SCARLET 1080 with Higher Frame Rates

[Andy White]

Maybe selling on RU to somebody that wants to get a Scarlet is the best thing? Then sell off the accessories as they'll probably go for a better price individually (ie monitor/EVF/SSD etc).

You won't get all your cash back, but the longer you hold onto it, the more you'll loose.

Or sell the Scarlet and go Epic?

 

[Shane Duckworth]

Maybe selling on RU to somebody that wants to get a Scarlet is the best thing? Then sell off the accessories as they'll probably go for a better price individually (ie monitor/EVF/SSD etc).

You won't get all your cash back, but the longer you hold onto it, the more you'll loose.

Or sell the Scarlet and go Epic?

Actually, that's the plan. Though, I think I'm jumping on the SONY train. 1080 now, 4K upgradeable when I need it. Only lose is the Canon EF mount. But Ill figure that out.

 

[Lliam Worthington]

I agree with Peter, but I also think Scarlet's main target was as an Indie cinema camera for those who wanted to get into 4K world, at what is still the best price in town.

I do know of a couple of rental houses out here that stock Scarlet, but I don't know if it's renting. It does seem to fall between the gaps. Looking for cheap, then you probably won't go Scarlet, indeed you'll more likely "BUY" a DSLR, Fs100 or a BMCC or chances are you already know someone or three who has one. Have a decent budget, producers go Alexa, Epic or the C300. But Scarlet was obviously never going to compete there. It's the affordability of great quality cameras that I see as the culprit for changing the lower end of the rental market isn't it? I can see how that would have impacted and been frustrating if you had planned around rentals with Scarlet.. But i don't see how that links to RED's price change or their error?

On the price drop, worse case, it was a reduction by $1750, if you weren't an early adopter (for whom it has actually gone up in value by $400) and if you also didn't fall inside RED's $1000 rebate window. Ok that is a blow of sorts, but "I wish I could dump it but isn't worth selling"?? It's still worth decent money. And all cameras come down in cost sooner or later. And these days sooner rather than later. Over a year, that's a depreciation of $140 a month. I wish my car did as well. And because of the imaging quality and also upgrade path, I think it's reasonable to assume that the scarlets value will not completely bottom out for quiet some time, and Scarlets will still be worth a good few thousand or so for a few years to come, which is a lot more than many cameras can say... and when that day comes, our accessories don't become obsolete, which you invest more on than the brain for most scarlet users I'd imagine... But maybe I'm just a glass half full kind of guy. I really just don't see the terrible deal some people see. I still see a really powerful tool at a great price point and I'm always looking forward to shooting on it.

Hope your luck turns around Shane,

Best

Lliam

 

[Linan Lin]

I'm posting this so that the higher ups at RED might answer and/or start to think about why this option doesn't exist.

Why does the Scarlet not have an option to Record 1080p WITHOUT cropping the sensor. If RED truly wanted a camera that could compete with the C300, it should make the the SCARLET have the ability to record 1080p by bottle necking the info, rather than a cropping sensor . Additionally, it should be able to record at to 60fps in that mood, if not higher. For the type of work and projects the C300 is being used on, the SCARLET workflow is too complicated and DATA heavy for productions and for jobs that are ready and willing to deal with RED workflow, they just go with EPICS for the framerate option. How complicated would it be to bottleneck the the information off the sensor down to 1080p? I'm not even asking for ProRes, it could be R3D file based, but much smaller file sizes and very quick transcoding, perhaps without the REDROCKET. In my option, this is what would make the SCARLET viable again. An actual usable camera, rather than the bastard brother to the EPIC that doesn't seem to a have a solid place in the market.

The premise of your judgment is what the market is like now, which I believe is true. I'm a Scarlet owner myself, I'm from Beijing,China, and I worry about the same thing recently like you do. The market in Beijing is very much like what you mentioned in New York city. But one thing changed my opinion,which is the coming of 2.5k raw BMCC.

Yes, it's a small camera, but I believe it will change the low end market dramatically. C300 will be dead, because BMCC is much cheaper and more powerful then it. And more importantly, with the using of BMCC everywhere, the customers will be familiar with raw file and higher resolution(2.5k). By then, since 2.5k raw work flow is already natural to them, if they need better quality, they will reach for the also low cost 4k raw scarlet. So I don't worry now.

Another thing, you mentioned is the DNxHD/ProRes recording issue. My view is, maybe we don't need it that much, two reasons.

The main reason is the rapid development of personal computers. Cheaper and more powerful every month. The solid state disks are booming too. The 4k raw file is now already(for some cool computer owners) like any other file formats,(DNxHD/ProRes). We can do anything to the raw files in real time. And the DNxHD/ProRes maybe won’t be a need in the coming months or year.

The second reason is 4K raw, this time, is really coming, behind which, is Sony, Canon, not just Red itself. Both low end customers(2.5k raw BMCC), and higher end customers(4k raw F5/F55, 4k raw C500, 5k raw Epic, or Alexa raw) will all jump into the 4k raw work flow in the coming months. The market's view to the 4k raw format will be totally different, they might won't need DNxHD/ProRes file formats as badly as before.

 

[Shane Duckworth]

The premise of your judgment is what the market is like now, which I believe is true. I'm a Scarlet owner myself, I'm from Beijing,China, and I worry about the same thing recently like you do. The market in Beijing is very much like what you mentioned in New York city. But one thing changed my opinion,which is the coming of 2.5k raw BMCC.

Yes, it's a small camera, but I believe it will change the low end market dramatically. C300 will be dead, because BMCC is much cheaper and more powerful then it. And more importantly, with the using of BMCC everywhere, the customers will be familiar with raw file and higher resolution(2.5k). By then, since 2.5k raw work flow is already natural to them, if they need better quality, they will reach for the also low cost 4k raw scarlet. So I don't worry now.

Another thing, you mentioned is the DNxHD/ProRes recording issue. My view is, maybe we don't need it that much, two reasons.

The main reason is the rapid development of personal computers. Cheaper and more powerful every month. The solid state disks are booming too. The 4k raw file is now already(for some cool computer owners) like any other file formats,(DNxHD/ProRes). We can do anything to the raw files in real time. And the DNxHD/ProRes maybe won’t be a need in the coming months or year.

The second reason is 4K raw, this time, is really coming, behind which, is Sony, Canon, not just Red itself. Both low end customers(2.5k raw BMCC), and higher end customers(4k raw F5/F55, 4k raw C500, 5k raw Epic, or Alexa raw) will all jump into the 4k raw work flow in the coming months. The market's view to the 4k raw format will be totally different, they might won't need DNxHD/ProRes file formats as badly as before.

I agree with you, though not on your timeline. I think it will take the industry a little bit longer to full convert. I like 4k RAW, I just wish the Scarlet didn't crop the sensor for slow mo and there was a better option for HD