RED’s new camera will use its Hydrogen One phone as a viewfinder

Let’s be honest, the RED Hydrogen One is destined to be a niche product. With a “holographic display” and a $1,200 starting price point, the thing wasn’t really designed with mainstream consumers in mind. An announcement of a forthcoming camera from the company doesn’t do a lot to change that, but it does shed a bit more light on who, precisely, the company is targeting here.

In a press release, RED announced a partnership with 3D camera manufacturer Lucid for an upcoming product that will make interesting use of the upcoming phone. The as of yet unnamed RED camera will utilize Lucid’s tech to create 8K, 3D video, using dual 4K cameras and a beam splitter.

What’s most interesting, here, however, is that the camera will output that content to the Hydrogen One in real-time, essentially letting the phone double as a viewfinder for the camera. The company assures us that, much like the Hydrogen One itself, the unnamed camera is very much a real product.

In fact, it will be available through RED and retail partners at some point during Q4 of this year — likely months after the phone itself arrives in August. The company even showed off a preview of the product at an event last week.

Pricing, like the name, is still TBD. This being RED, however, I don’t imagine it’s going to come cheap — even with the $1,200 viewfinder sold separately.