300 fps - Please, anyone?

[Brian Drysdale]

The Scarlet 2/3" fixed is coming out first (35mm sensor being now an Epic), but there's a lot of speculation about it and the late summer is only a guess by someone.

It will really depends on how quickly RED get the Japanese manufactured components (or replacements) for the camera, that could be a matter of weeks or months. I expect they'll know better by NAB.

[Jonathan Palfrey]

I had a chat about this with the Olympus high speed camera representative at BVE. Asked him pretty much the same question your asking.

His response was, consumer cameras are able to have a slow mode (although low res) in them because they can be mass produced. As soon as you start improving the quality and goes beyond the cost consumers are willing to pay suddenly the costs have to rocket up to make up for the lower sales they will get.

Basically it explains why there is no 300fps slow motion camera in the prosumer price range because its not worth the R&D time and costs to produce it.

It's a shame because there is a big void between high end and consumer high speed cameras, like you I wish there was something which could do 300fps for the price of an EX1 for example. Even 120 at 720 would be good.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I'll never forget NAB, 2008. RED seriously thought they would deliver Scarlet 3K for $3K back by that Fall. Instead, we got DSLRs around that time, and many things have changed since then.

The impact of the DSLR can't be underestimated. In early 2008, nobody could get a 2/3" sensor cam for $3K, so the available market was huge. Now, most anybody with a new camera can shoot video with a S35 or larger sensor. The Scarlet total available market shriveled overnight. And we got a global recession to boot...

But the big hit to schedule and cost came, IMHO, when they went to a modular design. Having engineered a few fast time to market project, I know that simple is fast and cheap and complex (modular) is slow and expensive.

Personally, I think Scarlet Fixed will be THE KILLER documentary cam. The angle of view is just right. The DOF is deep enough for unscripted work. 3K will do film out. The fast sensor needed to do 120 or 180 (or whatever) fps should mean that rolling shutter is minimal and you can throw the camera around. RAW lets you fix bad settings in post. It will also be great for any film that wants a gritty, handheld, deep focus feel. And, true to the thread title, it will do fast framerates with high quality.

But you can also do fast framerates for many situations with Twixtor. (Make sure to shoot with enough light and a fast shutter speed.) So, unless you do docs or gritty films, I might look at other options for now.

You can always buy a cam now, shoot now, sell it, and get Scarlet later. Until it ships... it's not shipping! ;)

[Mark Watson]

Kris,

If you don't need the mega fps to catch a bullet in flight, then there might be a camera that meets your needs and budget, but still pricey. As you probably know, Phatoms are made by Vision Research, but they also make the Miro line of cameras. For example, they have the Miro EX1 that shoots standard def (640 x 480) 500fps for $10,000. They also have the Miro Airborne HD that can do 320fps at 1920 x 1080. In this mode, it uses 4GB of memory every 5 seconds. This looks like a ruggedized camera that has a changeable lens (C-mount) and a good set of optional accessories available. I don't know what it costs, probably upwards of $15,000. It's fastest speed is 678fps at 1280 x 512. Do a google and check out the spec sheet. Form factor is somewhere between a dSLR and point-and-shoot.

With the rapidly changing guts in video cameras these days, I wish Canon would come out with something modular so I could just upgrade the imager and processing electronics and keep the body/lens interface.

Mark

[Brian Drysdale]

That was just one guessimate for the fixed, others were nearer to just after NAB..

Regardless, events in Japan have upset whatever the original plans were. The Epic X deliveries have been put back and the Epic seems to be only available as the Epic M in the short term, presumably they've got enough components to meet the lower rate of production.

[Buba Kastorski]

Japan is 3rd economy in the world and probably the most dedicated to their work nation, i received HF G10 straight from Japan within 6 days, and 2 days out of 6 it was sitting in Canadian customs,
i want to say that despite that terrible disaster, Japanese companies do everything they can to keep up with their financial obligations in times when they don't even need to look for excuse.
And if there will be another delay with the Red cameras delivery, it'll be the same reason we didn't have scarlet last year, and two years ago.

[Brian Drysdale]

I just think they underestimated the time it takes to develop a camera and put it into production. Not helped by we can now do this new neat improvement factor.

Bad news......