I known Premiere doesn’t support it yet).
I then cut the footage together in premiere, then exported an XML into Davinci Resolve where I linked the clips back to the R3Ds. I graded the footage in Resolve then round-tripped back to premiere to cut together the music and sound effects.”
Overall Eric appears to have really enjoyed shooting on this camera. Performance was up to scratch with the rest of the RED lineup – as one would expect from a RED camera with intuitive menus. The size of the DMSC 2 bodies is very compact. They used the base expander and Redvolt XL module for the shoot above.
The smaller than S35 sensor is one thing he mentions that people need to be aware as “It gives you a little bit of an awkward crop so we had to be careful with how we were using lenses and framing things. For example, shooting 24mm looks closer to a 35mm because of the crop, but the warping and space compression is still that of a 24mm. Not a deal breaker though, just something to be aware of. Overall very impressed with this camera and can’t wait for mine to arrive in the mail.”
We also received some footage from Imran Khan founder of Final Footage Films who shared some of his tests with his RED Raven.
ISO tests:
(0:03 ISO 640), (0:08 ISO 800), (0:14 ISO 1000), (0:20 ISO 1280),
(0:29 ISO 1600), (0:38 ISO 2000), (0:47 ISO 2500), (0:59 ISO 3200)RED Raven 4.5K / Rokinon 35mm f2.8)
23.97fps (1/48th) / 5000K
DRAGONcolor2 / REDgama4
REDcode 5:1 / Straight out from Camera
All available lights (fluorescents), Tint -24
NO grading / Output from RCX to ProRess HQ
(0:01 ISO 640), (0:15 ISO 800), (0:30 ISO 1000), (0:45 ISO 1280),
(1:00 ISO 1600), (1:13 ISO 2000), (1:29 ISO 2500), (1:39 ISO 3200)RED Raven 4.5K / Rokinon 35mm f2.8)
23.97fps (1/48th)/ 5000K
DRAGONcolor2 / REDgama4
REDcode 5:1 / Straight out from Camera
Lightning source – Cigarette Lighter
NO CC or grading / Output from RCX to Proress HQ
RED Raven (+ Rokinon 35mm)
ISO 1000 / 23.97fps / 5000K
DRAGONcolor2 / REDgama4
REDcode 5:1 / Straight out from Camera
All available light (fluorescent) Tint -24
NO CC or grading (except Tint) / Camera Audio (Gain +18 in Ppro)
Output from RCX to Proress HQ (since Ppro does support Raven yet)
For youtube Export H.264, 2160 4K
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