Kipper, I now admit I have the RED in a “partnership” with a movie maker and I would only use it for video as the body is not waterproof and not easy to handhold with your models. But no question about the image quality. From a balcony in Las Vegas I works. Of course I would want the Leica cine lenses but they go for over $100,000.
A comment on rationalizing an S2.
I bought it for the lenses and have not been disappointed. I can’t imaging them ever going out of date. The S2 has had enough firmware updates that I can already call it an S2.5. The real question when moving to an S system is do you have any legacy issues from other MF cameras? Can you wait for the system to develop the other lenses you may need. In my case I needed a wide and didn’t buy into the S system until the 35mm was available. Now enough lenses are available except for a really long telephoto, assuming you don’t need the CS lenses this month.
Regarding the cost. Do your really need this much resolution? I do huge prints. That’s way I justified MF. But it still is a lot of money. If you are not shooting for money, but photography is a passion, I would argue that $30,000 to get you into this system is less than a really nice boat or car and some people use their camera more than they would use a car or boat for fun. As Kipper and I will tell you, the crazy part of the S2 world is that once you can rationalize a $7000 lens, you start being able to see your need for $1,200 tripods and $300 filters and $3,000 computers. There is no way to rationalize cutting corners on any other part of your system under the “weakest link” concern. BTW I can rationalize a $7000 lens by saying Leica lenses never seem to depreciate as much as other gear.
Happy Thanksgiving David