RED challenges the world: bring your best cinema camera to our June 4th face-off

Arri, Canon, and all other camera makers that consider themselves capable of producing cinema-quality 4K footage have been invited to a challenge by RED founder and CEO Jim Jannard. His premise is simplicity itself: any company can bring its own cameras and technicians, and process footage however it sees fit, with the goal being to provide a side-by-side shooting comparison. Of course, there aren’t that many cameras out there that can produce truly high-fidelity 4K footage, but that’s also the point Jim’s trying to make. The resulting video will be exhibited in 2K and 4K — on screens up to 40 feet in size — and will be compared in terms of dynamic range, resolution, color, and frame frate.

The outspoken Jannard has already received a positive response from a camera rental company, which has offered to provide the gear from competing companies, now all he needs is to see the actual competitors turn up and accept his challenge. The date Jannard has set is June 4th and the location is the RED studios in Hollywood.

Update: Just two days after announcing the competition, RED CEO and founder Jim Jannard has canceled the competiiton, saying that “several companies have refused to participate,” and that “the grief and complication don’t warrant the effort.”