New EPIC-W RED camera

As NAB approaches, the big product announcements are coming out. Today it’s RED: it has announced a new EPIC-W camera based on its new S35-sized GEMINI sensor, and it has a particular specialty when it comes to low light.

The GEMINI sensor is intended for low light situations. More like very low light. It is a 5K (5120×3000) design. Precisely because you are going to need larger photo sites for the low light functionality to work well.

However, the sensor mode can be switched between low light and “normal” light functionality. Such dual ISO modes appear to be a developing trend in cameras. RED says that using the low light mode in the camera (switchable from a menu), at ISO 3200 the camera can achieve 2 stops more in the shadows compared to ISO 800 in “normal” mode. It should be noted that this is not simply an adjustment to the metadata for raw recording but is a direct physical change to the way the sensor captures light.

When shooting at the default sensor settings, there is a claimed 16.5 stops of dynamic range, although RED indicates that in low light, you should expect to lose about 0.5 stops of range. Judging from the images the company has released, there is absolutely minimal noise almost to the point of non-existence in the camera’s low-light mode.

In addition to this, the GEMINI can shoot up to 96 fps in 5K full-format mode, and 120 fps at the 5K 2.4:1 ratio setting. Frame rates increase from there at lower resolutions. The new sensor is housed within the familiar RED EPIC-W chassis, and is capable of recording all expected REDCODE RAW, ProRes and DNxHR formats.

The GEMINI is priced at $24,500, and more information can be found on RED’s website. If you’re more curious, RED has also released a series of videos like this one.