Is 2/3" going to be enough?

[Brigham Edgar]

As the tidal wave of 5D fever keeps on spreading and a host of productions from low budget to high end seem to be surrendering to this 'craze', is the imminent release of the Scarlet in this price bracket going to be enough with only a 2/3" sensor?
Leaving the argument to the obviousness of potentially FAR superior image quality and functionality behind, as Scarlet is still just a spec sheet and could be for a long period yet while the 5D is here, the obvious reason why the FF DSLR is making massive moves is because of the price-point and primarily offering a FF sensor. So if the Scarlet is going to price around this market and directly compete, will the biggest factor for why this DSLR is so popular be the MAJOR downside to Scarlet and people will still opt for a FF sensor?
Has the bubble now popped and this is a feature that low-end cameras and customers are going to demand in this price-point and if it doesn't it moves down the list of the 'number one' camera of choice with limited finances.

[Justin McAleece]

It is a very hard thing to understand quite how a market works when $800 cameras look so much "better" or at least more movie like and "expensive" than a 10K ENG camera. Most converts to Scarlet will be amateur filmmakers - Not ENG people making there living shooting for broadcast. So yeah, who is the scarlet appealing to now?

[David Battistella]

I have said this in other threads but I do not see the need for 2/3" camera with specialty glass...

It feels like a collossal effort in a saturated market.

Of course, RED might know or understand something we all do not.

Personally, I would like to see RED striving for the higher end market, do that really well, and be the smart choice for digital cinema, which itself is becoming an increasingly competitive market.

I have never been a fan of lesser versions of the best product. In apple's case FCP vs. FCE, AVID released handcuffed versions of their software at one point.

The EPIC seems like a big improvement on RED ONE, but seriously I do not know why anyone would want a 2/3" inch camera when there are R1's R1-MX cameras hitting the market at a really decent prices after EPIC.

It will be interesting to watch.

David

David

[michael zaletel]

If they announced that you could buy 2/3 fixed Scarlet in stock starting tomorrow at every Apple Store worldwide for an early premium of $12,000, the entire stock would be sold out in the first day at every store. ENG people would be among the first in line. The unique combination of quality, portability and price will have every professional filmmaker wanting one even if for some only as a second or third camera in their arsenal.

You don't know what you're talking about regarding global demand for 2/3 Fixed SCARLET.

-michael zaletel

[David Battistella]

You could be right. Scarlet might be RED's ipod. I might be a complete dork for thinking this way, but I don't have to be right about everything, i'm just blind on this one.

I don't see anything about RED that screams ENG. There are plenty of ENG camera's out there.

David

[michael zaletel]

You could be right. Scarlet might be RED's ipod. I might be a complete dork for thinking this way, but I don't have to be right about everything, i'm just blind on this one.

I don't see anything about RED that screams ENG. There are plenty of ENG camera's out there.

David

Or at least their MacBook Pro. :)

I'm not saying it's optimal for ENG, just saying it will sell like crazy to that market anyway even if only as a 2nd camera. You can't take front-page stills with a PMW-350 and many can't accept the compression from a 5DM2.

But none of this is really even the point. There's plenty of market share to go around, human beings love and are loyal to different brands for different reasons. That's why people still buy jewelry in mall jewelry stores for 3 times as much as they can otherwise.

There's two different discussions here. Is 2/3 enough to be better than lower price alternatives and is 2/3 enough to create demand that won't be easily supplied. Since the latter is certainly true, who cares about the former. If RED made the 2/3 Scarlet any better, they'd just have more people standing around that can't get their hands on one. Why do you think the first iPad didn't have a camera or 3G, cause it didn't matter, they still sold out.

-michael zaletel

[David Battistella]

R3D is not a great format for ENG. This is still going to be a bottleneck compared to HDXDCAM and P2 which are begining to seriously penetrate the ENG market.

TV Stations converting from existing workflows will look seriously at SONY and PANASONIC before looking at SCARLET. I do not think this is RED's market at all.

The Scarlet might be aimed at the individual user, or as a solution for education (film school) market (where 4K RED One's have already pentrated) or ???.

david

[michael zaletel]

R3D is not a great format for ENG. This is still going to be a bottleneck compared to HDXDCAM and P2 which are begining to seriously penetrate the ENG market.

TV Stations converting from existing workflows will look seriously at SONY and PANASONIC before looking at SCARLET. I do not think this is RED's market at all.

The Scarlet might be aimed at the individual user, or as a solution for education (film school) market (where 4K RED One's have already pentrated) or ???.

david

You are assuming an ENG shooter would have to deal with R3D files. Perhaps they could use the H.264 module or record the HD monitoring feed?

-michael zaletel

[Kevin Marshall]

I do not know why anyone would want a 2/3" inch camera when there are R1's R1-MX cameras hitting the market at a really decent prices after EPIC.

I would ask why *wouldn't* anyone want a 2/3" 3K RAW camera for around the same price they're shelling out for HVXs, EX1s, etc.; let alone the Letuses and such they trick 'em out with.

That's just my angle.

[David Battistella]

I would ask why *wouldn't* anyone want a 2/3" 3K RAW camera for around the same price they're shelling out for HVXs, EX1s, etc.; let alone the Letuses and such they trick 'em out with.

That's just my angle.

-I've never been a fan of fixed lens cameras, they are always a compromise, not wide enough not tight enough.

-4K is becoming a standard, why dumb it down?

-Depth of field

All those "other" camera's also have a bunch of companies making lens adaptors and the like to give them the flexibility of interchangable lenses. The whole reason RED was created was to get away from this kind of disadvantage.

-on the non fixed lens end of things: you have to invest in a glass system that you can not use anywhere else. You might get to change lenses, but the lenses only cover one format with a new mount system.

And I want to be really clear. I am not "anti" anything. Just asking questions out loud here. The FF Scarlett has a place for sure. I am just not sure where the 2/3" fits, that's all.

David