Is DSMC the Future of Image Capture?

What is DSMC you ask? It's an acronym, of course. But acronyms are meaningless without knowing what the letters represent. In this case, DSMC stands for Digital Stills and Motion Camera. In other words, it's a video camera capable of capturing both still images as well as motion pictures in a incestuous marriage of two, closely related, technologies.

DSMC is the brain-child of RED Digital Cinema Camera Company founder and CEO, Jim Jannard. Jannard is also the founder of Oakley, Inc., a popular and successful eyewear and apparel company. Talk about diverse companies!

RED isn't the first company hawking products that marry still and motion capture. Heck, many cell phones can do that; not to mention point-and-shoots and high-end dSLRs like Canon's 5D MkII. RED's newest, however, takes these convergent technologies to new heights.

I'm not going to catalogue the tech specs of RED's new camera lines, EPIC and Scarlet. You can have a look-see for yourself by CLICKING HERE. Instead, I'll simply describe RED's newest, modular, technological marvels with a single word: Wow!


Of course, "Wow!" comes with a price. And the price won't be cheap. But think about it, leastwise in terms of image capture at the higher levels of production: The ability to shoot digital stills with equal or greater quality than a (digital) medium format camera while also capturing motion pictures with the high-definition resolution of almost any of the pro, digital cinema cameras out there? Fuhgedaboudit! And how about this modular system letting you still use your investments in optics, whether it's Canon or Nikon glass?

Wow!

The eye-candy at the top is Monica from some time ago. Shot Monica in the backyard of a location home in the San Fernando valley at/around mid-day. I placed Monica in a shady area and used 3 studio lights to illuminate her. Couldn't let a pretty girl like Aussie born-n-raised Monica wilt in the sun. Shrimp on the bar-bee anyone? With Monica tending the grill?