Latest RED camera is going to be ultra portable

Originally Posted by Frank Grygier

Red is trying to capitalize on the iPhone filmmaker craze.

Apple will probably buy RED.

[Bill Strehl]

I am guessing there will be something hands on @ NAB 2018. Foxconn has a booth in Central Hall (C3118) and I have never seen them at previous shows. In addition, while Red Cinema is not exhibiting at the show they have 3 meeting rooms reserved in North Hall.

[Bill Strehl]

I just discovered that Foxconn is no longer listed for booth C3118. Sharp is now listed for that booth and on the NABShow website they indicate their 8K camera will be shown. So much for my Red/Foxconn theory:-( I guess it is now the Sharp/Foxconn theory:-)

[Chris Hurd]

The 8K Sharp mentioned above by Bill:

Sharp announces 8C-B60A 8K Professional Camcorder

[Ryan Jones]

Originally Posted by Bill Strehl

I just discovered that Foxconn is no longer listed for booth C3118. Sharp is now listed for that booth and on the NABShow website they indicate their 8K camera will be shown. So much for my Red/Foxconn theory:-( I guess it is now the Sharp/Foxconn theory:-)

Foxconn bought Sharp so wouldn’t rule that theory out just yet :)

[Bill Strehl]

Originally Posted by Ryan Jones

Foxconn bought Sharp so wouldn’t rule that theory out just yet :)

It's hard to imagine the strong personalities at Red letting Foxconn brand a camera they are involved with have a brand other than Red, but I found this post by Engadget mentioning Phil Holland and a Sharp 8K monitor which involves Red and Sharp:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/02/...rp-8k-monitor/

[Andrew Smith]

I missed this at the time: (from https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/29/...eview-all-hype)

RED’s debut smartphone is such a mess that it made me question what fundamental parts of a phone we truly need. Does a great phone truly need a great display, great design, and top-of-the-line specs? What if it ditched all of those things in pursuit of something far more unique and special?

The Hydrogen One is defined by its ambition. It’s meant to revolutionize not just phones, but all of media with a “holographic” display and a camera system capable of recording into this 3D format. The phone is also expandable, and RED — one of the most esteemed names in digital imaging — plans to release an add-on camera sensor that’s capable of transforming the phone into a full-on cinema camera.

It’s an exciting prospect, but it all comes crashing down because of one immense flaw: the holographic display just isn’t very good. It’s a novelty. And while you can occasionally see glimmers of the potential that RED might have seen in this tech, it’s certainly not present in this generation of the phone, and it’s hard to imagine that potential being realized any time soon.

There is more at the above link.

Some may comment that this is perfectly normal for new Red products. :-)

Andrew

[Andrew Smith]

So in response they are now developing (you guessed it already) version 2 of the phone.

... and founder Jim Jannard has offered a partial explanation while announcing the first details on the device’s successor. In a post on the Hydrogen-focused H4Vuser.net website, Jannard blames the Hydrogen One’s unnamed Chinese ODM (original design manufacturer) for having “significantly under-performed” and making it “impossible” to fix the issues with the phone.

Now Jannard’s attention is on the Hydrogen Two as well as a long-promised camera module that will work with both phones. The Hydrogen Two is being designed “virtually from scratch” in partnership with a new ODM that is “clearly more capable of building and supporting the product we (and our customers) demand,” Jannard says.

Those who ponied up for the first phone will be looked after, they say. More on this and other aspects can be found here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/24/2...-camera-module

Andrew

[Chris Hurd]

In the *very* short time that I spent with Jim Jannard -- which was over the course of one work day back in Dec. 2005 -- what I learned about him is that basically, if there is something that he would very much like to have that does not yet exist, then he wills it directly into existence, all roadblocks and resistance be damned. That goes for wrap-around sunglasses, digital cinema cameras, a phone that meets his expectations of smartness. His ability to make things happen does indeed impress me greatly.

[Andrew Smith]

Aye, and now it's all over.

The Red Hydrogen One was a phone from another dimension. It was big, super heavy, and was billed the world’s first holographic phone. Except it never quite delivered, and now, alongside a retirement announcement, Red Founder Jim Jannard is cancelling Red’s Hydrogen project altogether.

Existing handsets will continue to receive support updates.

Andrew

[Chris Hurd]

Yowza. Best wishes to Jim and family.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Yowza. Best wishes to Jim and family.

Yep, Jimbo is a brilliant guy -- just wish he (Red) would somehow turn this phone into a snazzy point & shoot camera.

-- peer

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

(Red) ... snazzy point & shoot camera.

Agreed. I'd buy that.