RedCineUnderwater: RED MX and Night

August 10, 2010:

Sunset: time lapse @ Sunset Cliffs San Diego RED MX

So I've just returned from Prince William Sound on a three week trip attempting to film/shoot Salmon Sharks....that's another story. However prior to my leaving, I had my RED ONE upgraded to the new MX sensor. All I can say is that the rumors and hype are all true. The MX sensor is an AMAZING update. The obvious for me shooting underwater is the clean blue channel. In the prior M build, there was noticeable noise in the blue channel and then the cream on top of this is the fact that the sensor is now rated at 800iso up from 320iso on the M sensor.

San Diego Skyline: timelapse-1600iso @ 1/12 shutter using Nikon 18-200

After returning from Alaska I was in San Diego for a week. Camped out in my van around town, I spent a bit of time around Shelter Island and the naval base on the island across from Shelter Island. Posted are shots using the RED ONE MX and the Pro-Lok Nikon mount. I used either the Nikon 18-200 or the 80-400 for the following shots you see posted
here and in the Flikr photo album link below.

MX @ 3200iso with Nikon 80-400mm 4.5speed

The shots you see are all untouched R3d screen grabs. I should have kept some consistency here and will remember to do so in the future. But most of the images are right out of RCX build 261. I've taken a snapshot from RCX with settings ranging from quarter resolution to half resolution.

Dusk @ 1280iso (timelapse) - Nikon 18-200

If i was to do this test again, I'd take full rez screen grabs and then resize them so that there was some consistency to what you see here. What is very obvious to me after viewing on RCX and then transcoding to a tif file and viewing in Mac preview is how much more noisy the images became when i transcoded them. I'm not trying to make any excuses here, but the R3d's are absolutely stunning even up to 2500iso. After 2500iso, there was too much visible noise and i would not shoot above that range. But I'll say 1600 was really nice and i'd not be worried about shooting at 2500iso for topside time lapse and night skyline shots....as you see here.

MX @ 1600iso on Nikon 80-400 @ 400mm

Needless to say, these were all merely tests for me to see how far i could push the MX sensor and not for a production. I was really surprised that i was only confronted by the police (Harbor Patrol) once. After about an hour and a half of interrogation one particular night, they resumed their duties and asked me to leave the park (it was after hours--but only at the time they completed their search of me and my vehicle.

MX with Nikon 80-400 @ 300mm

As for shooting during the day, many onlookers were quite astonished that i was filming naval warships, helicopters and planes in plain site.....i guess they've never watched "wings" or other documentaries where one can get far more information and inside views never before seen of aircraft and warships. But back to the camera.....what can i say other than quite a tool. I'll next post some underwater images/screengrabs for those interested in the underwater shooting results. Another nice achievement (MX sensor) for shooting in less than ideal, dark conditions.

SUNSET TIME LAPSE SAN DIEGO SKYLINE WITH RED MX