RED, the first Hydrogen Ones and other novelties

August 31 seems to have been an amazing day for RED’s long-awaited Hydrogen project. The chosen few not only picked up their phones, but were delivered in person by Jim Jannard, who then signed as many boxes as he could. Earlier these have had to sign up for the pre-release Houdini version of the phone.

The rest of us humans are left to wait until November 2 and the carrier launch date (via AT&T, Verizon and Telcel in Mexico) to know much about how the Hydrogen One performs. A 2D cinema module is likely to drop around the phone’s main launch date. The first official 5K+ sensor came from manufacturing last week. It will capture using a new REDCODE RAW LITE format and features interchangeable electronic mounts that can support “almost every lens ever made.”

On the other hand, a dedicated H4V module is planned for even higher H4V content than the base phone can boot, while a battery module will fold into the cinema module since “Hydrogen One’s battery is large enough for fairly robust daily use.”

This is the first of two RED cameras designed specifically for shooting H4V content. This one features a beam splitter, is surprisingly light at 6 pounds, and has been designed to film fairly close objects, say at about 12 feet. The other model will be a side-by-side rig design for more distant objects. Both feature zoom lenses, and it looks like they will record 4K H4V at 60 fps on standard media, with monitoring through the Hydrogen One.

And last but not least: Welcome back to the 709 Media Room posts! September is starting!