The RED EPIC is bound to get all you beta testers excited. Yeah, another “Beta” Cam that will be developed at the cost of your time. At 40K, hopefully you’ll ask yourself — what is my time worth? — before plunking down the cash. You see right off the bat the EPIC shoots in 5K, now there is nothing wrong with having the most number of pixels, but the “mine is bigger than yours” attitude will only get you into more trouble.
After finishing NAB 2008, I have to admit that there are only a couple of companies out there who do 4K edit/post production, Da Vinci and Filmlight come to mind. Now these systems are super expensive, but they do the job and they do it nicely. Now imagine it’s 2009, you’ve got yourself a brand new RED EPIC and have shot your fist motion picture. How do you edit it?, How do you do DI on it?, How do you even play it back? Nope the other RED vapourware — RED RAY — will not save you as it does NOT play 5K and to top it off, no projector manufacturer is doing 5K or is even planning on it……So basically you’ve bought yourself a NON STANDARD “BETA” CAM. I’m sure you’re very happy. Good luck!!!