When it comes to cinema cameras, there are many players on the field making amazing products. RED is definitely up there in the top tier. Their cameras are being used on ginormous blockbusters like “Guardians of the Galaxy.” In the past, their offerings have been way out of the reach for the average person looking to buy a camera. Although, their latest offering, the RED KOMODO, comes in at under $6,000 for a 6K camera. This is by far the brand’s least expensive to date.
The base package will still require some accessories, but it is pretty close to being ready to go out of the box. If you’ve been looking at the plethora of cameras in and around this price range, this is definitely a camera that will tick a lot of boxes. I have used it on several occasions and love it. A friend of mine, Lars Goldbach, has kitted out his RED KOMODO. All the pictures in this article are of his rig. He is an excellent DP, as well as a talented gimbal operator.
It’s so small!
The first thing you will notice when you see this camera is how tiny it is. The camera body is a cube that fits in your palm and weighs only 2.10 lbs (1kg). This form factor allows for handholding and run-and-gun shooting. Even more impressive, you can fly it on a less expensive gimbal like the Ronin S2, or even older gimbals, due to its light weight. Also, balancing the Komodo on a gimbal is painless as it has a cube form factor. Some other cameras have odd dimensions making it harder to get a perfectly balanced rig.
Image quality
The image you get out of this camera is unsurprisingly great as RED is known for making cameras with fantastic resolution, dynamic range, and excellent color science. I am a big fan of their skin tones which are rendered excellently. RED does not compromise their resolution and the Komodo is no exception. They have even found a way to include a Global Shutter without sacrificing dynamic range or sharpness. There’s more on this below.
RAW Recording and excellent codecs
If you don’t already know the power of recording in REDCODE RAW, it is something to behold. On this camera, you get three flavors of RAW: HQ, MQ, and LQ. HQ is great for VFX heavy shots when you need detailed pixel information. MQ is for most applications outside of that. LQ is great when you need to save space, such as for longer recordings, interviews, or online content where the image will be compressed at the end. The Komodo also shoots in ProRes 422 HQ and ProRes 422: although, you are limited to a maximum of 4K capture.
Dynamic Range and Highlight Recovery
Dynamic range is stated at 16 stops, which is outstanding. I haven’t done the actual tests to confirm this but — in my using it — I did find that I was able to shoot in higher contrast situations that I would with other cameras. I also noticed that the highlight rolloff — which I would consider almost as important as dynamic range — is fantastic. RED confirmed that the Komodo is their first camera to use a highlight recovery algorithm built in to the camera.
Global Shutter
Global shutter works phenomenally. There is absolutely no rolling shutter. I can’t emphasize this enough. I hate the jello effect you get from either panning too fast or fast-moving objects when you use a camera that has a rolling shutter. Without losing resolution, RED has included a global shutter at a great price point, and in a small form factor. RED have upped the bar for all other manufacturers and I am here for it!
Frame Rates
The Komodo shoots 6K at up to 40 frames per second. At 5k you get up to 48 fps, at 4K you get up to 60 fps, and at 2k you get up to 120 fps. It is worth noting that every time you up the frame rate past the 40 fps at 6K you are cropping in on the sensor. RED does this to give you the highest quality at that particular frame rate and resolution. I rarely shoot slow motion so this doesn’t bother me, but if you shoot quite a bit of slow-mo footage it may be a factor to consider.
Usability
Aside from the small form factor, the Komodo also has a very simple to understand menu system. It is fairly east and intuitive to find exactly what you need. It also has two built-in microphones which are useful for scratch audio. It also has two 3.5mm jacks: one for headphones and one to input an external microphone.
Mount
The camera comes with a Canon RF mount which allows you to attach a plethora of adaptors and speedboosters. A common adapter is the Canon RF to EF adapter which gives you access to all the Canon EF lenses. The decision to go with an RF mount also allows you to attach adapters with built-in ND. This is great to quickly change exposure without having to drastically change your settings.
Touch screen LCD display
The camera has a small LCD touchscreen with a monitor and access to the menu and settings. It is a very small screen you will likely need to attach a larger external monitor to make sure your focus and framing are exactly what you want.
CFast 2.0 cards instead of proprietary media
In a move sure to make many people happy, RED decided to let the RED Komodo record to the non-proprietary CFast 2.0 cards instead of RED Mags. Just don’t expect CFast 2.0 cards to be cheap, they certainly are not!
Phase Detection Autofocus
Autofocus is very uncommon in higher end cinema cameras. Although RED clearly knows that — at this price point — their prospective buyers are not always going to have an assistant nearby pulling the focus for them. The phase detection autofocus works very well in the times I have used it. There are two options. There is single, where the focus is locked by tapping on your camera’s LCD screen or on your phone using the RED camera control app. You can also try continuous, which keeps the subject in focus within the box on your display. There is currently no tracking feature, but I believe that is just a matter of time.
Lack of custom function buttons
I would love to see custom function buttons on the next RED camera at this level. This makes shooting so much faster than having to go into the menu to check things like false color.
Accessories
The RED Komodo is a fully functioning cinema camera with all the normal accessories without becoming too bulky or heavy. Lars’ Komodo is fully kitted out and gorgeously so. I’m loving the orange and black look. He is very proud of his set-up and made sure to keep the package as tight as possible as he is often using his camera on a Movi Pro. Below is a list of equipment he used to build his rig and video of him assembling it.
- 1x RED Komodo 6K
- 1x KipperTie Adapta RF/PL
- 1x Sigma High Speed Zoom 18-35mm/T2.0 w/ PL-Mount
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Keystone
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Top Handle
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Support Bracket for KipperTie Adapta
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Top Plate (Arri/RED)
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Gimbal Mate Universal Botton Plate
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Dual Rod Mount (105mm Spacing)
- 2x Ignite Digi Australia 2-Pin Lemo Breakout
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia Carbon Side Plate (Vaxis/Teradek)
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia 2-Pin Lemo/7-Pin Lemo Cable for Nucleus-M
- 2x Ignite Digi Australia 2-Pin Lemo/2-Pin Lemo Cable (SmallHD/Vaxis)
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia 2-Pin Lemo/2-Pin Lemo Cable (RED Komodo)
- 1x Ignite Digi Australia 2-Pin Lemo/D-Tap Cable (Tilta V-Mount Plate)
- 1x DJI Universal Tripod Adapter w/ Touch&Go Plate
- 1x Wooden Camera Rosette Spacer (small)
- 1x Wooden Camera Monitor Hinge only
- 1x ARRI K2.0002077 19mm to 15mm Adapter
- 1x SmallHD Cine7 1800nits Monitor
- 1x Tilta MB-T12 Mattebox
- 1x Tilta Dual Canon BP to V-Mount Adapter
- 1x Tilta Nucleus-M Motor w/ 28mm Mod Gear
- 1x Bebob Micro V-Mount 150Wh
- 1x Vaxis Storm 1000s Transmitter
- 1x SmallRig 15mm Carbon Rod (10cm)
- 1x Nine-Volt R/S-Trigger (Cable Version)
- 2x San Disk 512GB Cfast 2.0
- 1x Angelbird AVPro 512GB Cfast 2.0
- 1x 12G HD-SDI Cable (Cam/TX)
- 1x 12G HD-SDI “Gold Nugget” 90° Adapter
- 1x 3G HD-SDI Cable (TX/Monitor)
- 1x Custom 3D-Printed Filter Tag (IRND-Filter)
- 1x Custom 3D-Printed Filter Tag (Blackfrost 1/4)
- 1x Custom 3D-Printed Cable-Clip for 15mm Rod
SDI instead of HDMI
One thing to note is that this camera uses SDI cables to transfer the video signal instead of HDMI or a smaller version of HDMI. While some may not like this, I find it a great decision as the SDI is much more stable. It is a locking connector as well which means it is extremely unlikely to fall or be damaged by a slight bump. Also, make sure to get 12G SDI cables for some monitoring out features as I have heard of issues with lesser cables having issues.
Final thoughts
This is a beast of a camera. I am seriously considering purchasing one as it ticks a lot of my personal boxes. I love the 6K RAW image, the global shutter, and the compact size.
Finally, check out Lars Goldback’s work and give him some love on his Instagram @larsgoldbachdp or on his YouTube channel.
