Red Komodo X Vrs Canon C70

I owned the original Komodo and used it on multiple feature films and it became by far my most financially successful Red camera I had ever bought.  Because of the low fame rates but great Raw workflow I used it mostly on narrative film work and used my Canon C70 for everything else like corporate, commercial and music videos as it was easier to operate as a self shooter and I could shoot slow-motion at 120fps in 4k.  

I traded it for the Komodo X as I felt it might be more robust for film set conditions and had the option to shoot 4k at 120fps slow-motion if needed.  In the mean time the C70 had gained internal Raw recording so the cameras were getting closer together.  My feature film work has really dried up since buying the Komodo X so I haven’t really used it much and I started to think to myself that these cameras are very similar spec wise now and do I really need the Red.  

So I thought I would compare them both in Raw Light modes and see how they look straight out of camera and if there is much or any difference in the quality of the image.  I wanted to compare the 120fps quality as well even though the C70 can only do that in Canons own compressed 10bit codec.  I thought they would either be so similar I could sell the Komodo X without worrying too much or that the Komodo X would outperform the C70 to enough of a degree that I can start using it on more commercial shoots and putting up with the slightly more difficult usability.  I did not compare dynamic range really as I was unsure the best way to do that.  Thinking about it I should have had a colour chart board in the shot which might have shown something interesting to go on.  I also did not do any stress tests as I wanted to compare them in normal shooting conditions.  

So onto the comparison and we see straight out of camera that the Komodo X has a slight blue shift and looks quite cold.  The C70 looks warmer and more pleasing.   Going by the white socks and using the RGB picker in Davinci reveals the C70 is the same on each channel with the Komodo X lacking a bit in the green channel. So the C70 is more natural and colour accurate straight out of camera.  On the 5 times zooms we see a very subtle sharpness boost for the Komodo X as its shooting in 6K rather then 4K.  I would have expected this to be more noticeable to be honest as the difference is minimal.  The closer up shots don’t really reveal anything else and fine detail looks about the same.  

The Auto focus test surprised me a lot as I think the Red camera actually stuck to the face much better then the Canon.  The only issue is when the face gets hidden the focus snapped to the background in a very electronic way.  I think this could be usable for certain shots though and quite impressive from a Red camera.

Finally the slow-mo which I was very curious about. I expected a little noise from the Komodo as its cropping the sensor slightly to get to 4K and its Raw.  However I expected more sharpness and detail then the Canon.  I was surprised I did not see any more sharpness or detail…I only saw more noise and once that noise is removed then I would expect the C70 to be sharper. This was a big win for the C70.  

My final thoughts are that for my current needs I didn’t see the Red Komodo X offering me anything I couldn’t use the Canon C70 for as now the C70 has Raw as well I don’t see why it couldn’t do the job on a film set.  Producers may lean towards the Red for the name but in practical terms I don’t see many differences except the slightly higher resolution.  Also while doing this test I forgot how fiddly the Komodo is to use compared to the C70. As soon as the Red is on a tripod it becomes impossible to see the menu screen to change settings without tilting the tripod head right back. As all the buttons are on the top and the menu does not come up on the connected monitor it becomes difficult to use.   I know the work arounds for this but they all require extra bits of kit or using your phone. The C70 has a twisty side screen to see the menu and has multiple buttons on the back of the camera so I never have this problem plus it boots up much faster.  There are many advantages to the Red Komodo X that I haven’t mentioned such as the global shutter, 16bit Raw rather than 12bit on the Canon as well as the potentially useful gyro information the Komodo captures.   However to be honest none of them really effect how I work much so they are fairly irrelevant.  

The downsides to the C70 are the max 4k resolution which is a bit limiting for reframing on 4k delivery projects and Final Cut still does not have a fully functioning Canon Raw workflow as you still can’t change ISO or white balance which is kind of nuts.  In Davinci it allows these corrections though so thats something.  Overall my conclusion is to sell my Red Komodo X and offer up my Canon C70 and Canon R5C as a pair to film productions in the future.  It might not sound as sexy but the results will be pretty much the same and Im tired of keeping expensive cameras just incase a indie film producers demand it.  

Do you guys have any thoughts?  Let me know in the comments.  

TJK  

Meet My Vintage Film Camera Collection

I actually only started investing in old film cameras a year ago when in June 2023 I bought a Koniflex TLR camera from Japan mainly as something that would look cool on my desk. From there I fell down a rabbit hole of buying old classic cameras and spent hours watching Youtube videos and scanning eBay for bargains. My buying addiction continued with 6 further cameras and came to a head just before Xmas 2023 when I bought the famous Hasselblad 500C camera. After selling a few I’m now happy and settled with my collection and look forward to getting better at using the cameras I have rather then scanning eBay for deals. Many of them have already gone up in value since I bought them. Here’s the list

Koniflex - TLR 6X6 Medium Format Camera - 1955 - Japan

TLR stands for Twin Lens Reflex.  You have a viewing lens and a taking lens which is the reason for this iconic design. I just love the way this camera looks.  It is the oldest camera I own being made in 1955 and I find it amazing that this purely mechanical machine is still working perfectly after all this time. I spotted this camera while looking for a Rolleiflex and after some research realised this one had a 5 element Hexanon 85mm lens and I fell in the love with the images I saw online.  This was bought on eBay from Japan. 

Rollei 35 T - 35mm Camera - 1978 - West Germany

The worlds smallest fully mechanical full frame 35mm camera from Rollei who were famous for their Rolleiflex cameras of the 1950s and 60s.  The Queen owned one and used it throughout the 1980s.  This is a special camera in history and the size is hardly bigger then the roll of film that goes into it.  Focus is achieved by something called ‘Zone Focusing’ where you work out how many feet are in focus from your aperture and focus point.  Once mastered it makes this camera very fast to use but not great for close portraits unless you have a measuring tape handy. 

Canon 514XL - Super 8mm Movie Camera - 1975 - Japan

This camera is the only film camera on this list I have used for paid work.  It shoots Super 8mm Kodak cartridges 2 1/2 minutes in duration (50 feet of film) at 18 frames per second.  The resulting footage is quite magical and useful for creating that authentic 1960s & 70s home video look.  I bought this camera off someone who had hardly used it since 1975 and it was still in its box.  It takes AA batteries and works perfectly.  It is very fun to use as it has a trigger to shoot like a gun.  However because you only get 2 1/2 minutes per cartridge and the cartridges and development are so expensive (£80 for film, dev and scan) you have to edit in your head and only shoot the things you actually want to use for the edit.  A world away from digital where you can shoot as much as you like.  It is probably quite a good training exercise to get me to think more about what im shooting and how each shot will be used.  I just wish the film and development wasn’t so expensive.

Leica R4 - 35mm SLR Camera - 1981 - West Germany

I decided last year I wanted to buy a camera that was made the same year I was born.  So I did some research on what cameras came out in 1981.  Around that time by chance I came across this Leica R4 photo manual book published in 1981 by Hove Foto books down the road from where I lived in Brighton. I took this as a sign and spent months looking for a decent copy of the camera.  I ended up building one up from different bits I found and now have this mint condition copy from 1981 and its works and sounds fantastic.  I also tracked down the 28mm F2.8, 50mm F2 and 90mm F2 Leica lenses which were all more expensive then the camera. The camera came in the original presentation box from Leica and is something I really enjoy owning.

Hasselblad 500C - SLR 6X6 Medium Format Camera - 1968 - Sweden

This camera is probably the jewel in the crown of my film camera collection.  It is certainly the one that cost the most but I got a bit of a bargain on it.  I was’t actually meaning to buy one but saw it on eBay that had a few bits missing. He was using a Pringles lid as a body cap and the lens had a lot of fungus in it.  Even with all these problems the price was too good to turn down and I decided to take the risk.  I probably wouldn’t have taken the risk if I didn’t know the guys at Camserve in East Sussex.  They are experts at bringing old cameras back to life and considering their knowledge and skills they are reasonably priced as well.  I took the Hasselblad to them for a full service and to get the lens cleaned inside and out to remove the fungus.  Amazingly they did a perfect job and along with buying the official Hasselblad accessories it was missing it is now a fully functioning Hasselblad worth 4-5 times what I paid.  The camera is my favourite camera on this list to use.  I have spent hours just firing the shutter with no film in it as its so satisfying.  The camera comes apart like a gun and is a marvel of engineering.  Its fully mechanical and is capable of taking photos of a arguably better quality then even my Canon R5C £5000 45MP modern professional digital camera.  Its the only camera on this list that isn’t from Japan or West Germany and must be one of Sweden’s finest moments.  I’m looking forward to shooting a lot of film with this camera this summer.  

Going forward I think the only addition I might make is a 1990s Canon Film SLR as I already have 50s,60s,70s and 80s covered.  If anyone has any questions about any of these cameras or film cameras in general then drop me a message.  If you want to contact the good guys at Camserve then their website is http://camserve.co.uk

Thanks for reading

TJK

Crazy amounts of Fungus on this Zeiss Hasselblad lens. Always keep cameras and lenses in a dry place.

Shooting with the Koniflex last autumn.

Meet My Lenses For Every Occasion - From Modern to Vintage Glass

Lenses are usually seen as better investments then cameras as they are for the most part made using physics and glass rather then computer chips. So a great lens made in the 1970s is still a great lens today but might just have a different look to it. What is better is much more down to personal preference of the user or that particular project.

Below I will take you through my lens collection and give a brief explanation of why I bought them and what kind of projects they would be suited for.

Canon EF Glass

24-70mm F2.8 II, 14mm F2.8 II, 35mm F2, 100mm F2.8 Macro, 50mm F1.2, 70-200mm F2.8 II, 2x Extender III

These lenses are the ones I use the most and often with my Canon C70 camera. They are full frame and work on all my cameras with an adapter. The star of the show being the 24-70mm F2.8 II which I have shot whole projects with just that one lens. It has a useful range from wide to medium with nice smooth bokeh wide open at 2.8.

Canon RF Glass

14-35mm F4 & 70-200mm F4

I have only just bought these as I have been quite happy using my EF lenses with adapters. I got these purely to use with my Canon R5C camera as thats my small B cam for gimbal work. I wanted to have better autofocus performance and lose the need for the adapter which adds to the lenses length. Both these lenses are much more compact and lighter weight then their EF equivalents and benefit further from better autofocus and not needing to use an adapter. They are also pin sharp if thats the kind of look your going for. I have no plans to replace all my EF lenses with these new RF ones however as the EF mounted ones are much more adaptable to different cameras.

Carl Zeiss 1975 Vintage Lenses

25mm F2.8, 35mm F2.8, 50mm F1.4, 85mm F2.8 & 135mm F2.8

This was my home project during the covid lockdowns. I researched these Carl Zeiss lenses (originally with Contax mounts) and how to adapt them to EF mount and for cinema use by adding focus gears onto them. I decided I wanted a whole set from the same year, 1975. They also all have the same filter size of 55mm so they make a great set. It was very nerve racking taking these old lenses apart to re-mount them but they all work great. To finish the kit off I bought a 1970s briefcase and hired a company to adapt it into a lens case. I am quite proud of this set and they are often used on music videos and vintage fashion films. Here is a link to a film shot using this set. - Vintage Clothing Fashion Film with Khari Holland

Canon CNE Cine Prime Set

24mm T1.5 , 50mm T1.3 & 85mm T1.3

These are the lenses I lusted after for around 5 years before I could afford them. They are the lenses I use for my most important projects and the ones that impress clients the most. I love them and despite many offers, I would never sell them. Here is a link to my short film shot with this set - Terror London

Vazen X1.8 Anamorphic RF Lenses

28mm T2.2 & 65mm T2

I window shopped for anamorphic lenses for years and years before finally this year opting for the Vazens. They have true anamorphic character with a slight vintage look and come in RF mount which fits all my cameras I own currently. I love the 28mm as its small and light enough to be used on a gimbal while the 65mm big brother has really beautiful anamorphic bokeh for head-shots. The Vazens have the iconic Sci-fi horizontal blue flares and I can’t wait to use them on a project. I think they would be most suitable for feature films but any project that wanted that distinct anamorphic look could benefit from them.

Leica R Lenses

28mm F2.8, 50mm F2 & 90mm F2

My newest purchase bought mainly to go with my new ‘1981’ Leica film camera. These lenses are famous of course and for good reason. They sit between my 1975 Carl Zeiss lenses and my 1990s-early 2000’s Canon EF glass for their look. The 90mm is late 70s and the 28 and 50 are from the mid-1980s. They still look vintage like the Zeiss but have a warmer and more refined look to them. They have a very long focus throw and have half stop aperture clicks. They are also just beautiful objects in their own right. I bought them mainly for stills but can put them on any of my video cameras with my Leica R to EF adapter giving my clients another option to shoot their projects on Leica glass.

If you have any questions about my lenses or if your interested in renting them please get in touch via info@tomjkelly.com

TJK.

THE FLEET - MEET MY DIGITAL CAMERA COLLECTION

Lots of professionals say the camera is just a tool and it doesn’t matter what one you use if you have talent.  I agree with the sentiment of that but I have loved cameras since I was very young and a camera will always be more than just a tool to me.  They are magic boxes capable of capturing beautiful memories both from the real world and also from our imaginations. I love holding them and I love owning them.  

Me with a camera around 2 years old.

Below im going to take you through each digital camera I own, going through why I bought it and how it fits into my productions and workflow.

Canon EOS C70

I bought the C70 during the covid lockdown at a time when I was trying to downsize my kit.  This camera replaced my Sony FS7 as my workhorse camera that has a great image, XLR inputs for good sound and most importantly internal ND filters up to 10 stops.  I was shooting Canon EF glass on my FS7 with a speed booster so moving over to a Canon camera with its better out of camera colours and useable autofocus was very much a no brainer for me.  I use this with the speed booster making it a full frame EF mount camera.  75% of my work is done using this camera.  

Canon R5C

This camera was bought mainly as a B camera for the C70 seeing as it shoots the same colour profiles and file types.  As a bonus it also finally replaces my Sony A7R2 camera that was stolen in Ecuador 3-4 years ago as my main high resolution stills camera.  When filming, this camera spends its life on a gimbal or motorised slider mostly.  It does shoot 8K so would become an A cam for any projects that demand that kind of resolution but im yet to shoot any 8K on it.

Red Komodo

I have owned many Red cameras over they years as I always like using them on feature film projects as I love their RAW workflow and colours. This Komodo replaced my Red Gemini as I no longer wanted to own a camera worth £25K and also liked the Komodo as it was smaller and lighter so fitted into my downsizing ideas.  I use it with the Canon speed-booster  which gives me a slightly larger then full frame (large format) look.  I jokingly call this camera my Mini-Monstro.  I have shot 3 feature films so far with this and it has paid itself off many times over.  The first Red I have ever owned to do so.  Great camera!

Fujifilm X100V

This camera was mainly bought as a compact high quality stills camera with cool film simulations  that could be used as a ‘Behind the Scenes’ camera on larger film productions.  Its a great fun camera to shoot with and gorgeous to look at.  However in all honesty I have only used it as a travel camera so far but for that purpose, it could be my favourite stills camera I have ever owned.  Have never shot any video on it although shooting video with the Fujifilm Eterna simulation would be cool. 

GoPro Hero 11

I have never been a huge fan of GoPro’s and feel they are often overused.  However there’s no denying that for anything near water or mounted to a car or other fast moving object in bright daylight they give you images easily that are hard to get with other cameras.  As long as they are never used at night the image is not awful and has improved over the years.  Im in love with the hyper-lapse mode which I use a lot.    

DJI Mini 3 Pro

And finally….How this camera fits into my workflow is fairly obvious…….aerial shots.  I had a Mini 2 for a while and crashed it flying backwards into a brick wall in London so the Mini 3 caught my eye as it has front and back sensors to stop that happening.  Since flying it I have managed to crash sideways into a tree.  So hopefully the Mini 4 will have side sensors as well! I do still have a certain amount of flying anxiety with all the rules and ease of which drones are to crash. However I only use it on my own productions and never advertise myself as a drone operator.  I have got it out for simple shots on commercial jobs Im DOP on as one quick aerial shot can add value to a project.  I love the images coming off this drone and its also great for stills especially with its vertical mode. Being under 250g means the rules are a lot more relaxed for flying as well. 

Thats a quick breakdown of the cameras I use on my productions. Next I will take you through all the different types of lenses I use including vintage glass! Take care and thanks for reading.

TJK

5 THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN SHOOTING YOUR FIRST MUSIC VIDEO

• KNOW YOUR STYLE…….Be confident and knowledgeable about your look and style and know what you want to portray. This should be consistent and fit the type of music you produce. The meaning of the song can come into play here as well but its best to have an consistent style that you put through all your video work.

Still from my music video I shot for the Chemical Brothers song ‘One Too Many Mornings’

• SEE THE IDEA THROUGH…….Many musicians and bands change their mind before a video has been finished. Being too fickle can cost you time and money as reshoots are often similar in price to paying for a video all over again. If you are a solo artist this is far easier to achieve. If you are in a band I suggest hiring a manager before making a music video who can help advise and be your point of contact with the person creating your video.

• BE BOLD……..A music video is a great chance for you to build your fanbase so try to create a video that has not been done a million times before. Standing out from the crowd is the name of the game here and this can be achieved with elaborate set piece shots, the clothes you wear, lighting and editing techniques. Don’t worry, not everything you do has to be completely original. As long as you take inspiration from many different places and put them together in an interesting way you can find your own unique style.

Still from a short film called ‘Terror London’ I shot in 2019.

• USE COLOUR………It can be a good idea to build the look of your video using 2-3 core colours. Then any props or costumes can adhere to this colour scheme. This kind of thoughtful production design can really elevate your video above others. This idea can be accentuated using colour grading to complete the look. Ask your shooting director to create a mood board for the video so that everyone is singing from the same hymn-sheet.

• LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION………By far the most important aspect of creating a memorable music video is to find some visually interesting locations to film in. Its important that the location has some contrasting colours as well as details that can enhance the videos mood. If finding amazing locations becomes too difficult then shooting in a more familiar location at night with battery powered lights can make that location look completely different. TJK

A still from a fashion shoot collaboration with Khari Holland, shot in July 2022.

If you would like any more advise or hire me to shoot your music video then feel free to contact me on info@tomjkelly.com. Music Videos