$14K for the kit.
A disappointing day

Well, it sounds good relative to the competition.
Is it really an S35 sensor?

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? Have you seen the specs??? Right off the site, just a few minutes ago. I want one.



SCARLET-X

Overview
Features
Tech Specs

Camera Views





Camera Views
SENSOR 14 MEGAPIXEL MYSTERIUM-X™
PIXEL ARRAY 5120 (h) x 2700 (v)
DYNAMIC RANGE 13.5 stops, up to 18 stops with HDRx™ 6 fps with 5K FF and HDRx On 12 fps with 4K HD and HDRx™ On
MAX IMAGE AREA 5120 (h) x 2700 (v)
LENS COVERAGE 27.7mm (h) x 14.6mm (v) = 31.4 mm (d)
LENS MOUNT Al Canon EF (PL mount optional)
MAX DEPTH OF FIELD Equivalent to S35mm (Motion) / APS-H (Still) lenses
ACQUISITION FORMATS 5K FF REDCODE RAW (Full Frame)
4K HD REDCODE RAW
3K HD REDCODE RAW
1080p REDCODE RAW
1K REDCODE RAW
PROJECT FRAME RATES 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 47.96, 48, 50, 59.97
MONITOR/PROGRAM OUTPUT HD-SDI and HDMI with Frame Guides and Look Around or Clean Feed 1080p 4:2:2, 720p 4:2:2 SMPTE Timecode, HANC Metadata, 24-bit 48Khz Audio
DIGITAL MEDIA REDMAG (SSD) Module : (64, 128, 256GB Media)
REDCODE™ 16-bit RAW Processing : Compression choices of 18:1 to 3:1
1-12 fps 5K FF
1-30 fps 4K HD
1-48 fps 3K HD
1-60 fps 1080p HD
1-120 fps 1K
AUDIO 2 channel, uncompressed, 24 bit, 48KHz.
Optional 4 channel, and AES / EBU digital audio.
MONITORING OPTIONS RED LCD 5" Touchscreen Display
BOMB EVF™ High Definition Viewfinder
REMOTE CONTROL REDLINK Wireless, Ethernet, RS232, GPI Trigger
WEIGHT 5lbs. Body only
CONSTRUCTION Aluminum Alloy
COLOR Battleship Gray Brain Body, Black Canon Mount and Side SSD, All DSMC Modules Black
TEMPERATURE RANGES Operating Range: 0˚C to +40˚C (32˚F to 104˚F)
Storage Range: -20˚C to +50˚C (-4˚F to 122˚F)

According to TechCrunch, Red said it would ship November 17.

I want one too. Incredible camera.

I remember dropping about $13K back in mid-2005 for the first-model JVC ProHD camera (fully kitted out).

And that was for 720p. (Wow!) And onto an unreliable mini-DV tape with an MPEG-2 codec.

It's amazing how quickly times change.

For around the same amount today (or after December 1st), I can shoot 4K (probably about 3.2K debayered) in 24p and 25p.

Personally, I'd call that progress!

Coming from a PAL area, my primary needs are 24p and 25p. But I do understand the disappointment of those in NTSC areas who need 30p (no 4K).

I've been heavily considering an F3 because of a couple of jobs coming up next year, but this announcement is right in my ballpark.

My biggest query on the Scarlet is whether the cut-down electronics (internally) will have an adverse affect on image quality.

Edit: The initial Twitter feed I was following said that it maxed out at 25 fps for 4K, but I see in a post above it says Scarlet will also do 4K at 30 fps. Good news for everyone!

$14K for the kit.
A disappointing day

Thats a bargain... though a bit of a step up from $3000 :)
I'd happily pay that for those specs.

For me it's a rent, not a buy at $14K.

The NAB 2008 price announced by Red was ~$3K for the body. It's not like people made up their own expectations.

Yeah, but the $3K price was for a 2/3" sensor.

This is a rent for me too. But with a DSLR for day to day shooting, it's the best of all worlds.

1080p @ 60fps in REDCODE RAW is pretty sweet.

OMG, what happened to the Scarlet Fixed? Of course, the Scarlet now seems to be a great camera, but I would have preferred the camera Ted Schilowitz showed around: 2/3" sensor and fast 8x zoom. Only a few months ago, we were officially told the Scarlet Fixed would cost around $6000, and now it got completely scrapped and replaced by a slowed down Epic brain for $10000? RED is famous for changing each and everything, but that's hard to believe and really disappointing.

I'm blown away! It's a RED ONE but smaller and less $$'s, with a canon mount? Nice:)

Im wondering what prints from the 4k video footage will look like.
Thats all I care about.
Not sure if we're there yet but closer no doubt.

Baffled at today's news. Canon...$20k?? Out of their damn minds!

Red...$14k package without a lens, and a just a single 64gb ssd?
To shoot in the real world it's gonna be $20k but at least it'll do 4k and some higher frame rates at 30p...but what happened to the 120fps 30p?

The 1Dx is actually looking like a viable option for video and would give me a killer still cam for 1/3 the price...then again...my 7D footage still makes my clients' jaws drop and keeps em comin back for more!

Guess I'm not ready to step up to the next level!

Media professionals don't know much about how much things really cost. I read that it is using Epic sensors that were not up to putting in the Epic camera. If so, there will be only a certain amount in excess, and they can afford to charge more to restrict demand. Simply, commonly used economic strategy. This might explain, in part, the change in strategy from the $7k s35 scarlet to the Epic S, now Scarlet X strategy, to leverage the cost benefit from sharing the Epic sensor line when they saw the spread of quality in the sensors coming off the line. It is not uncommon in the silicon chip industry to see a spread in performance of manufactured chips. Intel used to sell under performing chips, I believe, as lower speed chips, or crippled to be celerons etc, years ago. I had been planning my own Digital Cinema camera products in times past, and been involved with the development of others, and being designing my own non camera product projects for years, so have some idea.

Unfortunately the economy might seem against a less expensive mass produced model. As the cost reductions from mass production are to a great portion based on mass sales to enthusiasts, internet and video journalists outside mainstream big media) and small video producers who all are less likely to afford to buy much in the current market etc. However, I believe that there is clear enthusiasm still to buy a cheaper knock out product, and such a product can still succeed to some extent So, I'll wait to see the fixed or other comes along. 2/3rds was a lesser strategy, that a number of us realised, and Red also. S16 is a strategy that can still take 2/3 rd Lens through changeable mount, as is 4/3rds that s16 can fit into, and ff35. But, the less actual camera formats the less cost. So I expect a fixed, if it has not been permanently killed, and or s16/4/3rds or ff35. So one or two more models.

So what could the Scarlet have been. 24fps is not the future, high speed 48fps+ is (50fps preferable to slot into Pal production markets). 4k is the killer format feature, so 4k p48 or p50 would have made it really shine for that price segment, as a product into the future to distract the thousands of people distracted by the Canon announcements. Let's hope they can upgrade, the Dragon sensor upgrade should be very promising for the price.

You notice that Red was waiting for Canon to commit, and Canon commited to an unusual choice, 50mbs mpeg2 cinema camera, with 4k sensor but recording reportedly upto 1080p30, and this thing sounds like a firmware update away from 4k support. But for people that understand markets, this is not so unnusual. Canon has good brand loyalty, and apart from true blue Canon fans, that loyalty attracts loyalists in general that may see benefit in buying Canon quality, equipment and support, as Canon often releases quality at a price with that little bit extra in the upper video market, compared to other big brands. This is enough to slightly erode sales from the top, unless 4k support upgrade is announced. Jim has now commited to this model, then a few hours after the announcement, comes up about the ff35 4k 24fps Canon SLR that erodes from underneath, to non cinema people and people commited to their pro video line. Sounds like a strategy, and what are they going to do next. 50mbs mpeg2 is nothing. The $899 gh2 body has been hacked to do 176mbs, the new JVC cheap camera is doing 36mbs h264, I even found a really cheap pocket camera years ago rated at hundreds of mbs of mjpeg. Last year a 5mp 30p chipset was announced by one of the cheapest quality hd camera chipset makers and I expect a shd announcement soon (please also note that cameras are doing 60 fps 8mp+ of burst still already). What gives that a camera of $16k dollers can give so little, and that is happening next. This is why a quick sharp low blow a few years ago would have given the major manufactures more problems in responding.

Red just showed up that things are not as they seem in the industry, what will be next.


Thanks.

I was excited about the idea of Scarlet from years ago, of a 'everymans' kind of product from Red. This version seems to be more of a crippled Epic than the $3-6k fixed Scarlet of old. Still a good deal but for me not the game changer I thought Red was going to create for the smaller corporate/event guys like me. Oh well...

Red...$14k package without a lens, and a just a single 64gb ssd?
To shoot in the real world it's gonna be $20k but at least it'll do 4k and some higher frame rates at 30p..

I wouldn't say quite $20k, throw in 4-packs of batteries and 64GB SSDs (at which point you'd have about enough kit for a full day's shoot) and it comes to $16,400.

She ain't cheap, but she's a heck of a deal for what you do get.

I just got off the phone with Jeromy from Atomos and apparently they just tested the Samurai HD-SDI recorder with an Epic today and the results are terrific. I'm heading over there in 2 weeks to take a look at it.

If the Samurai can give me high-quality 1080p in Pro Res from the Scarlet, that'll pretty much seal the deal for me (I have serious concerns about the ability of my current Mac Pro editing suite to handle Red Code footage).

It would allow you to do all your recording to much cheaper media, and also make your initial start up costs about $2k cheaper (than the all Red route), which in turn would allow you to stagger the purchase of Red SSDs for recording REDCODE... that's if you can accept miserly 1080p resolution in Pro Res or DNxHD

Specs wise it blows the Canon C300 in some ways. Red pricing sounds good but I wonder what the actual price would be when fully configured.

Just my guess (prices off RED's store:

Scarlet Package (Brain, two RedVolts, 1 64gb SSD, 5" LCD and sidegrip: 14,015
4-pack of 64gb SSD's: 3250
4-pack of REDVOLT's: 750
BOMB EVF: 3200 or considering they're probably back-ordered, Zacuto EVF for 950

21,215 (with BOMB EVF) or 18,965 (with Zacuto EVF)

That gives you a roughly an hour of record time at full-res I believe (REDuser's down so going off cached google pages)

Assuming power draw is roughly the same as the Epic your 6 redvolts would get you roughly 180 minutes of run time.

That's probably about as close to bare minimum as you could get, though if you had AB or V-lock batteries already you could just power it that way I suppose. You could also swap out the SSD's for the CF card module though who knows what things would be disabled then.

Looks great, would have been awesome to have had atleast 120 fps at 2k like a Red1,

It looks a great spec for someone who wants RAW with a S35 sensor at a lower budget. With a tighter economic situation people do need to be more careful in the their decision making. Although, the timing is very much a reaction to the F3 and the possible impact of what is now the Canon C300. However, it may hit their Epic sales because this camera will meet the needs of those people who don't need higher frame rate and other features of the Epic.

I don't really get this cage idea that they're pushing again.

Hopefully, they'll bring out the 2/3" Scarlet, which will meet the needs of a large number of productions that shoot for HDTV. That broadcast spec isn't going 4k anyway soon and people need cameras that allow them to have an option other than the traditional video cameras.

Somehow I think Red lost their way The Scarlet was I thought to be for the masses. The dream of getting past crippled cameras, to keep selling customers the same thing with another bell on it on a yearly basis continues as bad as ever. If the Scarlet is a competitor to the F3 it shoots itself in the foot at the same time.

Guess we'll have to wait until NAB and maybe new models for the FS100 and AF100

Maybe it's time for a new way of thinking which is don't buy a camera until you're ready to shoot and sell it straight after. Although hang on isn't that what pro's have been saying for years RENT your camera. Priced up an alexa for rent for a 7 week shoot £40,000 including lenses.

I wonder if there are trainee's who start work at their new camera factory and say something like I have a great idea. And are promptly told we dont make cameras the customers want. We make cameras that make lots of money on a sustainable drip process. Of course that's fair enough really and that's business I guess though in these recession miserable days and everything going up in price thanks to greedy bankers and corrupt governments

It would have been nice if for once something really wonderful and ground breaking had happened like Canon promised

The Scarlet looks like a very nice S35 RAW camera at a very interesting price point. The only question now is how reliable it will be. Let's hope RED has learnt something and "beta status" and firmware issues are a thing of the past. For good.

All RED cameras released at this point have had such issues and have therefore damaged RED reputation, at least among pros. Over here pretty much all REDs have been replaced with ALEXAs for this very same reason.

That could depend on how long this camera has been in development, presumably well under wraps and if the bugs have been ironed out during that process. Presumably much of it is derived from the Epic, so you'd assume those aspects of the camera have already been debugged.

For what Scarlet is giving it is the best deal available.
Oh, Scarlet is out of my price range (was hoping for whole package deal at max $10'000). But I find it funny when people say "damaged RED reputation, at least among pros".

I just saw Peter Jackson (he is a pro, no?) talking in the Hobbit production videoblog #4 about the RED camera's they are using. I don't think he thinks RED's reputation to be damaged. The whole videoblog is the best advertisement for RED camera's.

How many companies keep listening to their customers and keep updating firmware with new features?

Ah well, I'll have to keep do with my Canon's until I've made enough money for a Scarlet...

The Scarlet Canon AI package price is $14k, no doubt you'll still need a few more bits above that.

Film & Digital Times has an article, with comments by people who have shot with the C300.

http://www.fdtimes.com/news/canon/canon-c300/

The Scarlet Canon AI package price is $14k, no doubt you'll still need a few more bits above that.

Very few clients care about the difference between HD and 4K. However, every single one cares if the camera doesn't work. Absolute priority for a work tool is that it is reliable and suitable (i.e. does the job).

How pretty the pictures are is far more dependent on the crew than the camera specs.

I would never blindly order a camera based solely on web announcements. But the cult following that Red has built is more like a religion than a user group of a professional tool. Many seem to make decisions based solely on faith. I can foresee a lot of people spending money that they can't afford to spend on Scarlett because they are not making a rational business decision.

I'm thinking that within a year, we'll start seeing more than a few used Scarlets (with very low hours) on the market. I think some people will eagerly place orders, with no real business plan for using them. A $14-15,000 investment is no small matter, no matter how dedicated you are to a certain company.
Can the orders be cancelled and the deposits returned?

But the Scarlet seems to be a really nice camera, even though I actually like the idea of a $6,000 3K, 2/3" Scarlet a whole lot more. Maybe some day, I will own my own, but I'll wait and see what spills over to the used market. Patience, patience....

Anyway, on paper the Scarlet seems a great camera for a good price (on paper it looks far better than the C300). But for me the price is higher than I am willing to spend at the moment.

PS: seems that the $14K package is a ready to shoot package only need a microphone with mini-jack to record sound and for the rest you are good to go.

Hasn't Scarlet really become the Red One replacement? From that point of view it's an excellent price cut for what is likely a more robust and modern electronics package.
The upside of the silly early Scarlet announcements from Red is it may have pushed the actual Scarlet price down a few $$.

Ok, I'm going to probably sound cranky or cynical, but I've been not only behind the camera (many different types) for well over a decade now, but I've also been a technical writer who had early access to many cameras we've grown to love and use. I was the guy who felt that the camera made the difference, not the shooter, crew, lights, etc. I learned my lesson fast.

Anyway...

1. In defense of RED, and I know a lot of the guys there personally, they've restated their vision and goal to focus on high-end productions and studios. Hobbit pts. 1 and 2 are budgeted at $400 million +, and they have guys from RED on the set at all times, I'm sure. RED has my respect for laying it out that they cater to high-end professionals and productions.

That being said...

2. RED promised this camera, and EPIC, April 2008 at NAB, and when I walked out of the presentation, there were a lot of angry RED ONE owners. Suddenly their sexy cameras were obsolete and they couldn't do a direct upgrade. I was about to co-produce a feature back in Florida, and I was on the phone with a potential DP with a RED ONE to discuss his possibly shooting the film. When I mentioned EPIC and Scarlet to him, and that it was supposed to ship early 2009, there was silence on the phone. He was angry, understandably so. Also, RED doesn't have the supply chain of Canon, JVC, etc., so they're at the mercy of vendors who are going out of business, or are busy making stuff for the bigger companies and have to put RED on the backburner. I'm going off what Jim J has said in the past. I'll be happy to hear someone receives their Scarlet.

Also, I can't tell you how many young directors in South Florida would advertise they were casting and they had to throw in "We're shooting on a RED, the most advanced camera in the world." Who cares? And if an actor knew it was 4K, they'd run for the hills unless there were plenty of pro mist filters and a fantastic makeup artist on set at all times. Then they'd have tech issues with the camera, and someone would inevitably pull out an EX1 or HVX200...

3. RED needs to be less like Google, very open about development, putting out betas. and more like Apple, quiet development, getting the product ready to go, then ironing out whatever bugs may be present. They can't be everything to everyone, but they can put out a great camera when it's ready to ship. And maybe that's why Scarlet is coming 3 years later than promised. (But, as they say, things can change and do.)

4. Canon is marketing the C300 to high-end productions; my friend and colleague Jeremiah Hall was out there, and he got to hold it, watched films (feature shot with it, showed trailer) and shorts and spoke to major DPs there who liked it. This is Canon's first high-end camera, so they're marketing it to guys like Scorsese, etc.

5. Someone on this thread mentioned that they'll stick with their camera until they can buy this one. Good idea! But keep in mind, when the RED ONE came out, a lot of people bought it, and regardless of the economy, the rental prices were too high at the time to be affordable. I still link to this story 3+ years later, and it's still relevant today: Red One Rentals Impending Crash New Breed (http://workbookproject.com/newbreed/2008/12/26/red-one-rentals-impending-crash/)

6. Someone else on this thread mentioned REDs are getting replaced by Alexas at some rental houses. I can vouch for a friend of mine in South Florida, who would rent both his RED and his colleagues' units (sublease, I guess), but he bought an Alexa and has more business with it now. The colleagues, I don't know what happened to them and their REDs. The problem was the beta/prototype issues with the RED while on set, esp. in the South Florida weather. That's one example, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear other companies in Florida are doing the same thing.

7. Lastly, it isn't the camera, it's your (and your crew's) talent. Read this: It's Not About Your Camera (http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/not-about-your-camera.htm)

Ken talks about still cameras, but he's right, it's you (and your crew, lighting, etc.). I came close to buying cameras in 2001 and 2002, respectively, that I didn't need. I bought a JVC HD10, and made more money writing about it than I did with the camera! I thank that camera for launching my writing career, but a DVX100 would've been better, or just my old Canon XL1.

Okay, that's what I got. Feel free to argue, debate, agree, etc. I'm cynical when it comes to technology now, because it changes so rapidly. If I had to buy a camera today, I'd buy something like a Sony F3 or FS100, get great lenses, and use it for 5 years. Then buy the next thing and use my lenses I already bought, because those never grow old.

Here's a little something I said to Jeremiah before he flew to L.A. for the Canon presentation: If the camera doesn't automatically make my script, actors, lighting and overall production magically better, then I'm not interested. He laughed, because he was the one who told me not to buy a $15,000 JVC minidv camera in 2001, because it ultimately is about how great my script, actors, lighting and overal production quality is, not to mention my hardworking crew of 4 (Jeremiah on cam/lighting, my pal Grant on sound, my friend Demi on swing duties and me directing), not my camera.

That hasn't changed from when I was working on a commercial by myself (one-man band!) 2 weeks ago, or a cast and crew of about 100 three+ years ago.

Okay, rant off. Thanks for letting me share (gripe).

heath

ps-One more thing: speaking of economy, as a tech writer, I was able to check out all the high-end DSLRs (and HDSLRs), and I noticed that many of them were 2-4 years old, and the newer ones had marginal updates at best, like adding a few more megapixels or an HD video feature. Other than the newest Canon and Sony DSLRs, I think manufacturers are holding off on anything major for a bit, because of the economy. And also, like computers in the late 90s, people aren't upgrading every 12-18 months (as they were in the mid- to late-2000s with DSLRs and pro cameras), but now more like every 3-5 years. If it still works, then go for it.

And please don't think this is an insult against RED; far from it. I'm very impressed with what they're doing, and the proof is in the pudding with major films like The Hobbit, Pirates 4, and lower budget, but big-time films like Knowing, Robert Rodriguez's films, the Hughes brothers and so on.

I also don't think the Scarlet and C300 are competing directly with Sony's F3, except maybe on price. I see Albert Hughes using Scarlet or the C300 to shoot a film, not an F3. Maybe the F35, but not the F3. Just my opinion.

heath

Heath,

I suscribe everything you wrote, except for one thing.

You say you can see the C300 doing a film (a low budget one I guess) but not an F3.

So you think 11 stops at 422 8bit@50Mbps is better than 14 stops at 10bit 444@330Mbps ?

That could depend on how long this camera has been in development, presumably well under wraps and if the bugs have been ironed out during that process. Presumably much of it is derived from the Epic, so you'd assume those aspects of the camera have already been debugged.
It is in almost every respect an Epic. According to Jim Jannard, the sensor is the same used in the Epic except it doesn't meet the stringent tolerances needed for 5K motion work beyond 12 fps. In addition, the electronics are stripped down so data rates are lower. Ironically, Scarlet fixed had a higher maximum data rate (100 MBps) than Scarlet-X (50 MBps). Image quality and dynamic range are said to be the same as Epic's, with the exception of resolution.

I just don't think someone shooting a $50 million film will reach for the F3 as their "A" camera, maybe "B." I can see them using an F65 or F35 as the "A" Camera. But I can also see them using the C300 and Scarlet as the "A" camera, too, because of the additional features and, from what I've been hearing from high-end pros who've seen footage from both, the overall look of the footage from the cameras. I'm thinking more along the lines of compression.

Maybe I'm wrong, because another buddy in L.A. tweeted me the other day a photo of the F3 he's shooting with, and said it's the best camera he's used in years. And he's used some great ones.

heath

It is in almost every respect an Epic. According to Jim Jannard, the sensor is the same used in the Epic except it doesn't meet the stringent tolerances needed for 5K motion work beyond 12 fps. In addition, the electronics are stripped down so data rates are lower. Ironically, Scarlet fixed had a higher maximum data rate (100 MBps) than Scarlet-X (50 MBps). Image quality and dynamic range are said to be the same as Epic's, with the exception of resolution.
It's almost like buying a brand-new mid-range Nikon or Canon that has the same processing image and other under-the-hood features as a $7000 model that camera that came out 2 years ago. You're getting close to the same thing.

heath

Hasn't Scarlet really become the Red One replacement? From that point of view it's an excellent price cut for what is likely a more robust and modern electronics package.
Jim Jannard has said Red will stop selling Red Ones (I forget when). Unfortunately, Scarlet-X lacks some of the features of the Red One, such as higher frame rates (120 fps) at 2K and built-in XLRs.

So you think 11 stops at 422 8bit@50Mbps is better than 14 stops at 10bit 444@330Mbps ?

ps-I don't go off white paper specs; if I did, then I would've shot my last feature with the HVX200 instead of the Z1u and a prototype V1u. Better compression with the Panasonic, but the 960 x 540 sensor produced ugly results when we watched test footage on a movie theater screen. Talk about stretching the pixels!

heath

Jim Jannard has said Red will stop selling Red Ones (I forget when). Unfortunately, Scarlet-X lacks some of the features of the Red One, such as higher frame rates (120 fps) at 2K and built-in XLRs.

There's the "cripple" to protect the higher-end camera. We always talk about it, almost like an urban legend, but companies have to protect their bottom line. Remember the Sony HC1? That cannabalized Sony A1u sales for a solid year until the HC3 (very consumerish) came out in 06.

heath

ps-The RED ONE had an overall great run, but it will evergreen at rental houses. It's still an advanced system, only bested by new REDs and the Alexa.

There's the "cripple" to protect the higher-end camera. We always talk about it, almost like an urban legend, but companies have to protect their bottom line.
In all fairness, Scarlet-X isn't truly a crippled Epic. It's cheaper because Red could repurpose sensor chips they'd otherwise have to throw away. And the reduced data rates are a function of the number and kinds of circuit boards. It's not like with some manufacturers who sell you a camera technically capable of much more but cripple it in firmware. It's more like a car that has two different engine options and Scarlet-X has the smaller, less powerful engine. I might, however, feel apprehensive about betting a production on a camera with a "factory second" imaging chip.

ps-I don't go off white paper specs; if I did, then I would've shot my last feature with the HVX200 instead of the Z1u and a prototype V1u. Better compression with the Panasonic, but the 960 x 540 sensor produced ugly results when we watched test footage on a movie theater screen. Talk about stretching the pixels!

heath
Well, I've seen the F3 shot with a Gemini (which was still in beta) and it's s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g.

On the other hand I'm very uninmpressed with Laforet's video with the C300. Compare it to other videos also in Vimeo, shot with th F3+SLog, so that you get apples to apples. On Laforet's video I see plenty of noise in the shadows in high contrst scenes, awfully clipped highlights and oh-no 709 video-look due to a more compressed latitude. And Laforet had plenty of money and a $1.5k/hr colorist, while the F3 videos have been done by a couple of guys alone.


If I was to shoot a film, even an independent €1M one (which I would not do, as it's easier to win the lottery than to get proper distribution), I'd use none of the above but an ALEXA with a Codex recorder. The cost of this is under €2k per day, times 3 per week, which means it would cost less than €25k to rent it for the entire film. That's peanuts compared to everything else, so I don't see how would anything use anything below such a great, simple and reliable setup that the ALEXA with the smaller Codex brings.

No doubt, the F3 follows the tradition of other great CineAlta cameras, from the F950 to the EX1.

I am going off my friend who was watching a bunch of C300 footage at the presentation. Most audiences aren't going to stop watching a movie to check for video noise, etc., but we do. Then again, if I'm paying that much money for a camera, I'd hope I wouldn't ever notice that stuff.

I'm cautiously optimistic that RED will get the Scarlet out on time, and even more excited to see some footage!

heath

I'm pretty happy, as an underwater shooter it looks like it is in the same body as Epic, hence I will have a housing that can cover both. If I need high frame rates I can hire an Epic, Scarlet X works out cheaper than an F3 with all necessary capture equipment. Use an Atmos Samurai for Prores capture for quick turnaround jobs. Use my Canon glass plus have a PL mount when I work on high end jobs.

Do I need 5K, probably not, higher frame rates... possibly sometimes.

SSD's can be swapped between Epic and Scarlet, Redmote works with both plus all accessories and batts. I'm a happy camper.

Wow. The natives are restless. Those who have been waiting three and a half years for a 2/3" camera for $3k, then an expected $6k, and now no 2/3 camera at all are not happy. Lock the windows on the upper stories.

Jim has recently written that 2/3" and 3K were not enough. He wrote that the 8x lens had terminal problems. And nobody is less happy about that than him. He's the guy who spent all the R&D money on the 8x lens that didn't pan out.

Neither the Scarlet-X or the C300 are the right camera for budget shooters. The 5D2 with anti-aliasing filter might be the best quality, budget, large sensor solution. The 1D-X might be the best choice come March. And then there's the mystery DSLR and the next generation 5D, 7D and all the rest.

But for the event shooter, there's still a 2/3" or S16 opportunity. Or maybe 4/3" is the new S16.

Even if the recent announcements don't fill the needs of budget shooters, there is no better time to make budget digital films than today.

The option for the 2/3" 3k camera is still open for RED, they've done the R & D, although the 8x fixed zoom currently seems to have problems maintaining focus while zooming.

Unfortunately, Jim Jannard seems to have got rather obsessed by 4k, rather than the real world of 1080p distribution, which is where most of the productions shot on his 4k cameras will actaully end up.

Although, no reason why they shouldn't do a 2/3" 4k camera. That was an option that the Kinetta camera was following, unfortunately, the downside to keep following a new greater version is the camera never gets manufactured.

They could always buy an Ikonoskop.

In reality it's the SI 2K, which seems to have found a niche in 3D films. However, it's rather more expensive camera than the 2/3" Scarlet and perhaps now due for an upgrade.

Although, I've just been reminded that you can window the new Scarlet at 2k, which gives a slightly less than Super 16 size image.

Scarlet is a beautiful camera, really, i mean 4K for $15,000!

I don't see any reason why a production that can afford to use this camera would not use this camera.

none!

Not all productions want to use a RAW workflow, The Alexa has been a popular choice for TV productions using ProRES and even HDCAM SR rather than RAW.

How reliable the new camera is also remains to be seen. There are a number of factors to be considered when selecting a camera.

I'm imagining a lot of Scarlet production will be done at ProRes 4:2:2 as well through external recorders.