This is the last post in our exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

10. The RED Epic is a Computer Inside of a Camera Body

As our series on the RED Epic comes to a close, it’s time to take a look at the most obvious, yet most often ignored part of the camera.

When I say ignored, I don’t mean people consciously choose not to acknowledge this, but more like we sometimes forget what we’re dealing with:

…a highly-sophisticated computer smooshed into the casing of a camera body.

It’s easy to look at the body of the Epic as a whole piece that slaps together with a lens, some monitors, batteries, and accessories. Configured correctly and mechanically pieced together to fit, the Epic gives us the opportunity to make amazing images.

But inside that one piece, the body, is a multitude of technological complexities you and I are unlikely to ever fully understand.

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From our ongoing exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

9. You Must Know What You Want from the Camera

The number nine post in this series examines your ability to know what you want from the camera.

I don’t mean that in some meta-physical, art-school, “ask the camera to be your friend” sort of way. I mean it in this practical sense: the modular design of the RED Epic emphasizes your responsibility to know what you expect from the camera.

Because the body is so basic and so customizable, you will definitely add modules, accessories, and other gear to it. There’s just no practical way to shoot with the RED Epic without doing so.

And whether you like it or not, it’s up to you to make sure you grab what you need.

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 photo credit: Nina Matthews

From our ongoing exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

8. How to Shoot Slow Motion Footage at Varispeed Framerates

Part of the sexiness of the RED Epic is its amazing ability to shoot high-speed, slow motion footage at high resolutions – up to 300 frames-per-second (fps). That kind of silky smooth slow-motion that makes our mouths drop used to be reserved for speciality cameras, but is now available easily on the Epic.

And you bet directors and cinematographers take advantage of this. I’ve even worked on shoots where a RED One, which “only” shot 120 fps, was brought in explicitly for its Varispeed capabilities.

So it follows that if you’re working with the RED Epic, you need to know how to shoot slow-mo.

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 photo credit: joka2000

From our ongoing exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

6. Know Your Camera’s Firmware and Its Limitations

When RED releases a new camera you can bet on three things:

1. Half of the community will love it
2. The other half will decry having to beta test it
3. Everyone will have to deal with software bugs

That’s because RED is perpetually patching, upgrading, and releasing camera firmware updates.

While a steady stream of improvements on the software side is promising — and indeed the chosen course for digital cinema cameras today — it can sometimes mean an underdeveloped system being released with a camera, thus the beta-test complaints.

And while the Epic has grown leaps and bounds since its very first beta-release firmware, it still doesn’t come without the potential for software bugs.

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From our ongoing exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

5. How Epic’s Auto-Focus Works Against You When Off

One of the big reasons the Epic (and Scarlet, too) made such a splash in the low-budget realm was the Canon lens mount swappable with the standard PL Mount. Suddenly, thousands of filmmakers who already owned still lenses could put their glass to use on a high-quality digital cinema camera.

And, with that, a collective groan from camera assistants was heard ’round the world.

That’s because still lenses are a fickle bitch compared to their cinematic counterparts when it comes to filmmaking — the iris is operated internally, the focus ring often free-spins, and the throw between distances focus-wise is absurdly small.

With Epic, all those problems exist, as well as another one I’d like to bring to your attention today.

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From our ongoing exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

4. Use the LED Status Indicators to Save Time

In a change of pace from the rest of this series, today’s post takes a look at a positive aspect of the RED Epic: indicator lights.

(OK, so it’s not the most exciting topic, but I promise it’s useful!)

Unlike the RED One which seemed to add indicator lights on the body for no real purpose other than aesthetics, the Epic takes advantage of these lights to relay useful information about the camera.

When working with Epic, these lights are a major convenience whether you’re looking to confirm the camera is recording, check if media is running low, or want feedback that the camera is booting up.

Of course, all of that depends on your ability to read them correctly and know what you’re looking for.

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photo by: Handheld Films

From our ongoing exploration of 10 Things You Should Know Before Shooting with RED Epic:

3. You’re Limited with Monitor Outputs and Options

Having an electronic view finder (EVF), an on-camera monitor, and a director’s monitor via BNC connection is a standard monitoring setup for most camera rigs. The camera operator uses the EVF while a camera assistant references the on-board monitor for menu navigation and focus.

The director, meanwhile, can relax and enjoy the view from video village with other above-the-liners.

With the RED Epic, you can still finagle this setup, but it requires playing a bit of musical chairs.

Because, unlike the RED One which had dual outputs for RED branded LCDs and EVFs as well as an HD-SDI output, the Epic gives you one RED display output and one standard HD-SDI feed.

Essentially, you’re working down from three outputs for three monitors to two outputs for three monitors. So what does this all mean?

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