Newbie here

[Graham Munro]

Hello All,

Been a long time reader here-great info all around. Had some questions that hopefully you guys can help with. My company is looking to invest in the Scarlet. Here are a couple questions:

1. The 5D Mii sensor is 36x246mm and can record 1920x1080 (2K?). Scarlet is 10.1x5.5mm and records at 3072x1620(3K). Our guy that shoots our spots says go for the scarlet and I wanted to know (from a video standpoint) why the Scarlet is better. The Canon sensor is over 3x larger?

2. We already have a bunch of Canon primes but wanted to know thoughts on the fixed 8x regarding quality. I know its not out there but is the Red glass as good as others?

3. Our spots show on Fox Soccer Channel and maybe ESPN HD (someday). Should we get the 5k or is 3k enough?

These maybe dumb questions but wanted to at least know a little before we decided on a direction. That is-if Red ever releases these new babies!

Thanks,
GM

 

[Stephen Gentle]

Welcome to Reduser!

1. The 5D Mii sensor is 36x246mm and can record 1920x1080 (2K?). Scarlet is 10.1x5.5mm and records at 3072x1620(3K). Our guy that shoots our spots says go for the scarlet and I wanted to know (from a video standpoint) why the Scarlet is better. The Canon sensor is over 3x larger?

First of all, there are two Scarlet models - the 2/3" and the S35. The 2/3" (3K) Scarlet is the one you're referring to here (and I'll talk about it mainly in this post) but the sensor in the S35 (5K) Scarlet is a lot closer in size. It's as big as a Super-35 frame, which is the size of a non-full frame SLR (Nikon call them DX, not sure about Canon. APS-C?).

There are several things that set the 2/3" Scarlet apart from the Canon - first of all Scarlet records all the pixels on the sensor (within the frame you're shooting), but the 5D skips lines of pixels on the sensor to bring the 21 megapixel image down to 1080p, which results in aliasing and moire issues (which is bad). Next, the Scarlet sensor has a significantly faster read-reset time - which basically means that there will be far less skew (the "jello effect") with fast motion, which will be better for sports.

Then there's the obvious advantages of the Scarlet that are increased resolution, and on the 2/3", frame rates up to 120fps (sustained) as opposed to a maximum of 30 frames per second on the Canon.

2. We already have a bunch of Canon primes but wanted to know thoughts on the fixed 8x regarding quality. I know its not out there but is the Red glass as good as others?

The RED glass should be very good, but we'll have to wait and see... If you have a significant investment in glass already though, it may be a good idea to look at the s35 Scarlet, which you could use that glass on with the $500 Canon mount. It's more expensive though and you lose the option of very high frame rates.

3. Our spots show on Fox Soccer Channel and maybe ESPN HD (someday). Should we get the 5k or is 3k enough?

3K will certainly be enough - it's more than twice the resolution of HD, so it should look awesome downscaled.

Hope that helps!

 

[Kenneth Elkington]

The Scarlet also has major production advantages, you'll be able to use high-quality on-camera sound recording, and a lens that is designed for video production, with a servo zoom and complete manual control. It's designed to hold focus through the zoom range, and have a secure focus mechanism that will not move when the camera does. Stills lenses are designed to focus quickly and shoot and so there's no guarantee that focus will hold consistently during panning, and camera movement (I tried to find an article by Matt Duclos on the major differences, but can't seem to find it right now). The focus mechanisms in autofocus still lenses are lighter and freer so that they can be driven by the autofocus motor quickly, but this also allows it to slip during camera movement, whereas heavyweight cine lenses are designed to have smooth and heavy focus mechanisms.

Then there's also the monitoring options...I'm rambling, but the advantages are voluminous for video production on the scarlet.

 

[Aaron Newsome]

Depending on your situation, it might be important to mention that a Canon can be purchased today while the Scarlet ship date can not be determined.

However, I'm not sure if you can consider "exists" as a feature.

 

[Zhibo Lai]

Graham, welcome to the forums.

1. bigger sensors don't equate to better quality. the 5D sensor will give you much smaller DOF, which may prove difficult to keep focus in fast moving sports. The 2/3 Scarlet sensor will give longer DOF due to fact that you'll be using much shorter lenses compared to the 5D. As for low light (which you prob won't need much of in sports), the new MX sesnors should fair very well, if not exceed the 5D in that department.

2. Red glass is very good, but no one knows yet until they're release. If I recall correctly, there will be adapters to put Canon and various other 3rd party glass onto Red cameras.

3. 3k Scarlet footage is more than enough for 1080HD. Downres from 3K, you'll get a full 1080 resolved resolution. Whereas in the 5D, the actual resolved resolution is closer to 720. So if you was pristine 1080 quality, you can't go wrong with the Scarlet.

 

[Graham Munro]

Thanks for all of the replies. We can definitely wait for the scarlet (unless it takes another year). We shot our last spot on super 16 because it was for a standard definition format. So I agree that 3k is enough for our purposes.