Red Digital Cinema confirms that the Komodo shoots 6K video and "approves" of what the Canon EOS R mount can do
(Image credit: Jarred Land / Red Digital Cinema)
Red Digital Cinema has just jumped into the 6K video arms race, as the company confirmed that the Red Komodo – its mysterious, upcoming cine camera that uses the same mount as the Canon EOS R – is a 6K powerhouse.
This makes Red the latest partygoer to RSVP the 6K dance, which is currently only being attended by fellow cinematography specialist Blackmagic – though Panasonic has similarly put on its dancing shoes for an imminent arrival.
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K was announced and went straight on sale at the beginning of August, making it the first commercially available 6K consumer camera – emphatically beating the Panasonic S1H to the punch. Panasonic's camera was announced in May, but as yet has no release date.
A photo posted by @instajarred on Aug 8, 2019 at 3:47pm PDT
The Red Komodo was first revealed back in July, with president Jarred Land posting a series of cryptic teases on social media before spilling a few beans on the company's online forums.
Now he has Instagrammed his latest teasers, revealing that the Komodo is (as some had speculated) a 6K camera.
This time he didn't share much in the way of concrete information, other than to confirm that, "we are now in the external testing stage of Komodo... will be for the next few months."
He also added that, "During prep late last week with one of our favorite teams of course an impossible request comes in which had about a 4% probability of getting done in time. Low and behold... a few dedicated rockstars from the Red engineering team worked around the clock to get it done and they just got it done."
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The full form factor of the Red Komodo is still unclear, and it may work in conjunction with the Red Hydrogen phone (Image credit: Jarred Land / Red Digital Cinema)
Said request could be virtually anything, from the placement of a button to the addition of removal of a filter on the sensor, but either way it's great to hear that Red is listening and reacting to feedback from its external testers.
Land also affirmed his fondness for the Canon RF mount, and especially the minor miracle of its drop-in filter system. "Really really happy what Canon has done with the new R / RF mount. More data more options more control. Loving this Variable ND. Komodo Approves"
Confirmation that the RF mount is so perfect for video will no doubt rile the Canon faithful who have been waiting diligently for a Canon EOS R that shoots uncropped 4K, let alone 6K. However, it's still a big win for the new Canon mount that it is being so eagerly adopted by the cinema industry.
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.
