The idea is to get a cinema type image from almost a DSLR formfactor, and who could do this better than the company that makes top of the line cinema camera’s? At $6000, the RED Komodo is really a hell of a beast. The formfactor of the camera is really small and RED promises a lot with this one
The Komodo has a lot of features, actually a lot of them. The Official RED website flaunts a lot of features the RED Komodo specifically has in different, than the other players.
The Komodo has a global shutter; it records in primitive REDCODE; modes like HQ, MQ, LQ are available for you to record for different purposes like VFX, Stills from Motion, TV, Online Content, Interviews, etc; This beast of a camera can record at a whopping 6K resolution; has internal stabilization; has a touchscreen for recording; has a versatile lens mount; can also output 4k image in real-time, for viewfinder purposes too.
Specsheet.
| SENSOR TYPE | KOMODO™ 19.9 MP SUPER 35MM GLOBAL SHUTTER CMOS |
| EFFECTIVE PIXELS | 6144 X 3240 |
| SENSOR SIZE | 27.03 MM X 14.26 MM (DIAGONAL: 30.56MM |
| DYNAMIC RANGE | 16+ STOPS |
| MOUNT TYPE | ACCEPTS CANON RF MOUNT-BASED LENS ADAPTORS FOR DIVERSE LENS CHOICES SUPPORTS CANON EF WITH FULL ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION VIA COMPATIBLE CANON RF MOUNT ADAPTERS, AND SUPPORTS MECHANICALLY OPERATED RF LENSES (ELECTRONIC CONTROL OF CANON RF LENSES NOT SUPPORTED AT THIS TIME) [1] |
| MAX DATA RATES | UP TO 280 MB/S USING RED PRO CFAST OR OTHER QUALIFIED CFAST 2.0 MEDIA CARDS |
| REDCODE® RAW MAX FRAME RATES | 40 FPS AT 6K 17:9 (6144 X 3240) 50 FPS AT 6K 2.4:1 (6144 X 2592) 48 FPS AT 5K 17:9 (5120 X 2700) 60 FPS AT 4K 17:9 (4096 X 2160) 120 FPS AT 2K 17:9 (2048 X 1080) |
| PLAYBACK FRAME RATES | 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, 60 FPS, ALL RESOLUTIONS |
| REDCODE® RAW ACQUISITION FORMATS2 | 6K 17:9 (6144 X 3240), 2.4:1 AND 16:9 5K 17:9 (5120 X 2700) 4K 17:9 (4096 X 2160) 2K 17:9 (2048 X 1080) |
| APPLE PRORES | 4K (4096 × 2160) AT PRORES 422 HQ AND PRORES 422 UP TO 60 FPS 2K (2048 × 1080) AT PRORES 422 HQ AND PRORES 422 UP TO 120 FPS |
| COLOR MANAGEMENT | IMAGE PROCESSING PIPELINE 2 (IPP2) SUPPORTS 33×33×33 3D LUTS SUPPORTS IMPORT OF CDLS |
| AUDIO | INTEGRATED DUAL CHANNEL DIGITAL MONO MICROPHONES, UNCOMPRESSED, 24-BIT 48 KHZ ADDITIONAL DUAL CHANNEL VIA INTEGRATED 3.5MM AUDIO JACK, UNCOMPRESSED, 24-BIT 48 KHZ |
| REMOTE CONTROL | WIFI FOR CAMERA CONTROL VIA INTERCHANGEABLE ANTENNA WITH SMA CONNECTION GENLOCK, TIMECODE-IN, GPIO AND CTRL (RS232) VIA THE INTEGRATED 9-PIN EXT PORT WIRED CONTROL VIA KOMODO LINK ADAPTOR, USING USB-C OR GIGABIT ETHERNET (COMPATIBLE USB-C TO ETHERNET ADAPTER1 REQUIRED) ALLOWING CAMERA CONTROL AND LIVE MJPEG PREVIEW VIDEO FEED |
| MONITOR OUTPUTS | INTEGRATED 12G-SDI WITH 6G-SDI, 3G-SDI AND 1.5G-SDI MODES 12G-SDI: UP TO 4096 X 2160 4:2:2 FOR 60P 6G-SDI: UP TO 4096 X 2160 4:2:2 FOR 30P 3G-SDI: UP TO 2048 X 1080 4:2:2 FOR 60P 1.5G-SDI: UP TO 2048 X 1080 4:2:2 FOR 30P, 24P SMPTE TIMECODE, HANC METADATA, 24-BIT 48 KHZ AUDIO |
| MONITOR OPTIONS | INTEGRATED 2.9″ 1440X1440 TOUCHSCREEN LCD WITH PREVIEW AND CAMERA CONTROL WIRELESS LIVE PREVIEW VIDEO FEED VIA 2.4GHZ/5GHZ WIFI FOR FRAMING |
| RED CONTROL | ACCESS FULL CAMERA CONTROLS AND LIVE PREVIEW FROM IOS OR ANDROID(COMING SOON) DEVICES. AVAILABLE FROM THE APPLE APP STORE AND GOOGLE PLAY STORE. RED CONTROL WORKS WIRELESSLY OR WIRED VIA THE KOMODO LINK ADAPTOR (SOLD SEPARATELY). |
Our Verdict.
Totally trash for you if you’ve made your mind to get it.
No, you won’t get the bang for the buck when you get the RED Komodo, clearly you’ll get more bang for the buck when you get the BMPCC 6K. You might ask, why not the RED?
Look, if you’re really after the cinema camera look and think that this is the only one for you, you couldn’t be more wrong. The BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K offers much more at a price of nearly $2000. You’re getting the deal of the lifetime when you go for the BlackMagic pocket cinema camera.
If you’re still rooting for the RED Komodo, either there’s something wrong with you or you’re really rooting for that RED logo and flex when you’ll be personally owning it. You might say you’re rooting for the RED image quality, but you’ll see the BMPCC 6K is also going against the RED Gemini sensor which makes it pretty safe for me to say that the BMPCC is really a better bang for the buck. Going against the mighty overkill RED’s whilst still being a 2000 ish package is really over the top.
