Dragon Upgrade Predictions for Scarlet-X

[Troy Bakewell]

Alexander

I agree with you 100%.

Well I guess 99.99%. I'm only saying that cutting edge technology is getting cheaper. I too applaud RED for changing the game. Now the Highest end Sony is 1/3 of what it would have cost because of RED. That's awesome.

BUT I would hope that in the furure even RED cameras will get both much better and also eventually less expensive too! A year from now perhaps a Dragon Scarlet might cost $13k vs $17k?

Maybe maybe not.

But the arrival of a 12bit RAW camera for $3k has to help improve our chances no?

That's my only point.

[Alexander Thomson]

But the arrival of a 12bit RAW camera for $3k has to help improve our chances no?

Absolutely. But something tells me that RED has more tricks up their sleeves. And i'm sure the guys are going to think for a really long time on how to strategically offer the best value to all RED owners. I'd be extremely surprised if a Scarlet a year from now includes Dragon and costs the same as the current Scarlet. I guess time will tell. "Everything is subject to change"

[Mike P.]

I When you buy a car, do they give you the chance to upgrade your engine for 1/6 the cost? Never! When you buy a Mac or a PC, do they offer the chance to upgrade to the latest chips at a fraction of the price? Nada! The Dragon upgrade isn't too expensive, rather, the Scarlet body is relatively cheap.

Those are really bad examples - with a car, you can replace just the engine with a far better one for (depending on the base price of the entire car and the engine you're replacing it with) 1/10th the cost easy... Nothing dictates that you have to go through the original manufacturer to get a better engine, especially if you're a backyard mechanic. With a PC/Mac it's the same thing; you can swap out any number of parts with up-to-date replacements for 1/10th the cost of the entire system as well... RAM, video card, CPU, all of that is very easily and cheaply replaceable...

My concern, and what I've been saying for a while is, if cameras like the BlackMagic are $3k for 2.5k/24p, and it's successor/BM2 ends up being $6k for 5k/24p next summer (I'm exaggerating to prove my point), that would be $9k for two RAW cameras that make a nice A-B cam team... On the flip side, if Scarlet is $10k for 4k/24p, plus an additional $6k for 6k/24p ala dragon next summer, it ends up being more $$ and you end up with only one camera. Now granted I'm exaggerating, but Dragon for Scarlet is still a year away (longer with evaluation, swap out, and shipping line ups) and who knows what upstarts like Digital Bolex or BM (or even the big dogs) are going to announce in that time and for what price...

It's the same old story: technology is exponential, and now that the floodgate is opening, prices are going to plummet. Is 5k (or even 6k) RAW worth 6x the cost of 4k RAW? If you have wads of cash, definitely... For independent filmmakers in the sub-$20k category? Probably not... And as the prices clamp down, the upgrade options are going to be less financially sound, no matter how it's marketed. Better example, if a RED1mx could be had readily today for $5000 (which, to me, is its relative value with Scarlet being $10k, and BM 2.5k being $3k), I think most independents would think twice before grabbing a Scarlet... And again, this is only a problem in this price bracket (it's not the same with Epic obviously.)

[Brian Merlen]

personally i want mine to breathe fire and kidnap pretty princess's....can i get the firmware for that?

[Alexander Thomson]

When you buy a car, do they give you the chance to upgrade your engine for 1/6 the cost? Never! When you buy a Mac or a PC, do they offer the chance to upgrade to the latest chips at a fraction of the price? Nada! The Dragon upgrade isn't too expensive, rather, the Scarlet body is relatively cheap.

Those are really bad examples - with a car, you can replace just the engine with a far better one for (depending on the base price of the entire car and the engine you're replacing it with) 1/10th the cost easy... Nothing dictates that you have to go through the original manufacturer to get a better engine, especially if you're a backyard mechanic. With a PC/Mac it's the same thing; you can swap out any number of parts with up-to-date replacements for 1/10th the cost of the entire system as well... RAM, video card, CPU, all of that is very easily and cheaply replaceable...

Touché.

Yet the idea of getting upgraded components for a fraction of the cost of the entire system is unheard of in the cinema industry, I guess that's what I was trying to convey.

[Alexander Thomson]

personally i want mine to breathe fire and kidnap pretty princess's....can i get the firmware for that?

I was hoping for a hot plate that bolts to a swat rail above the heat chamber so I can cook up some crew food while onlocation... but fire-breathing technology works pretty well too.

[Dmitry Burenok]

4k - 30fps max + HDR up to 24FPS
4.5K - 24fps max
5k - 24fps max
6k - 18fps max


about $8000

[Jerrod Cordell]

My FPS predictions are in line with yours, aside from the fact that I hope we'll see 30fps 5K, but it's already been said that the SCARLET upgrade will be more than the EPIC, due to the fact that they need to replace more internal boards. So I'm guessing $7,000-$8,000 for the Scarlet upgrade.

Ooooh yeah. I completely forgot about that part. Well fuck...

Well then in that case whenever Scarlet will be upgraded it will be around the same price of the original Red One. I think it was what, $17,000 for the body starting off? So I'm going with your guesstimate. Sounds about right.

If ScarletUser threw a hissy fit when RED released a $10,000 camera, just wait until they double it.

[diego torroija]

Will this sensor be default in all new Scarlets going forward or will it always be an upgrade?

that is a great question!!

[Thomas Koba]

Wish:
25 fps at 5K
and DR as proposed (15 stops)
at 2500 USD.

...leave HDRx to the Epic crowd. Softly clipped highlights will soon be the new black!

And nothing else. I don't care about the lower K's and high framerates. Because slowmotion video is going down the same drain as timelapses, cinesliders and hipster-colorgrades in the near future.

After this, I will never wish for anything ever again in my life, now that the PRO IO is coming.

Prediction:
25 FPS at 5K
and framerate boosts at lower K's
price 9000 USD