Last week, we got to see the first look at the top of the mysterious, new RED camera, the Komodo. From the looks of it, there will be some kind of display integrated on top of the new body.

While we still don’t know a lot about the Komodo 6K, Jarred Land, President of RED Digital Cinema, has given us another chance to try and figure out as much as we can. It appears to be a small monitor, which we can only assume will be the Komodo’s version of a REDmote.

This would be huge for keeping the camera package nice and compact, without the need for a much larger monitor to be secured to the top of the body. Anyone who has ever had to rig a camera for Steadicam, gimbal or drone use, is cheering right now. These applications do not require the operator to be directly monitoring the image on the camera, as you would when shooting handheld or tripod-mounted, since there is usually a dedicated monitor on the sled, handlebars or controller.

This creates a much smaller overall package that is easier to balance and physically rig into place, while still giving camera assistants a control center for making necessary adjustments to the shot.

Although we know more about what the Komodo will not be, there are a few features we can be sure of: 

  • A 6K sensor that is not Monstro, Helium, Gemini or Dragon
  • Canon RF lens mount
  • Lemo input for power
  • SDI output
  • Separate 3.5mm audio input and output for monitoring
  • Some kind of connectivity with the Hydrogen ecosystem

There also appears to be a small rectangle marked “antenna” on the display, which makes me think it could be leveraging RTMotion’s lens control system, Latitude. This, in conjunction with the RF mount, would give the operator complete wireless control over camera settings, including iris and focus. This could prove to be a real game-changer for when a FIZ setup is unnecessary, or even impossible to rig.

Not surprisingly, much of the info that we know about Komodo has been learned from either REDuser, or straight from Jarred’s Instagram feed, creating more questions than answers, as always.

 

 

In fact, it looks like we may have even had our first hint at this top-mounted display back in March. when Jarred posted a photo of a 1982 Mamiya RZ67 mounted on a GDU baseplate. This image looks to be the inspiration for the Komodo.

It's worth paying attention to such details, especially with a company as secretive as RED, one that loves leaving little hints out in the open, as to what may come next.

The future of Komodo looks bright, so keep an eye out for more information leaking out over the next few weeks and months.

Source: REDuser

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Cinematography & Cameras