Budgetcam Review | RED KOMODO

RED KOMODO

At the start of December 2020, Budgetcam gave me the opportunity to test the RED Komodo. I really wanted to test this camera because I am the owner of a RED EPIC and I wondered how the KOMODO would perform compared to its older brother.

Who am I?

Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Bart Martens and I am a Director of Photography. Passion for extreme sports such as snowboarding and surfing sparked the desire in me to capture this action on camera. This resulted in me developing a dynamic and intuitive way of camera movement to capture this action in a creative way.

During the past years I have developed a passion for narrative work, which resulted in fast camera movements evolving into delicate and motivated movements, whereby framing played a bigger role in my work. At present, I like to think about what style, movement, lighting and color best fit the story or what must be told. I mostly make (short)films and commercials.

Meanwhile I have worked for several clients and brands such as RED BULL, Jägermeister, Asics, Shell, and I have made several short films in the Netherlands and Belgium. Currently I am in pre-production of a few short films, of which one in Belgium.

My showreel

https://vimeo.com/384484204

Alright enough about me, I am not the reason you are here. The KOMODO!

First impressions

My first impressions of the camera when holding it was: ‘’Ah how cute!’’. The camera is so compact and light that you wonder if it is actually a white rubik's cube for colorblind people or an actual camera. Don’t let the camera’s appearance fool you. The image is very good, but I will tell you more about the image later.

Usage

Let’s start with the ease of use of the camera. This is actually my biggest pain point of the KOMODO. It is not the most practical camera in my opinion. Yes it is small, which makes it easy to mount on a one-handed gimbal or to place on/under a drone. However, the built-in screen on top of the camera is not really useful. It is very small, which makes it unusable as a reference monitor. If you want to position the camera up high, adjusting your camera setting becomes rather difficult. Which can somewhat be solved by using an application on your phone, but I find the application to not be that reliable. At times when pressing REC nothing happens. The application is not suitable for professional jobs yet. In addition, there’s the possibility of using the SmallHD Focus Pro with KOMODO control. I would have needed the control cable, but this was unavailable.

Then one more peculiar thing. The physical record button that is placed right on the top of the camera. This is a very unusual place, especially because the button is very small and does not provide much tactile feedback when you have the camera on your shoulders. My EPIC also has a physical record button on the exact same place, but is larger and provides more tactile feedback. It would have been much better to place the record button on the left side of the camera (the operator side) which would allow for much faster and easier operation.

Unfortunately the above is not all that I found clumsy about this camera. At the back of the camera there are two standard battery plates which are convenient, because they allow you to hot swap batteries. However, they are outdated and hard to get batteries. In total there are 4 batteries in the set, which may not be enough for a full day of shooting. The batteries charge slow and by sparingly using the camera I just about made filming a whole day. Personally I would prefer a V-lock adapter on the camera, which will allow you to use good mini v-locks that have much better battery life.

What I noticed with this camera is that using it as an A-cam on a shoot, will require rigging which results in the setup being as big as an EPIC or Alexa Mini.

Where the camera differs from other cameras is its weight and that is really a Godsend.

Though my shoot was not physically demanding since I shot mostly on a slider and sticks. I did use the camera on a different shoot in a shoulder setup and the reduced weight was very noticeable. Especially after a long day on set.

The image

Let’s talk about the main strength of this camera, its image. I’ll start off with a feature that is characteristic of the KOMODO, the Global Shutter. Unlike traditional rolling shutters, this camera makes use of a sensor that reads out every frame in its entirety. No matter how fast you pan this camera, your image will always be straight. This is a major advantage of this camera. On my shoot I didn’t really need this feature since I mostly used slow movements. Fortunately there’s enough information online. Because of its global shutter, the KOMODO is ideal for capturing fast action. If I ever go back to the mountains to capture snowboarders, I will definitely bring this camera along with me. Another benefit of the global shutter is that it allows for better image stabilization, which is ideal if you prefer to film handheld. As an example, the wide shot of the room with pillars was shot handheld. Even though I can walk very steady, warp stabilizer made the shot just that little bit smoother.

Many people are very focused on the word Dynamic Range. I want to preface by saying that this camera performs very well in this regard. Please do not look at the number of stops manufacturers mention, this is bullshit most of the time. Sorry, but that is just the way it is. ‘’16.5 stops’’, nope, never going to happen. All the fantastic movies that you’ve seen, the classics, have around 8-stops of dynamic range. At best 10-stops of dynamic range. Most modern cameras have between 10.5 - 12.5 stops which is more than sufficient. The only cameras that have a bit more dynamic range are Arri cameras, somewhere around 14-stops. I personally find the way these stops are divided within the spectrum more important. I prefer more latitude in the highlights over the shadows. I find the rolloff in the highlights the most important aspect. That means the transition of the overexposed part of an image to where there still is information. Yet it is important how the shadows are captured. Especially since this shoot was shot in a dark location. The shoot was the perfect example to test this in a real life environment.

Good lighting is essential in achieving the most dynamic range. Which is why I asked one of my gaffers to join this project. Olaf Robberse brought his lighting truck and an extra set of hands to assist him. Because we only had one day, we decided to keep our lighting setups simple and work with no more than two lights at the same time.

Then the color science of the camera. I always find this a difficult subject, because colors are very subjective. Some people prefer Canon, others Arri and some even RED. Though I own a RED, I tend to prefer the Arri cameras when it comes to color. The KOMODO’s color is comparable to other RED cameras. Do watch out for underexposing your image though. When underexposing green and red may not look as nice, so make sure that you do not underexpose too much.

Conclusion

When I tested this camera, I wanted to find out if the KOMODO could perhaps replace my RED EPIC. At a first glance I thought this would be possible. However, there are too many usability issues for me which do not make the camera an ideal A-cam for me. Nonetheless, there are situations and shoots where I would prefer the Komodo instead of a heavier camera. As I mentioned before when chasing snowboarders in the mountains or when I need to capture fast moving action with quick pans. I think that for these kinds of shoots the KOMODO really falls into its element.

What gear did you use?

- RED KOMODO

- Laowa 24mm F14 Probe lens

- Laowa 12mm F2.8 Zero-D

- Sigma 18-35mm

- Contax Zeiss 50m 1.4 en 85mm 1.4

- Prosup Tango Roller

- SmallHD Bolt Focus 7'' + Bolt 500XT

If you have any specific questions about the camera, the lighting or anything else you can always contact me via Instagram.

Instagram: @bartmartensdop

Website: bartmartensdop.com

https://youtu.be/H4o7RVAm0lM