Nov 29, 2010 15:52 GMT  ·  By

We're pretty sure that every true fan of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is now eagerly waiting for its equally famous prequel, “The Hobbit”, and we've got some pretty good news for you, namely the fact that it would seem that Peter Jackson plans to employ some of the world's most famous high-end imaging systems in order to create a 3D masterpiece, namely the RED EPIC Digital camera systems.

As Jim Jannard, RED's (and Oakley's) founder informs us in an entry on the REDUSER forums, it would seem that the famous director has decided to employ the soon to be released EPIC Digital Cameras in order to work on its latest 2-part epic masterpiece.

Furthermore, “The Hobbit” will be amongst the first productions in the world to use the EPIC and at least thirty cameras will be required by the 3-D production.

The successor to RED's already famous RED ONE, the EPIC has 5K resolution, can shoot up to 120 frames per second and has a new HDRx mode for a very high dynamic range. Jackson has a long history with RED, dating back to when he directed the short film 'Crossing the Line' as a very early test of prototype RED ONE cameras. "I have always liked the look of Red footage." Peter Jackson said, according to REDUSER. "I'm not a scientist or mathematician, but the image Red produces has a much more filmic feel than most of the other digital formats. “I find the picture quality appealing and attractive, and with the Epic, Jim and his team have gone even further. It is a fantastic tool, the Epic not only has cutting edge technology, incredible resolution and visual quality, but it is also a very practical tool for film makers,” added Mr. Jackson. "Everybody at RED is incredibly proud that Peter has chosen the Epic" says Jannard, "The Hobbit is a major production, and could have chosen any camera system that they wanted. The fact that they went with us is extremely gratifying." The Hobbit will start shooting in New Zealand early next year, and we're quite obviously really looking forward to seeing the results of the combined work of Mr. Jackson, Jim Jannard and, last but certainly not least, J.R.R. Tolkien.