RED EPIC & SCARLET Finally Get a True Stills Mode, Plus Thumbnail Viewer for DRAGON

If you own a RED, there's a good chance you've already seen the email about their newest firmware, but if you missed it, or you work with REDs frequently, the most recent update just added functionality people have been asking for since the new EPIC body style was first released a few years ago. 

One of the biggest changes in their v6.0.23 firmware update is the fact that they've finally added true stills functionality to their range of cameras. The side handle has had a stills/motion button that's been essentially useless for a long time, but it now functions exactly how you think it should. Sliding to M brings you into motion, and sliding to S brings you into their new stills-only mode, which not only gives you single-shot, but also a variety of multi-shot modes. Here's a look at the stills mode:

While that mode still has a ways to go in terms of matching the performance of your standard DSLR (there are plenty of bugs with AF to work out and other quirks), the thing I'm most excited about and have played around with a bit is the new thumbnail clip viewer (which has been available in Beta firmware for a little while):

This is something that will really speed up playback as you can now find exactly the clip or clips that you want without needing to think about the file name. Plenty of other cameras have had this sort of thing for a while, but it's nice to see RED jump on this bandwagon. If you load up a card that has clips from previous firmware, they'll just show up with the RED symbol, so only clips recorded with the newest firmware will show up with thumbnails. 

Here's the full list of major changes in this release:

• Stills and Motion Mode support
• Swipe Up menus
• Tethered Stills and Recording Support (DRAGON only)
• Clip viewer and thumbnail support (DRAGON only)
• 3D LUT support (DRAGON+REDCAST only)
• Auto IP Support
• User 3×3 Gain controls
• Stills Multi-shot Recording Mode
• Motion + Stills Recording Mode
• Relative exposure in ramp mode
• Pre-Record Ramp support
• Remote Control Panel support
• Independent Still/Video/Playback parameters
• REDCAST module Genlock phase delay support
• REDCAST module 24fps Playback support
• REDCAST module video reset button
• RED Touch 7in LCD default to 60Hz
• 60fps Project frame rate support
• Fix unepxected behavior when changing date
• Fix Edge Timecode start time entry
• Fix Side UI color shift with brightness change
• Fix keyboard display when selecting Custom Text in Overlay dialog
• Fix text for Side SSD Record button on RED Touch 5" LCD
• Fix histogram option in Modes for Monochrome camera
• Fix increment/decrement ND key actions for Motion Mount
• Fix duplicate shutter speed after editing list
• Fix intermittent camera freeze coming out of playback
• Fix intermittent invalid camera info in the discovery list
• Fix incorrect color space indicator in playback
• Fix incorrect frame rate in Ramp Target selector
• Fix Motion Mount shutter mode to disable AE
• Fix Fujinon lens control
• Fix invalid list values when list box closed using the Menu button
• Fix update of UI after switching to DHCP
• Fix UI when entering IP address
• Fix playback error in Multi-Shot with HDRx
• Fix camera freeze in playback when accessing menu items
• Fix white image in AF with sharpening
• Fix 7" LCD upgrade connected to +1 module
• Changed Exposure Priority and Mode positions in AE dialog
• Changed key action text from “AE: Recalc” to “AE: Start”
• AF Improvements for DRAGON
• Updated camera help

Check out the REDUser post for more and for links to download the newest firmware.