The RED Raven is the least expensive RED camera to date. Announced back in September 2015, the RED Raven quickly became very popular and then RED stopped taking pre-orders as apparently they weren’t able to keep up with the demand, which caused a huge never-ending backlog of orders. Until now. RED just announced they are going to be selling the RED Raven camera as a “bundle” through none other than your favourite disposable income repository – Apple. Selling for $15K USD, and showing “in stock”, the RED Raven kit consists of the RED Raven Brain + 4.7-inch RED LCD monitor, RED Outrigger handle, 2 batteries and a charger, a license for FCP X, FoolControl App for Raven, the mighty Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 and a hard case.
And it also looks like the you can only buy the RED RAVEN Kit through Apple now; the camera appears to have been removed from the RED Builder section of their website. Still, some local RED resellers may still have stock of the RED Brain and accessories, but going forward you’ll have to head over to Apple for your RED Raven purchase.
The RED Raven features a 4.5K cut out of the Dragon sensor from the EPIC/Scarlet, however it is part of the latest DSMC 2.0 Weapon style bodies, which accommodate for simultaneous REDCODE Raw and ProRes/DNx in various resolutions and frame rates. The RED Raven can record Apple ProRes HQ 422 up to 2K/60p internally, which is a phenomenal codec and resolution good enough for pretty much every application out there from high end corporate/commercial work to features.
RAVEN + ZEISS LWZ.3 21-100mm
The news appeared as a rather (as usual) cryptic post on RED CEO Jarred Land’s facebook profile, with the hashtag – #MacPro hinting at possible future plans that Apple have in the works. Of course, the new Mac Pro 2018 may very well fully support RED 4K, 6K, 8K workflow, as it will probably have an AMD GPU (FCP X really likes those) – like maybe that sweet Radeon Pro WX 9100 or even the stupidly fast Radeon Pro SSG we told you about yesterday in this post.
Image: Jarred Land, Facebook
RED Raven 4.5K Features
- 4.5K resolution 4,608 x 2,160
- RED DRAGON Sensor
- Sensor Size at 23.04mm x 10.8mm
- REDCODE RAW 3:1 24fps at max. resolution
- 4.5K/120fps Slow Motion
- Fixed Dragon Standard OLPF
- Apple ProRes HQ 10bit 422 at 2K up to 60fps
- Non-removable/Fixed Canon EF Mount
- Recording Frame Rates
- 4.5K (4608 × 2160) up to 120 fps
- 4K (4096 × 2160) up to 120 fps
- 3K (3072 × 1620) up to 160 fps
- 2K (2048 × 1080) up to 240 fps
- ProRes 422 HQ
- 2K (2048 × 1080)/60 fps
- ProRes 422
- 2K (2048 × 1080)/60 fps
- ProRes 422 LT
- 2K (2048 × 1080) /60 fps
- Monitor outputs
- 3G-SDI (HD-SDI) and HDMI with Expander Module
- Recording Media
- RED MINI–MAG, 140 MB/s max data rate
- Remote Control
- Built-in Wireless
- Weight:
- ~3.5 lbs (BRAIN with Media Bay and Canon Lens Mount)
RED Raven Kit includes:
- RED RAVEN 4.5K Camera BRAIN
- License for Final Cut Pro X (normally $300)
- RED DSMC2 Touch LCD 4.7” Monitor
- RED DSMC2 Outrigger handle
- RED V-Lock I/O expander
- RED MINI-MAG 120GB
- 2 x IDX DUO C-95 batteries with charger
- G-Technology ev Series RED MINI-MAG reader
- Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC lens EF (usually costs around $800)
- NANUK heavy-duty camera case
- Foolcontrol App for RAVEN camera kit
The RED RAVEN Camera Kit is available for $14,999.95 through Apple.com and you can demo the camera at select Apple Retail Stores in the US. The price in the UK is, of course, a grim £15K. The deal appears to be available outside the US as well, so best to check your country’s Apple.com webstore for availability and pricing.
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Seems like Apple is interested in RED. Are there plans for a possible buy-up? Apples ‘reinvents’ film making?
Well, the price classes match… 😉
And when you consider that RED has a smartphone in Hydrogen One, one wonders if there’s keen interest in that RED now has value in markets Apple is involved in.