Ever wonder whether a more expensive camera is truly worth the cost? Sam and Niko of Corridor recently set out to compare footage from a $50 Sony HD camcorder and the RED Epic Dragon, a $50,000 6K cinema camera. As you'd expect, the differences are immediately apparent, cost aside, when the two cameras are put side-by-side: the RED camera's lens alone is about the same size as the entire Sony camcorder.
The RED Epic Dragon has proven capable many times throughout its life, with perhaps one of the model's most notable achievements being a trip into space where it was used by NASA astronauts to capture images from the International Space Station. The RED camera has also been used for several major Hollywood movies. The Sony HD camcorder used in the video, however, is a simple model with a low price point aimed at the average consumer.
At nearly 15 minutes in length, the comparison video above runs through several major aspects of both cameras' footage, looking at things like noise level, exposure, low-light performance, post-processing results and more. As expected, the RED camera dominates in each category. More of the team's videos can be found on the 'Sam and Niko' YouTube channel.
The Sony CX405 is already 2 1/2 years old. And it only shoots in 1080P. Compare an older Red to a new 4K Sony camcorder and the Sony will wipe the floor with the Red. This video is a farce, made by a liar.
Wow. A lot of people on here pretty mad about this interesting video. Anyone able to see how this might be useful / entertaining / enlightening for those other than yourself? It's clearly not aimed at professionals / experienced enthusiasts.
If you bother to look at what that channel is about, you'd see that its an entertainment channel not one based on in-depth professional-level technical analysis
I understand plenty about the principles behind all this but still found it interesting, and it would certainly answer a lot of layman questions about justification of expensive rigs vs basic consumer-grade kit.
I personally like content like this. Others may not, but criticising DPR for sharing seems bizarre.
people like to be whiny complainers, the guy says in the video why he is comparing the two, and everyone that complained seems to have not watched the video at all.
that being said, i though the dumb wasabi food eating was odd to put in the video.
great stuff: if this is their standard in video production then they proved the point beautifully. They can work with a palm /camcorder because it wouldn't make any difference given the "cut" of the lighting, post, sound. A camcorder will do just fine, or a cellphone for that matter
I actually have a Sony HDR-CX405,that I bought a couple years ago. It's sensor is about the size of a phone sensor, but with an optical 60X zoom. It's fine for what it is..... the thing is, it's not meant to be a challenger to RED cameras - they're comparing apples to airliners......
For what it is - a ~$100 (NOT $50.... must have bought used....) cheap and easy camcorder to record (in my case) 90 minute music lessons for review, as well as (for example) university lectures, parties and family gatherings, and fun moments in family vacation - it's pretty excellent - cheap, fast, trivially easy to use, a 64GB memory chip lasts for days of recording, and no 29 minute restriction.
To film "The Hobbit"? Yes indeed, you'd want something else. Like the $50K RED camera. Is that even a question, though?
Niko, thanks for the nice comparison and great explanation of the different aspects of video footage. But you forgot a few things there: Boot time (RED loses) Size & weight (RED loses) Try entering into major theme parks (won't let your RED in there) Recording time (RED loses, even with massive XL batteries) Computer horsepower required to churn through the files (RED loses)
All kidding aside, as others have pointed out already, would be nice to see a better comparison, like with: GH5 with Log option, Sony A7S mk2, Panasonic UX180, Sony FS7, Sony FS5, Sony A6500, Canon C200, Canon 1D-X mk2, iPhone 7 Plus, Pixel XL, Galaxy S8, RED Hydrogen :-)
Hell, even a Canon G40 camcorder would have been a great way to compare "cheap"-ish consumer VS "expensive" Pro.
I would even throw in the DJI X5S 5.2K camera that can be attached to the Inspire 2 drone. It's about 6000 USD with all codecs and stuff, yet still a lot cheaper than the RED Epic Dragon. And it can fly...
Like most people here I ask how that kind of comparison useful? Are there many out there that really thinking to buy one or the other?
Personnally I wonder, how different would it have been with just a GH5 for example a camera actually used by hollywood ?
And then 2 things in between, like a camera in the 500$ range and another one in the 5000-10000$ range... This way we would have had more interresting comparison...
Nothing unexpected and nothing we don't already know. The performance gap is massive, the image quality gap is massive. I'd be surprised if it were otherwise actually.
You'll be surprised how off that statement is reading this very comments board.
Comments vary, but show people simply didn't "get it", all the way to "I don't see any massive difference".
And even for those who "got it" and "saw the massive difference", it's a great video to illustrate exactly / precisely where, how and why there's a 49.950 price difference.
Those that claim that there isn't $49,950 worth of difference between the the camcorder and the RED, I have five words for you - The Law of Deminishing Returns
Reading the comments here it just shows how the average DPR poster knows little about video.
Some people said "hey, they kinda look similar. At least not $49.950 different". Yes, for the intended purposes, it is a 49.950 difference.
Blow up both images to movie theater screen size, both of them being heavily color graded, pushed, pulled and whatever else you can ask those files, then it becomes insanely obvious why the RED shoots Hollywood movies and the camcorder don't.
Here on YT, differences are already huge enough, but blown up to gigantic screen sizes, those differences just yells at you until your ear explodes.
7K likes on youtube and a downpour of sheer ingratitude, misunderstanding and questionable thinking by a lot of DPR commenters. Yes, the DPR has a more topic-focused audience but the comments show a disturbing amount of pointless negativity. Not terribly surprised given other feedback on DPR articles but give it a rest people. It's free content. The video does what it said it does and provides useful info about how video is handled. You want something else? Go do it or go look elsewhere. I'll take DPR and their content contributors' backs here and take the heat - practice gratitude and think a bit about the people that create and bring content before posting.
So much hate on these guys. I think Corridor did a close to perfect explaination on the importance of codec, dynamic range, etc, with examples using the red and the camcorder. The idea is to teach these aspects. Obviously everyone knows that the red will beat the sony. Duh.
Absolutely. Excellent and fascinating for newcomers, hobbyists, and others like me who are wholly unaware of video technology but regularly shoot stills professionally. I have friends who are professional videographers. They work mainly for nonprofits, using relatively inexpensive Sony and Panasonic cameras, homemade tracking sleds, etc. They shoot almost entirely for the Web, and for smaller projection screens. I'm sure they're aware of what the RED cameras can do, and that this video would just be fairly boring for them. But maybe not. Those who dissed the video are prancers.
In D&D terms, a great red wyrm will wipe the floor with one 1th-level character of any class. A comparison with a high-end P&S camera (5th-level), the same for a bridge/EVIL/whatever (10th-level), etc. would have been much finer.
As for the other, while the dynamic range /resolution of a potato may pale in comparison with high-end and especially professional gear, why to comply if the potato is more than enough for casual purposes and especially can be effortlessly carried elsewhere without the fears of damaging or having stolen a thing as said camera?
They were filming the vid on a Canon 1DX (don't know if it was mkI or II). I'd have like to see the intermediate comparison with this camera since they already had it on hand.
Well, kind of fun, but kind of silly. On the $50 camcorder, every detail was designed to meet a price, and no one expects it to be much good. More interesting would be a comparison with a one or two thousand dollar modern dslr or mirrorless, where the engineers were trying to squeeze in as much quality as possible, and the buyers DO expect pretty decent quality. Just a guess: the Red would be better, of course, but you'd have to work a lot harder the demonstrate the differences.
Yes a Red vs Panasonic would be a more interesting fight. This is like someone comparing a Ferrari to a Fiat Punto, of course the Ferrari will win on everything except fuel consumption. Now Ferrari vs M5 would be a bit more interesting.
And just add to the SONY A7/A9 MILC an equivalent priced camescope like PANASONIC HC-XC1 or HC-XC1000, or a Blackmagic URSA mini 4K to make a real bench.
Just to showcase to all camps what are the features you can get onto moviecam vs photograph MILC. And a good comparison should include the workflow too, just in order to get a decent final cut movie.
Well, the video it doesn say that the videos of the sony camera are smaller and don't need to be processed to compress them later on. They are more practical to the 99% of people who wants to film something. And depending on the format of the video, you can put them directly in a dvd/bluray and play them in a dvd/bluray reader.
Interesting video. This provides some idea about how video quality scales between the lowest and highest quality. Something in between like a 2K camera would have been nice as a comparison.
Where would we be without such in-depth studies and experiments? ;) OK, I'm just having a touch of fun. Obviously a 50K camera is going to be better, this shouldn't have to be tested to be proven, but I do applaud the efforts that went into it.
Next up: a $100,000 Ferrari vs. a $5000 Whatever. On your mark, set, go!
There's similar difference between a Toyota and a BMW. Those men can shoot video of a building, some bridge, one K9, two kittens, plants with a $50 camcorder, and no pretty model will pose for them.
I think it would be much more interesting to test 3 levels of quality videocams. Low level consumer, top level consumer and accepted professional level. How much difference between top level consumer and professional level ?
And what about a Alpha 7s II with a good Zeiss lens against the Red? Or wait for the A7s III with the 4k and 60 frames plus raw video. Lets say 5000 against the 50000 bugs. Then the ice might become a little thinner for the professional tool, maybe? A cinema production might not be that expensive in future anymore.
The Canon fanboys would claim, that nobody needs 4k or an uncropped full sensor readout or a contemporary codec or even video on DSLRs any more, since their brand is blackmailing them towards the cinema line. That at least have been the arguments with the releases of the 5 Douche Mk IV and 6 Douche Mk II. But for an ambitioned videographer, a new or even the actual 7s with a reasonable log curve might be quite an option. I cannot imagine, that the difference might be that big, to justify the investment into a RED.
DVD vs Blu-ray all over again! "You can't see the difference if sitting 50 feet away from the neighbors yard, so buying a Red Ultrazord Dragon is pointless! Stick to recording with Vaseline coated potato."
@mick232 Amazing, a still camera device does better job taking still photographies than a moving camera ? Who can be surprised as shutter does not work the same way ?
Do you have the video that compare the movie quality for both set ?
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