RED Epic Dragon review 2020

introduction

RED Epic Dragon review: First camera 2020, With a 5 point gain over the Nikon D800E, the previous best-performing sensor in our database,

 Epic Dragon received the highest DxOMark score we've seen at 101 points to date. Given that the Dragon sensor is the new reference for quality,

this is even more impressive when you consider its size (similar to an APS-H size sensor) and the fact that it offers ultra-high frame rates at full resolution Shoots

With the highest scores for dynamic range and color, the new Epic Dragon sits as the best performing sensor in our database.

This is an exceptional result, with a wider dynamic range and continued demand for color depth in both still and cinema cameras.

As a non-commercial version, this camera will not be available in our public rankings. All graphs and sreenshots in this review are therefore simulations of DxOMark ranking pages.

It is difficult to believe that this sensor can transcend the Sony full-frame CMOS sensor for dynamic range and the medium format CCD imagery for color sensitivity. It does more than encroachment, with Epic Dragon topping both of these important categories.

Modular cameras, such as the Epic Dragon, are more convenient than HDSLRs in their ability to be configured for cinema work.

Add to this the fact that this camera can easily meet the expectations of photographers looking for latitude for files and tones that can deliver only low-noise and a wide-range dynamic sensor.

The new leader in this category, the prototype Epic Dragon surpasses the phase one P65 + and P65 + HR models in color sensitivity, and is higher than the powerful stage one IQ180 in our rankings.

Dragon's light-to-light capabilities are excellent, with the full-frame Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 and RX1R at ISO 2534 and 2537, respectively.

 Despite the huge gains made by RED with this sensor, the Sony A7R, Canon EOS-1Dx, Nikon D600 / 610, D4 and D800 are ahead of the Epic Dragon in this category, even though it isn't much.

 Given the physically small size of the Dragon sensor and the lack of analog gain, this score is still a major achievement.

 

 RED Epic Dragon

 

Thanks to the exceptionally low noise levels at base ISO, which in turn account for the wide dynamic range and very high color depth, Epic Dragon released the 36-mpix Nikon D800, Nikon D800E from their previously held positions And traced the Sony A7R.

Red did what Nikon had previously achieved with the Nikon D800. The Epic Dragon sits at the top position thanks to the same features that helped the Sony full-frame 36-MPX CMOS sensor achieve an extremely wide dynamic range and very high color sensitivity.

In the end, though, this camera is an excellent choice for those who are looking for a wider color depth (or location with controlled lighting) in the studio.

 The only real downside is that Epic Dragon may not have the same edge in performance at higher ISOs, with a lack of consistent gain - but this is a similar feat.

Announced four years ago and launched a year later as the killer DSLR killer ', the RED Epic camera gained media attention with its highly modular design, along with its ability to capture raw footage. The modularity of the system extends to the lens mount,

not just the common Erie PL that is popular with filmmakers. The RED, Nikon F and Canon EF mount options (the latter being fully electronic, allowing data exchange and aperture coupling) were taking over the new breed of Canon and Nikon HDSLRs. Better still, mounts, like the rest of the accessories,

require no special tools and can be swapped using a hex-key. Apart from the choice, which facilitates using the original mount of the lens, not to mention the ability to save both time and money on expensive lens conversion. As well as the f ed EF mount option, the Red Epic also offers a Leica M mount.

The example above shows the correlation for the gray level at 18% of the sensor's dynamic response on the green channel. The single peak clearly indicates that no spatial noise reduction filter is being applied in that case.

A correlation between the pixel in the center and the 4 neighboring pixels, in this second sample, indicates the possibility of very slight smoothing at a low percentage of the dynamic. This was taken into account to evaluate RAW noise before spatial noise reduction

Highest color sensitivity ever measured: exceptionally low noise at base ISO.

Comparison of SNR between Epic Dragon and Nikon D800, their base ISO (shown in print mode, normalized to 8Mpix) SNR (in dB) as a function of dynamic (in%)

Certainly, the headline news is Dragon's exceptionally low noise levels. The SNR (signal / noise ratio) curve shown above is simply outstanding - it exceeds the Nikon D4 curve for the whole of the signal response of that sensor. The shape of the response curve is also interesting.

Close to the saturation point, it exhibits a type of plateau or leveling, indicating that SNR is mostly limited by some pixel response non-uniformity and not by photonic noise.

This noise curve, coupled with a good color response, leads to very high color sensitivity. At the pixel level (screen mode), color sensitivity is simply the best ever measured.

We normally calculate color sensitivity using the 8-bit output sRGB colorspace. In this case, however, the 8-bit sRGB color space was not large enough to accurately represent the color sensitivity of the Epic Dragon. As a result, we had to switch to a 16-bit sRGB color space!


The color response of the sensor shows an unusually high sensitivity on the red channel (see graph below). This certainly contributes to the overall sensitivity of the sensor.

Also, in daylight, red and green are saturated to have almost the same performance. This yields much less amplification of the red channel,

with respect to the green that would be required for white-balancing (in D50 lights, the red-white balance scale is only 11% above the green).

Red Epic Dragon Sensor Color Reaction. 3 channels are measured with highest sensitivity

Sensor size and multiple samples.

With a sensor area 0.56 x surface area compared to a 35mm (24 x 36 mm) full frame sensor, the results are very impressive.

As sensors and image processors can provide very high frame rates, Epic Dragon is certainly adopting multiple sampling techniques to reduce noise levels (also known as temporary noise reduction).

 Without processing, such high SNR would only be possible from sensors with an exceptionally full well capacitance. Performance, it appears, above the current technical capabilities of CMOS sensors.

As a side note, it is interesting to speculate that rivals such as Nikon, Canon or Sony are already adopting such technologies during video capturing or in JPEG. But, this is the first time we can still assess this type of performance on Raw.

Digital advantage and uniformity of darkness in the field: slight weakness.

Unlike more traditional still cameras, which adopt analogue gain, cinema cameras such as Epic Dragon are not required to provide such features, as most of the footage is captured in good light (or controlled) conditions. The Epic Dragon was created with this purpose in mind.

It is also worth noting that Epic Dragon has only one ISO native 'ISO setting (ISO 250 which is measured at 104), the other is achieved by achieving digital gain.

To realize full DxOMark sensor analysis we had to apply digital gain and then emphasize the darker part of the dynamic.

RED Epic Dragon And so the problems begin ...

First, a very small row / column noise was detected on the dynamic darker part, as you can check by the line detected on the autocorrelation figure below.

This very small row / column noise does not affect the incredible dynamic range at the base ISO, but is implemented as a digital gain to achieve higher ISO settings,

 which becomes important, affecting the noise level (And the corresponding amount of spatial correlations), leading to a decrease in dynamic range (as you would expect).

We also noted a dark non-homogeneity in the region: the average value can vary from 1 to 3 grayscale shades (for 16-bits per sample pixel). While this is not important for the base ISO, we had to keep this in mind by extrapolating the high ISO sensitivity settings.

Traditional DSLRs benefit from analog gain that tends to increase read noise and fix pattern noise in a smaller way than pure digital gain.

This explains why the Epic Dragon has lower-light performance than the top DSLR, despite its quality. Therefore for cameras, where lighting cannot be controlled, analog gain is preferred.

This is not such a high priority with a cinema camera, but the Epic Dragon produces a lot of good-looking files and can be used safely up to ISO 3000 nearby with an excellent image quality.

While the output results and quality from this specially optimized Epic Dragon are terrible, it is all the more extraordinary considering the size and pixel pitch of the sensor. It is hard to imagine being disappointed with Dragon's performance (probably at a higher ISO).

Given the price tag of the Epic Dragon, this camera is not for everyone, but it will appeal to those who demand the most granular color and with the widest possible dynamic range.

More importantly, the ability to select a high-quality photograph from a film sequence will be invaluable to imaging professionals from time to time in the studio or elsewhere.

 While it will take some time to filter out consumer level HD-DSLRs, this new technology can change the way we shoot both footage and stills forever.