RED Announces Helium — An 8K Super 35mm Sensor
RED builds a breathtaking custom camera for Michael Bay. The BAYHEM features the company’s all new 8K Super 35mm sensor.
Top image via RED/Jarred Land
Leave it to Michael Bay to get the latest custom RED camera, one that looks a bit like a Transformer itself. The BAYHEM camera features an eye-popping lime green paint job — but its most impressive feature is an all-new RED sensor.
Image: Michael Bay’s custom 8K Super 35mm RED Camera via Jarred Land
The 8K super 35mm sensor has been nicknamed Helium, which is the first of a new 3.65 micron sensor line of cameras. The 8K super 35mm Helium will soon be available for WEAPON sensor upgrades, with plans for a new Epic-W using the new tech.
Image: Michael Bay’s custom 8K Super 35mm RED Camera via Jarred Land
As many of you might have noticed, our new Helium 3.65 micron pixel is complete and ahead of schedule… WAY ahead of schedule. Helium’s first sensor is the 8K s35 build on a completely new sensor line and will be available to WEAPON customers in the coming months. (Or the coming weeks for those that know where to look.) Helium will take pressure off our DRAGON sensor lines and allow those lines to completely focus on RAVON and SCARLET-W sensors. — Jarred Land, President RED Digital Cinema
Here’s a great look at the sensor tech matched up to RED’s other sensors and other popular film formats from Phil Holland via the RedUser forum.
Image via PHFX
Compared to the new 8K Vista Vision sensor being tested on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Helium has much smaller and denser pixels. Guardians director James Gunn is on record expressing his excitement for the 8K Vista Vision because of the massive amount of data they could get for VFX heavy films.
The large sensor size and super high resolution offered by the new WEAPON 8K, combined with its lightweight and compact size open up a whole range of new creative possibilities. — James Gunn
As far as custom builds go, Bay isn’t the only one getting awesome cameras from RED. David Fincher recently scored the Alien-inspired RED Xenomorph for his Netflix original, Mindhunter.
What are you thoughts on this new Michael Bay beast? Let us know in the comments below.
