Final Questions Before Downpayment

[Kenneth C Merrill]

Hi all! I love the Scarlet X that I purchased last year, but I'm not completely happy with the dynamic range/color and the fact that I have to black shade every time I change frame rates (which are extremely limited). Given that I can get into a Raven package for about $8500, I'm seriously considering paying what I can and putting the rest on a 0% interest card for a year.

Anyway, I have some questions before I make the leap:

1) Is there any advantage to buying direct from Red vs Abelcine? I heard someone mention ordering from Abelcine might mean getting the camera sooner. But from what I understand, a downpayment at Abelcine is non-refundable, but downpayments on Red.com are. Is that true?

2) Is there any way I could get my hands on a Raven before ordering one? I live in the LA area. Does Red have a showroom or something?

3) To what extent do the DSMC2 bodies do their own black shading? Do I never have to think about it again?

 

[Phil Holland]

Hi all! I love the Scarlet X that I purchased last year, but I'm not completely happy with the dynamic range/color and the fact that I have to black shade every time I change frame rates (which are extremely limited). Given that I can get into a Raven package for about $8500, I'm seriously considering paying what I can and putting the rest on a 0% interest card for a year.

Anyway, I have some questions before I make the leap:

1) Is there any advantage to buying direct from Red vs Abelcine? I heard someone mention ordering from Abelcine might mean getting the camera sooner. But from what I understand, a downpayment at Abelcine is non-refundable, but downpayments on Red.com are. Is that true?

2) Is there any way I could get my hands on a Raven before ordering one? I live in the LA area. Does Red have a showroom or something?

3) To what extent do the DSMC2 bodies do their own black shading? Do I never have to think about it again?

1: Don't know if there's any particular advantage.

2: RED Store Hollywood has a Weapon to demo, but I imagine they will have Raven and Scarlet-W in there shortly. The RSH crew are very helpful. Here's the address and hours:
RED Store Hollywood
846 North Cahuenga Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Store Phone: +1-323-993-5681
Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time

3: There's two different types of Black Shading, the way you know now with your Scarlet-X via Manual Capture and the newer Auto Capture. Auto Capture calibrates the sensor at 16 exposure variations and creates a calibration curve. This process takes a bit of time (around 40-ish minutes), but the net result of this allows you to change your shutter speed/angle and the camera will automatically apply the appropriate calibration. No need to re-calibrate. So it greatly speeds up shooting. This doesn't take into account large temperature variations, so if you are shooting in the hot desert one day and the cold mountains the next day I'd still recommend firing off a new Auto Capture Sensor Calibration.

It's much, much nicer now.

 

[JD Butler]

1) You can get your deposit back from Red. My rep said it takes about a week to be refunded. I highly doubt Abelcine is getting allocations sooner but if thats true it would be pretty unfair. Maybe Brent can clear that up. Just know you will be waiting quite a while if you order now regardless... Seems like they're still getting through the first few hours of preorders from September.

2) I got my hands on a Raven at Red Hollywood last month but can't say it will still be there. I know it's been making rounds at other Red locations. Give them a call and they'll let you know if they have one.

3) What Phil said

 

[Clayton Taylor]

1) If you live in LA area - the only plus that I can see is that you may save sales tax by purchasing from a company that doesn't have a physical presence in your state/area. That would be around $750.00. I THINK your deposit is refundable from RED if you change your mind.